Hello, I own a OM-D EM1 Mkii body with (for macro) and trigger with a FL-LM3 miniflash... The recycle / recharge time is quite slow - So I am right now hesitating in buying an expensive Nauticam/Turtle/UW Techniques trigger...

Is there cheap alternatives with a fast recycle time that fit in a housing like mine ? I am thiniking about something like a Godox iM-22... Thanks in advance!!!

I use the same mini flash to trigger my strobes I have never run into recycle time issues, I shoot only manual and set the the mini flash at 1/64 power manual flash. Admittedly I don't shoot rapid fire, but often squeeze off single shots in fairly quick succession. The Nauticam manual LED trigger is reported to work well and has the bonus of allowing shooting at up to about 1/400 and maintaining flash sync.

If you are shooting TTL, you'll have these slow recharge issues with any of these small flashes and the only solution is an LED trigger. In fact I think most of the small accessory flashes are manual only.

I also use the same camera and onboard flash and like Chris have no issues with recycle time for the LM3 flash, especially for macro when strobe power is low, even shooting TTL. However I do notice the recycle time for my Inon Z240 and S2000 strobes when on full power.

Are you sure the recycle issue is your onboard flash and not your strobes?

Not clear what housing you are using.... and not familiar with the Godox. If it helps, I use the Nauticam trigger in a Nauticam housing with the same camera and rate it highly. Only changed the batteries once in 5 years. and it triggers reliably. I did find when shooting whale sharks this year that for some reason it still fires even when the flash is set to 'off' - easily overcome by turning strobes off though.... and clearly not an issue for macro!

9 hours ago, Troporobo said:

I also use the same camera and onboard flash and like Chris have no issues with recycle time for the LM3 flash, especially for macro when strobe power is low, even shooting TTL. However I do notice the recycle time for my Inon Z240 and S2000 strobes when on full power.

Are you sure the recycle issue is your onboard flash and not your strobes?

Thanks! I am sure its the little Flash because with my Main Camera (Sony a1) and a nauticam trigger there s Not such a waiting time between photos. I use inon z-330s. May i ask what Flash settings in Camera you are using?

On 6/12/2025 at 2:32 AM, Chris Ross said:

I use the same mini flash to trigger my strobes I have never run into recycle time issues, I shoot only manual and set the the mini flash at 1/64 power manual flash. Admittedly I don't shoot rapid fire, but often squeeze off single shots in fairly quick succession. The Nauticam manual LED trigger is reported to work well and has the bonus of allowing shooting at up to about 1/400 and maintaining flash sync.

If you are shooting TTL, you'll have these slow recharge issues with any of these small flashes and the only solution is an LED trigger. In fact I think most of the small accessory flashes are manual only.

Thanks! May i ask your other Flash settings? I Shoot underwater manual Only. On Land i have had the same annoying waiting Time issues between photos.

9 hours ago, JustinO said:

Not clear what housing you are using.... and not familiar with the Godox. If it helps, I use the Nauticam trigger in a Nauticam housing with the same camera and rate it highly. Only changed the batteries once in 5 years. and it triggers reliably. I did find when shooting whale sharks this year that for some reason it still fires even when the flash is set to 'off' - easily overcome by turning strobes off though.... and clearly not an issue for macro!

Thanks! I use a nauticam housing. About your shake shark Experience: On /near the surface sometimes Water reflexions can trigger a sensitive Slave strobe (triggered by an Optical signal)….

1 hour ago, Michi said:

Thanks! May i ask your other Flash settings? I Shoot underwater manual Only. On Land i have had the same annoying waiting Time issues between photos.

I don't think there is too much more beyond being on Manual flash at 1/64 power. Looking in the menus RC mode is off, X-sync 1/250, slow limit of 1/60 flash compensation off. red-eye reduction off, first curtain. At 1/64 flash power I get at least 10 exposures clicking the shutter one after another in single shot mode. This is with an OM-1, I previously used the EM-1 MkII and I remember it being quite similar.

The mini flash gets its power from the camera, so maybe check if the hotshoe contacts are clean?

On 6/11/2025 at 8:50 PM, Michi said:

Hello, I own a OM-D EM1 Mkii body with (for macro) and trigger with a FL-LM3 miniflash... The recycle / recharge time is quite slow - So I am right now hesitating in buying an expensive Nauticam/Turtle/UW Techniques trigger...

Is there cheap alternatives with a fast recycle time that fit in a housing like mine ? I am thiniking about something like a Godox iM-22... Thanks in advance!!!

Buy cheap, buy twice or something along those lines xD

While the Nauticam/Turtle/UWT triggers might be pricey, its pretty much a one-off purchase, that will last you even decades possibly.

Also they do offer two major advantages, at least from my point of view:

a) recycle time - FL-LM3 is noticeably slower, even on lowest settings. Very annoying when you want to shoot a couple of pics in a quick succession, only to realize you cannot because the flash is still charging up

b) camera battery life - perhaps the biggest advantage - with OM1+FL-LM3, I can kind of a do 2 dives /2h, after that the 3rd dive/hour becomes a bit "risky" depending on how many pictures I've taken during the previous two. With mini-trigger (using Turtle myself), I can do 4 dives/hours, and only have to worry slowly around the 5th one. Major plus when on the boat if I do not have to open the housing and change batteries, or, when doing long dives.

