YS-25 Auto for macro and WAM

The physical size of my Z-240s make them less than ideal for lighting macro and WAM shots so I'm considering using a pair of YS-25s instead. The two YS-25s I have are 'auto' strobes which is a function I would wish to disable. Would simply masking the sensors achieve this, effectively converting them to fully manual?

Thanks, Tim

If the sensor is properly plugged, then it will give a full dump everytime it trigger, but you would need to have electrical connection since I presume the slave function is also the optical cable relay point.

Question is, can your YS-25 strobe accept an electrical sync cord? I have scouted the web for a shot of this strobe and every shots have a) a very non informative front view and B) either no cable attached or if one is then its always optical. so bottom line is if the only mean of triggering is optical, then your project is toast

Thanks Jean, the YS-25s only have an FO connection however the auto sensor and the FO trigger connection are separate.

They do have power adjustment insofar as the camera's set aperture may be set on the strobe (at ISO 100 and with the strobe's sensor pointed directly at the subject) so that the strobe will meter the reflected light. Of course one can trick the strobe if the camera's ISO is set at other that 100 by adjusting the power setting by the required number of stops.

I am hoping that by masking the auto sensor the strobe will default to manual and the only relevance a power (aperture) setting will have is to control the flash duration.

That is good news, it should work, if you have the strobe handy, there is no need to get them wet,

first : set up your kit, just plug the sensor with tape and pop a few burst, it should drain the capacitor every time you fire.

second : setup for an exposure on a close subject, then once your happy with it, move the strobe away to double the distance and fire a few shots, each should be coherently underexposed by the same value, then move the strobe closer than originally and you should have the same amount of over exposure each time, if that happen, it mean your strobe are always giving the same output (same as they would in manual).

Thanks for that Jean. It seems as though I'm on the right track and, I may not have to buy a new set of compact strobes either! :-)

For WAM, in particular, you need very low power strobes. This is because you are working at very short strobe to subject distances, plus you have a need to balance with ambient light to make the shots work - so the aperture needs to be around f11-f16 - to give a manageable shutter speed for balanced light. When the strobe is just a few cms from the subject, you need very low power to light f11-f16.

So unless you can get the strobes giving very low power in faux-manual, it is going to be trouble.

Alex

Hi Alex,

With a (land) GN of only 15 (full power) my YS-25s should find a slot next to my 100mm Zen. But its worth doing a topside shoot to check.

Thanks, Tim

Adding layer(s) of ND filtration (available in sheets from Rosco and Lee filters) attached with velcro tab ought to give you variable power control