Feedback on camera gear upgrades

My current setup is an olympus tg-4 in the pt-056 housing with the uwl-04 WAL and a single ys-03 strobe on a flex arm.

I like shooting WAL (CFWA) but do occasional shoot macro/portraits of subjects. It's time for a second strobe I think to get some more light into my wide angle scenes (and more even lighting) also I want to upgrade to the idas tr-03 tray, handles and arms. There are other arm options called "light weight arms" that are just a solid piece instead of honeycomb looking, does anyone know any advantage of the idas arms?

I'm also now thinking of just adding a second ys-03 strobe instead of a ys-d2. Down the road, I never see myself going into a dslr setup, about the only camera upgrade I may consider in the future is a sony rx100 iv with nauticam housing. This will give me a considerable larger sensor size than my tg-4 and more megapixels but I can retain my UWL-04 lens and ys-03s.

Thoughts on going with two ys-03s versus something like a ys-d2?

Thanks

I prefer two strobes to one. I think it allows a lot more creativity in lighting, and if you need only one, just turn the other off.

Yes, I agree that two is better than one especially for WA. I was more wondering if I would be seriously handicapping myself by going with dual ys-03s (less power, TTL only) versus adding a ys-d2 to go with my single ys-03 and then eventually adding a second ys-d2.

The D2s are more powerful and have more capability but seem less reliable, of course you are more likely to hear the bad stories versus all the people without issues with the strobes. But there is far less that can go wrong/fail on a ys-03 than a d2.

I'm a beginner so there might be considerations I'm unaware of, so looking for opinions. Thanks

Hi!

I though it just worth making the point that while, yes, two strobes are better than one, you don't always need two strobes for a wide-angle shot.

My experience, using Inon Z240 strobes, is that you can never "light" a wide-angle shot with strobes - even two of them. You need, I'd suggest, to expose for ambient light and use strobe(s) to highlight one specific part of the reef or wreck. I'd suggest something particularly colourful.

I often find that this means I've got both my strobes on the same side of the housing aimed at a relatively small patch of reef. I sometimes find I turn off a strobe if I don't use both one the same side - rather than having it shooting out into the blue and lighting particulant.

So, yep, two strobes are more versatile than one. But you can make one work if you pick the right composition.

Thanks for the feedback, Tim.

There are shots where it seems I didn't get the foreground fully covered, which might be more I don't have my strobe positioned well but I guess I'm assuming a second strobe might alleviate some of the uneven foreground lighting.

I'm pretty convinced I need better arms than the flex arm though... it just seems that the more I adjust my strobe by bending the flex arm the sooner the "weak" mount to the tray is going to fail.

Yep, pretty annoying if the arms keep bending!

Unlike most of u/w photo gear, arms can be one of the few things you only need buy once - or maybe twice for you!

When I started out back in the mists of time, I was recommended to get ULCS. 17 or so years later they are still going strong and have done well over 1400 dives. Well worth a look if you're in the market and they're often on sale in the Classifieds.

Yep, a second strobe may well help spread the light and illuminate the foreground. But, as I say, I can recommend using a lot of ambient light metering - and then the strobes as a highlighter.

It all depends upon where you are and where you want to go.

I agree that a flex arm is less than optimal (IMHO). So is a TTL only strobe (IMHO). But these are just opinions. Many people are totally happy with these choices. Will their limitations work for you?

1) My early Amphibico video housing used a flex arm for my video light. I learned to hate it. Not because it flopped around, (it did) but because it bent anywhere and everywhere. Consistently aiming the light was impossible. An arm and ball system only bends at the end of the each arm. Fewer places to bend, better aiming. But this is a bit of a religion thing. Try both systems, make your own decision.

2) YS-03 == TTL only strobe!There are several things to consider:

- will you ever want to go manual?

- does your TTL really work? or at least well enough for you to be happy?

Are you happy with flex arms?

Are you happy with TTL only...?