Yes, I still keep the FL-LM3 around - it is basically a backup, should anything happen to the main trigger during the trip. And indeed it has saved my bacon once - better slow recycle than no recycle at all 🤣

Speaking of Turtle, they have literally just announced v3 of their trigger, might wanna check it out. This might mean that there could be some good offers on v2 coming.

Edited June 13Jun 13 by makar0n

3 hours ago, makar0n said:

a) recycle time - FL-LM3 is noticeably slower, even on lowest settings. Very annoying when you want to shoot a couple of pics in a quick succession, only to realize you cannot because the flash is still charging up

b) camera battery life - perhaps the biggest advantage - with OM1+FL-LM3, I can kind of a do 2 dives /2h, after that the 3rd dive/hour becomes a bit "risky" depending on how many pictures I've taken during the previous two. With mini-trigger (using Turtle myself), I can do 4 dives/hours, and only have to worry slowly around the 5th one. Major plus when on the boat if I do not have to open the housing and change batteries, or, when doing long dives.

This certainly doesn't match my experience, do you set the mini flash to 1/64 manual power? I sat at my desk today and fired off 10 shots in succession in single shot and the flash went off everytime.

On my last dive trip I used the OM-1 and did 3 dives/day and had 30-40% when done for the day, using OM system battery that's about 2 years old, the body is showing 14,400 shutter count on the two batteries I have.

How many shots do you take on a typical day? I seem to average around 250-300 or so over the course of 3 dives.

2 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

This certainly doesn't match my experience, do you set the mini flash to 1/64 manual power? I sat at my desk today and fired off 10 shots in succession in single shot and the flash went off everytime.

On my last dive trip I used the OM-1 and did 3 dives/day and had 30-40% when done for the day, using OM system battery that's about 2 years old, the body is showing 14,400 shutter count on the two batteries I have.

How many shots do you take on a typical day? I seem to average around 250-300 or so over the course of 3 dives.

Assuming by "mini flash" you mean the FL-LM3 - Hmm I would go for about the same average shot wise. Do not remember how it was set though so do not want to say it was 1/64 but definitely was changing the battery after 2-3 dives max (each on the longer side). That said there would be still some %% left but felt like I am a bit on the edge so better be safe than sorry was my thinking. Last thing I wanted was a dead camera underwater xD

Speed wise - definitely noticed that on some consecutive shots it was sometimes not ready and I had to wait for it to charge.

This was on a trip couple years back though, literally the only time I had to use the backup, it just sits there since.

With mini trigger - not a single speed "issue" and do not have to worry about battery life at all. Even after 4 long dives, often enough juice left to the point that I could do another few the next day if needs be. Definitely noticeable difference in terms of battery life.

Had a similar experience with GH4 built-in flash vs GH4 with Nauticam mini-trigger as well - could also see the difference in recycle time as well as battery life.

Maybe I am doing something wrong but definitely prefer the mini trigger 😁

Edited June 13Jun 13 by makar0n

15 hours ago, Michi said:

About your shake shark . . .

OK, I know this is off topic, silly, and definitely the result of autocorrect and not deliberate, but I can’t get past the thought of somehow associating whale sharks with the famous American burger chain restaurants!

OK, perhaps I can redeem myself from the last silly post and report real test results . . .

I used an Olympus OM-D E-M1 mk II with a freshly charged Olympus battery and a brand new FL-LM3 flash set on 1/64 manual and shooting the lowest resolution JPEG files available. I set the shutter to sequential low which is 10 frames per second, then started shooting. I got 180 frames without a single blackout before the flash stopped firing and showed the red lighting bolt symbol to indicate it was recharging the capacitor. I was able to achieve the same result three times in a row after pausing a minute between each test.. So I don't think the FL-LM3 presents a binding constraint on real-world recycle times.

I can think of some possible reasons why UW recycle times could be poor. First is the fact that the FL-LM3 is notoriously unreliable. I'm on my third one, after one died on a trip and I replaced it and also decided to carry a spare. Second could be the main camera battery, though I kind of doubt it since it fills the flash capacitor before it will fire. Third could be poor contacts somewhere in the flash circuit. And finally, it could be not the flash at all but the SD card buffer presenting a constraint due to slow or faulty memory cards, poor contacts, and/or large file sizes.

Finally, to be clear, I am not suggesting that a dedicated flash trigger is not a good solution. I am sure they do many things better than a mini flash. I've now spent more than 50% of the cost of a Turtle on three fragile Olympus units, so I am not claiming that the mini flash is optimal.

