UW Digital for Dummies

Hey guys just got a UW housing for my digital Point and shoot ( oly SW770) and was wondering what strobe would work best for me and the camera. Diving for years but never any photography. I know I am very limited with the point and shoot but thought I would give it a try and if I like it may sink some $$$$ into my Canon D400 (Rebel XTI in US).

I am living in Indonesia and have a good dive shop with reasonal pricing. I was looking at the S&S YS27 but the local photo buff is trying to pursuade me to look at the YS110. I have been told the YS 110 could be used if I take the big plunge with my Canon.........but just looking for a strobe that will work well with my camera. Being new, I have no idea yet as to the limitations of my camera and which strobe would be best.

Appreciate any feed back.

Hey guys just got a UW housing for my digital Point and shoot ( oly SW770) and was wondering what strobe would work best for me and the camera. Diving for years but never any photography. I know I am very limited with the point and shoot but thought I would give it a try and if I like it may sink some $$$$ into my Canon D400 (Rebel XTI in US).

 

I am living in Indonesia and have a good dive shop with reasonal pricing. I was looking at the S&S YS27 but the local photo buff is trying to pursuade me to look at the YS110. I have been told the YS 110 could be used if I take the big plunge with my Canon.........but just looking for a strobe that will work well with my camera. Being new, I have no idea yet as to the limitations of my camera and which strobe would be best.

 

Appreciate any feed back.

I haven't used either the 27 or the 110 and am still pretty new to UW photo. My understanding is that the 27 will be fine for close up shots but will probably be underpowered and too narrow of a beam of light for wider shots (especially in comparison to the 110). Also if the possibility exists that you may upgrade to the D400, then the 110 will be more able move with you in the upgrade since in addition to the optically firing mode, it can also be hard wired to a bulkhead in a housing that connects to the camera's hotshoe. I've seen many posts on this and another forum by people that started out with a budget strobe and later ended up upgrading strobes and they were basically kicking themselves for not having gotten the better strobe in the first place. If you can afford it, go with the 110.

I picked up a YS-60 a little bit ago from Sea&Sea's closeout page ($135 including tray and a handle) and got a Heinrichs-Weikamp DA adapter (90€) to trigger it optically on my P4. I chose this setup mainly for the price and that I will be able to use it should I upgrade cameras (either put my P5000 in a housing or ever go DSLR).

The YS-110 is a much faster and more powerful strobe. It does offer D-TTL capability if used with a single preflash compact camera.

The YS27 is small, but could be used as a fill flash with another strobe if you upgrade.

The Canon 400 does use a 6 pin configuration, so it would probably need an adapter to be used hardwired, but this will depend on the housing manf. and bulkhead. But that's probably true with most strobes for it except the 580EXII.

Jack

I started out with just 1, YS-110 and bought a second prior to going to Palau. Great strobes, plenty of power with good control features. I used them as dive lights at night by using the led focus beams. I highly recc'mnd. I'm shooting a S&S DX8000 point and shoot and have gotten good results.

-ed

According to the Sea & Sea website, the YS-27DX has a guide number of 20, while the YS-110 has one of 22. Which would make the YS-110 only marginally (1/4 stop) more powerful.

Guys

Thanks for the input. Just wondering if I could get by with the YS-60 since it has the same guide number as the YS 110? Doesn't have the same features but maybe a compromise? I don't mind spending the $$ as long as I spend it on the right strobe the first time.

According to the Sea & Sea website, the YS-27DX has a guide number of 20, while the YS-110 has one of 22. Which would make the YS-110 only marginally (1/4 stop) more powerful.

The YS27 is a great little strobe for the money. Completely manual with no ttl but nonetheless a nice one. Here is a great little site to compare guide numbers, recycle times, strobe sizes etc. The big deal in strobe selection is whether it works with your camera. The YS27 didn't work with my E410 so I had to change it.

http://www.digitaldiver.net/strobes.php

The YS-110 is a much faster

Guys

Thanks for the input. Just wondering if I could get by with the YS-60 since it has the same guide number as the YS 110? Doesn't have the same features but maybe a compromise? I don't mind spending the $$ as long as I spend it on the right strobe the first time.

Since your Olympus doesn't have a hotshoe, I'm unsure if you'll be able to trigger the YS60 without some kind of external ttl converter.