I have been shooting with an olympus EM-5 and a single YS-01 strobe. I've now got an EM-1 and a nauticam housing for it, and I'd like to get a second strobe. Should I get a second YS-01 or should I get a D1? If I get the more powerful D1, will there be a problem using two different strobes? I've mostly been shooting the camera on manual and use the strobe on TTL.
Are there advantages to staying "balanced" with the same strobe on each side? Are there advantages/disadvantages if the second strobe is the D1?
Any help or advice is much appreciated
--msilver2
Both strobes have the same color temperature according to the Sea&Sea website. Having different values there can lead to uneven lighting that's difficult to correct after the fact.
The D1 will be more powerful and have a different beam angle, which means the power levels and aiming won't be quite the same. But you'd have to be mindful of those factors anyways.
The strobes will most likely have a different beam angle and the power knob scales will be different when you shoot in manual.
The difference in power should create an interesting effect in terms of shadows but this has to be seen
I prefer to have identical strobes so that there is as little guess work possible in how a picture will turn out
I probably should have added that I've mostly been doing shots that are close up or just a few feet away--no attempts at wide angle. The lenes I have (and will probably stick with for a while) are the Olympus 60mm macro and the Olympus 12-50 mm. Would this information weigh more heavily for getting a second YS-01 and staying "balanced" rather than a D1?
If your purpose is to eliminate/change shadows a second YS-01 will work well and you will be familiar with the power setting right away
yes, especially the cyan shadows. I'm assuming that a second strobe will fill in and prevent that.
I would get two of the same strobes. That way one does not overpower the other and leave a shadow.
Say you do find that magic setting on each strobe to give the same light output, but now you need to change one! Where do you set the other? I know strobes are expensive but I have never regretted going to twin Inon d2000 stobes and a Sola focus light. The quality of my pictures improved such that I won't even look at my pictures before I went to dual strobes.
If you're doing macro, two YS-01s should be plenty powerful. That should be a better value than adding a D1 then selling the YS-01 to buy another D1 down the road.
I guess my opinion is not the norm. I Would go with a YS-D1. The higher guide number can be helpful for subjects that are not quite as close on your W/A shots, and for super-macro the more powerful strobe can pay off. It also makes trans-illuminating shots easier as well. As far as problems with pairing the D1 and 01, I have shot them together and not had an issue with the different powers negatively effecting images. My $.02
