YS-02 - Curious about your thoughts and experiences with it.

[Furnari]

I bought a YS-02 the day day you posted this, oddly enough. Mine came with the grip stay, which I used for a day and a half until the flex arm I won off e-bay arrived. The grip stay was pretty limiting- the flex arm was a definite improvement. If you can swing it, ultralight or sea & sea arms would be even better. This is my first external strobe of any kind- surf or turf- and yeah, there's definitely a learning curve using something like this in manual. Make sure you have a chance to practice before taking a "trip of a lifetime". I'm happy with it so far, and would do it over again if I had to.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I usually shoot a whole bunch of shots of the same subject, from different angles, strobe position and distance to the subject. If I have to add to that variable different strobe intensity, then I might have to take 3x as many pictures of each subject.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Probably going to just get the YS-01, spend that extra few hundred, just in case it turns out I prefer TTL to manually adjusting everything (too much task loading :crazyeye. I have a flex-arm set in mind already, as the grip-stay seems too restricting.

It's more difficult than I originally thought to choose decent (yet reasonably budgeted) strobes.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

you can get those cheaper strobes like Sealife SL-961D, which are like the old Sea&Sea strobes...which is that they have a light sensor on the strobe head, thus it will set the approximate light needed for each exposure. It is good if you shoot with the same camera f-stop all the time. But if you like to constantly change f-stop for different depth of field, then the strobe will always have to be adjusted accordingly. Those strobes are dirt cheap compared to the YS-01.

 

[Jak Crow]

Probably going to just get the YS-01, spend that extra few hundred, just in case it turns out I prefer TTL to manually adjusting everything (too much task loading :crazyeye. I have a flex-arm set in mind already, as the grip-stay seems too restricting.

It's more difficult than I originally thought to choose decent (yet reasonably budgeted) strobes.

Tell me about it. Underwater photo equipment is ridiculously overpriced. From camera enclosures to strobes to flex arms, the prices are obscene. The price of flex arm parts has been particularly absurd for what you're actually getting, but luckily I found that BigBlue makes flex arm components at 1/3 to 1/2 the price as other manufacturer parts: I bought two 8" arm lengths for $25 each and 4 clamps for $22 each. Optical Ocean Sales also has lightweight flex components at really low prices if you're going to be using light weight strobes: $10 for 8" arm lengths for example. With these alternatives, I see no reason to pay $40 to $100 a component for "brand name" flex arm components.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Yup, Optical Ocean Sales is what I went with for the arms. Their arms look nice/durable (and not crazily priced), and I've heard good things about them here. Now it's just waiting for everything to arrive.

Edit: Lwang, thanks for the tip. Checked out your suggestion, but it seems that those strobes only have a 70 degree angle light beam versus the 100 by the YS-01s. I'd eventually like to get some better wide angle shots, and from what I've read, the larger light angles are better. Plus the S95 + YS-01s combo seems to be the popular suggestion on this board.

 

[Jak Crow]

How long are you making your arms and with what length segments?

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Here's the link to what I got Flat Tray & Double Arm Set - Trays, Arms, Handles & Clamps - Optical Ocean Sales Underwater Photo - 800-359-1295! . I added the Ikelite bolts and washers and upgraded to 10" + 6" arms. We'll see what happens with that.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Edit: Lwang, thanks for the tip. Checked out your suggestion, but it seems that those strobes only have a 70 degree angle light beam versus the 100 by the YS-01s. I'd eventually like to get some better wide angle shots, and from what I've read, the larger light angles are better. Plus the S95 + YS-01s combo seems to be the popular suggestion on this board.

I have nothing against the YS-01, I got one myself. But 100 deg coverage is rarely used unless you want even lighting across the whole image. Practically in all situations, you want to light only the main subject, which runs from edge to edge of the picture. Even Sea&Sea's new strobe YS-D1 has something like 80 deg coverage. You can also put on a diffuser to make coverage wider. Anyway, those strobes goes for around $300 vs $600+ for the YS-01. In fact, that is how Sea & Sea's last generation of strobes worked before they got the iTTL straightened out.

You read every post where people are looking for a first camera and everyone eventually recommends the YS-01 or S-2000 and some advanced camera. I am only recommending here based on what seems like your need.

 

[Interceptor121]

I have an old Sea & Sea YS-DX27 which has served the purpose so far. It shoots nicely in macro and very close up but not good enough in close focus wide angle
I am thinking of getting a fisheye lens Inon UFL165 and so looking for a strobe with 100+ degrees coverage but not as expensive as a Ys110a or Inon Z240
I also prefer sync cord simple based strobe as I will be shooting 100% in Manual
Anybody used the YS01 of YS02 in CFWA?