On 6/13/2025 at 6:57 AM, Chris Ross said:

I don't think there is too much more beyond being on Manual flash at 1/64 power. Looking in the menus RC mode is off, X-sync 1/250, slow limit of 1/60 flash compensation off. red-eye reduction off, first curtain. At 1/64 flash power I get at least 10 exposures clicking the shutter one after another in single shot mode. This is with an OM-1, I previously used the EM-1 MkII and I remember it being quite similar.

The mini flash gets its power from the camera, so maybe check if the hotshoe contacts are clean?

Thx. I will try within the next two weeks and will give an update!

On 6/13/2025 at 10:21 AM, makar0n said:

a) recycle time - FL-LM3 is noticeably slower, even on lowest settings. Very annoying when you want to shoot a couple of pics in a quick succession, only to realize you cannot because the flash is still charging up

b) camera battery life - perhaps the biggest advantage - with OM1+FL-LM3, I can kind of a do 2 dives /2h, after that the 3rd dive/hour becomes a bit "risky" depending on how many pictures I've taken during the previous two. With mini-trigger (using Turtle myself), I can do 4 dives/hours, and only have to worry slowly around the 5th one. Major plus when on the boat if I do not have to open the housing and change batteries, or, when doing long dives.

Good idea to have a look at the camera battery - maybe this is the limiting factor!

On 6/15/2025 at 1:38 AM, Troporobo said:

OK, perhaps I can redeem myself from the last silly post and report real test results . . .

I used an Olympus OM-D E-M1 mk II with a freshly charged Olympus battery and a brand new FL-LM3 flash set on 1/64 manual and shooting the lowest resolution JPEG files available. I set the shutter to sequential low which is 10 frames per second, then started shooting. I got 180 frames without a single blackout before the flash stopped firing and showed the red lighting bolt symbol to indicate it was recharging the capacitor. I was able to achieve the same result three times in a row after pausing a minute between each test.. So I don't think the FL-LM3 presents a binding constraint on real-world recycle times.

I can think of some possible reasons why UW recycle times could be poor. First is the fact that the FL-LM3 is notoriously unreliable. I'm on my third one, after one died on a trip and I replaced it and also decided to carry a spare. Second could be the main camera battery, though I kind of doubt it since it fills the flash capacitor before it will fire. Third could be poor contacts somewhere in the flash circuit. And finally, it could be not the flash at all but the SD card buffer presenting a constraint due to slow or faulty memory cards, poor contacts, and/or large file sizes.

Finally, to be clear, I am not suggesting that a dedicated flash trigger is not a good solution. I am sure they do many things better than a mini flash. I've now spent more than 50% of the cost of a Turtle on three fragile Olympus units, so I am not claiming that the mini flash is optimal.

Hmm so I did just take the LM3 out, and played with it a bit - had to wait for recharge when on full, but on 1/64 it was indeed fine (well during the limited testing). Sequential was a bit weird though - mechanical, 10fps, 1/64, it would fire on the 1st, then around 8-9th again. Sequential silent, 20fps, just the 1st pic would flash.

Dunno, I really do not remember how I had it exactly set up, but it was definitely lagging then. Could be indeed it was on full or higher than 1/64 though, something vaguely rings a bell that I had one of the fiber optic cables a bit mangled, hence maybe I kept the power higher (otherwise it would not trigger)? Or there is something wrong with my unit. Either way, good enough as a backup.

Do not think it was anything to do with SD cards - using Sabrent UHS-II 256GB ones, both test at around 185-195MB/s write and files on OM1 are generally <20MB. And did not notice any slowdown (write; when taking pics) just now, using the sequential silent mode.

Either way, I definitely prefer the mini trigger, and at ~280 of them euro things, I could not refuse ;)

Edited June 23Jun 23 by makar0n

12 minutes ago, makar0n said:

Hmm so I did just take the LM3 out, and played with it a bit - had to wait for recharge when on full, but on 1/64 it was indeed fine (well during the limited testing). Sequential was a bit weird though - mechanical, 10fps, 1/64, it would fire on the 1st, then around 8-9th again. Sequential silent, 20fps, just the 1st pic would flash.

Dunno, I really do not remember how I had it exactly set up, but it was definitely lagging then. Could be indeed it was on full or higher than 1/64 though, something vaguely rings a bell that I had one of the fiber optic cables a bit mangled, hence maybe I kept the power higher (otherwise it would not trigger)? Or there is something wrong with my unit. Either way, good enough as a backup.

Do not think it was anything to do with SD cards - using Sabrent UHS-II 256GB ones, both test at around 185-195MB/s write and files on OM1 are generally <20MB. And did not notice any slowdown (write; when taking pics) just now, using the sequential silent mode.

Either way, I definitely prefer the mini trigger, and at ~280 of them euro things, I could not refuse ;)

I tried using it to see if I could focus stack UW and it behaved quite differently there as it was on electronic shutter I think and fired very slowly, but clicking for each frame it behaved quite differently, like it was saying you can't possibly expect me to keep up with sequential shooting even though it was barely discharged and would have fired if you could click the shutter button fast enough.

It seems that we’ve confirmed one thing - the LM3 is not consistent!