YS-90DX Strobe Firing Options

I'm wondering what people think is the best option for firing their YS-90DX strobes (I'm using a C-4040Z). I currently have both strobes setup to fire with fiber optic sensors. However, the sensor wires are slightly annoying and it seems like there are two other nice options. One would be to fire one strobe using a fiber optic cable and set the other strobe to slave/manual or even slave/TTL. Another option would be to use rstark's trick and not use any fiber optic cables. My worry with these two options is that the strobes might not fire in certain circumstances, and that I would be hard pressed to fix the situation underwater. What do you guys typically do? Have you had much luck with these other methods or do you use the dual fiber optic cables?

I imagine Herb will jump in here at some point, but I know he has had good luck with rstark's exposed film method. I am going to try it on my next trip. The worst that can happen is that I lose the shots from one dive.

I've used rstark's trick a few times on local dives at Monterey, CA

where 20' visibility is considered good. In these cases it works.

The problem with this method is that the slave sensor of the YS90DX

is in front of the strobe and can be saturated by sunlight.

I told one friend about this technique and she tried it on

a trip to Belize and told me afterwards that on shots into the Sun

from even depths as low as 60', the strobe sometimes will not fire.

I've seen this myself on the surface where I can't get the stobes to fire,

but because of the conditions on my dives here, it's always worked in the water.

My friend also reported that she had mixed results firing with one

wired and the other on slave mode. Without having tried it myself,

I can guess there are two problems with this approach.

1) If the sensor is really saturated the light from the

other YS90DX will still not trigger it.

2) If the problem is just signal-to-noise the light

from the other stobe will trigger it, and if you had set the slave to

"On" instead of "Pre", it would work. The problem here is that if

your strobe is set to "On", sometimes the pre-flash from the camera

will be bright enough to trigger it,

but if you set your strobe to "Pre" sometimes your pre-flash will be

lost in the background and your slave won't trigger.

I went out a bought a couple of fibers to take on my next tropical trip.

I'll probably use them except on night dives and dives where I've made up

my mind to shoot macro and closeups. I prefer to use the diffuser

on macro and closeup shots and it won't fit on the stobe with the fiber on.

Herb

[Edited on 4-30-2002 by herbko]

Herb,

FYI, you can also use the new INON TTL sensor for the YS90DX that screws into the strobe's 5 pin synch port. INON also makes a fiber optic cable that screws directly to the INON TTL sensor that's mounted on the YS90DX strobe. You can get AUTO TTL out of your YS90DX strobe if you use the INON TTL sensor.

Here's a picture of the INON TTL sensor but this is for the INON Z220 and D-180 strobe.

INON fiber optic cable attached to the TTL sensor.

Regards,

Allan

http://www.underwaterdigital.net

[Edited on 5-7-2002 by underwaterdigital]

Allan, Does the Inon TTL sensor work similarly

to the Ikelite one in that it mimics the camera's

internal flash? If so, does it work with the

C-4040's preflash?

Thanks Allan. I'd be interested to know how well this works.

BTW. I found my own solution to using the fiber and diffuser at the same time.

I cut the top 1/3 of the fiber holder out and glued it on the strobe permanately,

leaving room to snap on the diffuser under it. The strobe will still works as a

wireless slave if I pull the fiber out.

I'm flying off to the Solomon Islands this afternoon

More in a couple of weeks.

Herb

Lanier,

The INON TTL sensor for the YS90DX is in way similar with the Ikelite TTL sensor at least conceptwise. The differences between the Ikelite TTL sensor and INON TTL sensor are:

The Ikelite's TTL snesor is not installed directly to the strobe. A sync chord that plugs into the DS125 is required to really sync the TTL sensor with the strobe. On the other hand, the INON YSTTL sensor mounts directly to the strobe thus enhancing the sensitivity of the sensor. I think an INON fiber optic cable is a must to have to really sync it with the YS90DX strobe. Also, I was told that without the fiber optic the YS90DX might accidentally fire if there's a fellow diver close by taking pictures and is equipped with an external strobe. That's how sensitive the INON TTL sensor is. Overall I think

By the way, the INON TTL sensor will work with the Oly c4040z.

I am expecting to receive the INON TTL sensor any day now. I will post a picture of it as soon as I get it.

Herb

Sounds like your setup is all ready to go. I'll definitely let you know how the INON TTL sensor works out. Have a great time in Solomon Island. SAFE DIVING!!!

[Edited on 5-7-2002 by underwaterdigital]

[Edited on 5-9-2002 by underwaterdigital]

[Edited on 5-9-2002 by underwaterdigital]

Herb,

Let me just say: "You suck!!! I am soooo jealous!"

There, I have now gotten that out of my system.

Cheers and dive safe!

James

Allan,

How much are the YS90DX sensors going to be?

So these sensors will squelch the the power output of the strobe as oppsed to the built in sensor that only squelches the duration?

Robert,

i think that how it's supposed to work. anyway, i finally got the INON YS TTL sensor for the YS90DX strobe and I have been playing with it.

INON YS TTLsensor for the YS90DX

Installation is pretty straight forward and similar to attaching a sync chord. Just line up the pin, push it in and tighten the knob.

noticed the flash in the background? the strobe actually fired when i took this shot. I accidentally left the strobe set to "ON" distance was about 7 feet away from the subject. I find the sensor to be highly sensitive. I even hand held the YS90 and placed the strobe in various angle like bottom, top, rigth side, left side and the strobe kept firing. I am really looking forward to test this sensor and see the results.

Price for the INON YSTTL sensor is 31,200 JPY

Allan

http://www.underwaterdigital.net

[Edited on 5-9-2002 by underwaterdigital]

Allan, Thanks for the info. I have to admit that it seems pretty expensive (US$250). I'm still curious how well it works with the C-4040 in TTL mode. If you have a chance, can you run some test shots with a C-4040 in TTL mode for us?

Thanks again.

Lanier,

Sure! I have been actually playing with the YS90 and I'm getting some mixed results.

I noticed sometimes the YS90 is firing way too soon making the picture to come out too dark. I have a feeling the sensor is not reading the light from the flash. Placement of the strobe is really critical without the fiber optic cable.

I did another test setting the camera to program, force flash ON, ISO 100 and -2.0 on the flash setting. I then set the YS90 to TTL and turned the SLAVE to OFF. No problem triggering the strobe. It fired!One thing I really noticed was the varialble amount of light intensity that the YS90DX was producing from the pictures taken from wide angle to macro shot as well as pictures taken from a well lit room to dim room all the way to a dark room.

Anyway, I'll post some of the test shots I took using the YS90DX and D-180 strobe.

Allan

http://www.underwaterdigital.net