Oly XZ-1 and Sea & Sea YS-D1: Pix From Bonaire

[Randallr]

I just returned from an enjoyable trip to Bonaire (trip report is posted on that forum), and thought I'd post here some of the first photographic fruits from my evolved rig. I'm shooting with an Oly XZ-1 in the PT-050 housing. The main strobe is the Sea & Sea YS-D1; I'm using my older Oly UFL-1 as a fill. This was my first time shooting with the strobes in manual, rather than TTL, a fact impelled by my discovery that the YS-D1 is not TTL compatible with the XZ-1. Although I still have a lot to learn, especially on shooting successful wide angle shots, I got some decent photos. I'm posting a bunch here, and I'd welcome feedback and critiques.

 

[umbert]

Luv the fireworm ! Congrats !

 

[MMM]

I would love to get pics that good with my XZ1 and Sea and Sea YS-01 strobe...also not TTL compatible.

 

[KeithG]

Just curious about the TTL compatibility remarks.

The Ys-D1 has 2 different TTL modes. It "should" work in slave TTL Mode where the flash simply mimics the onboard flash.

Does this not work? What type of results do you get?

 

[decidedlyodd]

Just curious about the TTL compatibility remarks.

The Ys-D1 has 2 different TTL modes. It "should" work in slave TTL Mode where the flash simply mimics the onboard flash.

Does this not work? What type of results do you get?

Sea&Sea's compatibility chart lists the combo of XZ-1 and YS-01 or YS-D1 (and I believe the older YS-110a too) as "impossible" for TTL.

 

[KeithG]

Sea&Sea's compatibility chart lists the combo of XZ-1 and YS-01 or YS-D1 (and I believe the older YS-110a too) as "impossible" for TTL.

The chart you linked to indicates the XZ-1 and YS-D1 as "possible" for SlaveTTL mode and "impossible" for DS-TTLII mode.
I am uncertain what the exact difference is between these 2 TTL modes.
so my question still stands (plus maybe some one could describe the difference between these 2 TTL modes?)
Cheers...

 

[decidedlyodd]

There's an answer on this other thread about the difference between the two TTL modes. Basically, it sounds like one is more sophisticated than the other but not compatible with all cameras. I jumped the gun a bit with my first link since I assumed the situation with the YS-D1 was the same as with the YS-01. My bad.

 

[KeithG]

There's an answer on this other thread about the difference between the two TTL modes. Basically, it sounds like one is more sophisticated than the other but not compatible with all cameras. I jumped the gun a bit with my first link since I assumed the situation with the YS-D1 was the same as with the YS-01. My bad.

Thanks for the link! Always learnin'. And I am quite skeptical of people / companies who claim the strobe does the TTL!

To the best of my knowledge, S&S has not produced a strobe with a light sensor since one of the last YS90 models. So in reality, they are just slaves. The INON z240 does have a light sensor with a mode where it tries to do on-board TTL.

I sympathize a bit since I am stuck with a pair of YS110s. The optical TTL setting works perfectly for about 90% of the conditions I experience. 10% of the time the TTL is crap. Shallow sand bottoms are never a good thing - they give me pink sand. On top of that, the optical trigger is not 100% accurate. So the strobes have 2 issues. Caveat emptor.

BUT: I converted my camera to wired manual synch and the strobes work perfectly. Happy camper! Very fast cycle time, lots of light. Unfortunately my camera hot shoe is not capable of TTL, so I have a manual future ahead of me until the strobes kick the bucket.

 

[anenomefishman]

you have some nice pics there! makes me want to go back to Bonaire. last time we were there, most of the big green moray eels were gone. they still have a serious lionfish problem?