Sea&Sea YS-02 - first strobe set-up

[fishydiver123]

Following information on this forum that cheaper strobes may only be limited to macro work, is the Sea&Sea YS-02 a better choice as a first strobe for macro and wide angle stuff? - I know it is manual only but I suppose one can pick up which setting to use fairly quickly(?) Other option is the Remora/Intova ISS 4000, but the angle on this is narrow, so I guess that limits what it can do.
Is the YS-02 fairly compact as well (never seen it myself), or at least less bulky than the Remora/Intova? Thanks.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

The YS-02's head is fairly compact, unlike the bigger Sea&Sea strobes. It is not small like the Inon S2000. Not sure how it compares to the Remora, but those pictures imply they are pretty big.

When I use to use manual strobe on my old SLR, I had a chart on the side that indicated the distance to the subject and the f-stop that I need to set it to. It was generally accurate, but then I can't control my depth of field. Maybe you can set the f-stop to a single setting and define where on the intensity knob is for what distance. Maybe after a while, you kind of get instinctive as to where to set it, but as soon as you change the f-stop, the prior positions doesn't coordinate with what you remember.

 

[fishydiver123]

one problem - my compact doesn't have manual control. does this mean I cannot use a strobe with it? This is the most expensive set-up I can afford.

 

[Wisnu]

what's your camera?
I'm sure you can use it with YS-02, set strobe to ignore preflash.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

On a camera with always use flash option, can it every set the shutter and aperture exactly the same across multiple shots? Because after you take your first shot, check your shot's exposure, readjust the strobe's power level and recompose, the ambient light might be slightly different from before, thus your camera might change some exposure parameters such as aperture or iso that might make the same strobe output to come out different.