I have 2 YS-D3 Duo strobes and have been quite happy with them. However, they do not have HSS capability. Do you use HSS? Do you think it is worthwhile upgrading my strobes just for that feature? If so, do you have a particular strobe recommendation? I would like to stay below about $1000 per strobe.

Edited October 29, 2025Oct 29 by Babydiver
additional info added

1 hour ago, Babydiver said:

I would like to stay below about $1000 per strobe.

Retra Max II ?


Oups the price :(

I’ve been using HSS (on Retra) for some years and really like the feature. I’ve found it pretty much the only way to go for shooting into the sun for WA shots. Being able to shoot at say 1/2000’is really helpful.

That fits what I thought. Now, I just have to pick a strobe. Considering HF-1 vs upcoming S&S YS-D130R.

13 hours ago, Babydiver said:

I have 2 YS-D3 Duo strobes and have been quite happy with them. However, they do not have HSS capability. Do you use HSS? Do you think it is worthwhile upgrading my strobes just for that feature? If so, do you have a particular strobe recommendation? I would like to stay below about $1000 per strobe.

I recall you have an EM-10 mKIV in an AOI housing? As far as I know the YS-D3 duo is supposed to support RC mode with a compatible trigger and AOI claims their trigger works in RC mode. however based on this thread the YS-D3 duo is supposed to support HSS in RC mode but doesn't work with the AOI trigger for some reason. Maybe the signal is too weak?

This means it might not be as simple as just getting new strobes - you need to confirm that whatever strobe you pick will work with the AOI trigger. The AOI trigger can either be a manual trigger or an RC mode trigger. It seems that whatever strobe you choose needs to be RC mode compatible and actually work with the built in AOI trigger. This is quite specific and maybe you could ask some retailers for options that would work.

It might actually be cheaper to get a different housing if one could be found which allows you to add either a UWT type trigger or to use a Nauticam style manual trigger which will get you to 1/400 shutters peed without HSS. A second hand EM-1 MKII with a Nauticam housing might fit the bill.

Actually, I already ran into this problem. I was told by Bluewater Photo that the Marelux Apollo S strobes would work with my camera and housing to support both RC and HSS, only to find that neither was true when I received the strobes. Marelux has told me version 2 of the strobes should work (however, I have a number of other issues with the strobes and will just be returning them).

Since my YS-D3 Duos work perfectly in RC with my camera and housing, I am assuming S&S's new strobe will, also - and, if so, will also work with HSS. That is still to be determined in the real world. Should I go the HF-1 route, I'll have to verify that they will work first.

If I can get HSS with just a strobe change, I would prefer to go that route. If not, I'll have to decide whether it's enough to make a bigger change in my setup.

Thanks for your thoughts.

3 hours ago, Babydiver said:

Actually, I already ran into this problem. I was told by Bluewater Photo that the Marelux Apollo S strobes would work with my camera and housing to support both RC and HSS, only to find that neither was true when I received the strobes. Marelux has told me version 2 of the strobes should work (however, I have a number of other issues with the strobes and will just be returning them).

Since my YS-D3 Duos work perfectly in RC with my camera and housing, I am assuming S&S's new strobe will, also - and, if so, will also work with HSS. That is still to be determined in the real world. Should I go the HF-1 route, I'll have to verify that they will work first.

If I can get HSS with just a strobe change, I would prefer to go that route. If not, I'll have to decide whether it's enough to make a bigger change in my setup.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Should is the operative word. The problem is that most of these strobe protocols are reverse engineered and the reverse engineering may not have identical timings etc so one strobe might work with their own trigger but not with another vendor's trigger and vice versa. Or it could be that the light from the trigger is too weak for the S&S strobe to work in HSS? Or perhaps the firmware in the EM-10 is not up to the task?

The issue is that HSS sync should work with within RC mode but the trigger in the AOI housing doesn't communicate well enough with the S&S strobe to make it happen

You could perhaps check with AOI if their new UIS-P1 strobe will provide this functionality with your trigger?

I could, but I also choose to believe S&S until it has been proven otherwise. If it doesn't work out, those strobes will also be returned.

Having finally gotten my OM-1, AOI UH-OM1II housing, and dual Atom Flash strobes, I can verify that HSS does, in fact, work in RC/SC mode. You just switch FP on in the camera, leave the strobes on SC, and you can increase shutter speed to your heart's content (or until full power isn't enough from the strobes, at which point they beep). This is true on a tabletop, not yet in the water, though.

On 10/30/2025 at 4:00 AM, Chris Ross said:

Should is the operative word. The problem is that most of these strobe protocols are reverse engineered and the reverse engineering may not have identical timings etc so one strobe might work with their own trigger but not with another vendor's trigger and vice versa. Or it could be that the light from the trigger is too weak for the S&S strobe to work in HSS? Or perhaps the firmware in the EM-10 is not up to the task?

The issue is that HSS sync should work with within RC mode but the trigger in the AOI housing doesn't communicate well enough with the S&S strobe to make it happen

You could perhaps check with AOI if their new UIS-P1 strobe will provide this functionality with your trigger?

Not in this case. RC is part of the MFT consortium open source stuff, not reverse engineered because there is no need to. It's why you are seeing so many strobes have RC if even no other TTL at all... anyhow.

That said, Ikelite had to make a different and specific version of the RC TTL reciever for use with the AOI LED flash triggers vs the one that works when on camera flash is used. That seems to point to some issues with the output of LED vs flash to make the RC protocol work properly (https://www.ikelite.com/products/rc1-olympus-ttl-receiver-for-aoi-led-flash-trigger-and-ds-strobes?_pos=41&_sid=0ac781af2&_ss=r)

I would think for folks with an AOI or other LED trigger for RC, check the trigger manuf and strobe manuf and make sure they play nice with each other before buying, even if same brand trigger and strobe.