D100 + YS90DXs

A friend of mine wants to get a pair of YS90DXs to use with his D100 (ISO200 camera). She is a big fan of wide angle and big fish photography.

I don't know much about the current Sea and Sea strobe range and I am unsure how suitable the relatively small YS90DX is for this sort of photography.

I would be very grateful of any opinons and even some example shots.

Alex

Hi Alex,

I have used YS90 strobes with my D100 and found them to produce reasonably good wide angle coverage. I usually shoot with a pair of SB-105 strobes and find the YS90's to have about half the power.

For example, here is a shot of a very large room in a cave illuminated by 2 YS90's on full power, no diffusers, using a 16mm fisheye lens.

As you can see the coverage is reasonable, and actually had much better penetration than I expected.

I don't have any very good examples of single strobe coverage, but here is an example of a Single YS90 (because only one was working :wink: ), full power, no diffuser, using the same 16 mm lens as above.

I'm used to shooting with my SB-105's, so I tend to underexpose my shots when I'm using the YS-90's. Here is an example of the only real "big fish" shot I have taken with a single YS-90 on full power with very low viz and again, with no natural light (Sixgill shark):

I personally like my other strobes better, but think the YS90's do a good job.

Boydski

Hi Alex, here's a shot with two YS90's taken in Coz with a diver for scale. The diver was fairly close to this huge sponge so I thought the coverage is pretty good. Possibly a bit of forced perspective with the dome. I did have the diffusers on.

Thanks guys for sharing your info and such nice images. Cool sixgill ;-)

Please could you also share the EXIF data (well actually just the aperture and ISO used) so I can judge the power of the guns.

Thanks.

Alex

Sorry, f7 @ 1/125 ISO 100 Oly C4040. My guess is full power. Not sure.

The first shot is f2.8 1/100 second ISO 400 (it was seriously dark in those caves!)

Second shot is f3.5 1/125 second ISO 200, single strobe.

Third shot is f6.3 1/100 second ISO 100, single strobe, Olympus camera.

Boydski

By coincidence I am selling my 2 90dx's. Should your conclusions be to get them PM or email me if you are interested.

I will search for some examples when time permits. I did not shoot many WA shots while I had them due to the locations I was at. I have one example but do not have the settings handy.

Boydski, thanks for those numbers - that certainly makes the strobe performance a bit less impressive considering you had the aperture openned right up to get your shots (the shots are still very impressive).

Todd nice shot. So why are you are you selling them? Do you find the Inons much better?

Thanks,

Alex

Boydski, thanks for those numbers - that certainly makes the strobe performance a bit less impressive considering you had the aperture openned right up to get your shots (the shots are still very impressive).  

 

Todd nice shot. So why are you are you selling them? Do you find the Inons much better?

 

Thanks,

 

Alex

I knew you would ask that.

The main reasons I switched was the travel size of the Inon's appealed to me especially since I was converting to a DSLR Kit and felt space and weight may be an issue.

The second reason I switched was recycle time. The Inon's recycle faster than the 90dx's which I felt important for shooting sharks (something I prefer to shoot). The rate of speed at which they move. For reef scenics and slower moving subjects the recycle time was a non issue.

I was debating the angle of coverage with Andy Sallmon (a rep) and he states the angle is the same. I feel that there was about a stop more power to the Inon's and I preferred the light from them based on what I had seen from Herb and Craig while on our trip.(I think Herb has also stated this in the past)

My understanding with the Inon's is that they have given some grief to those trying to get them to work with TTL. (Aquatica) I don't have much more knowledge in this area but have seen threads discussing the possible reasons for this.

They are a great strobe just a couple things that made me prefer the Inon's/ I prefer the price of the 90dx's as compared to the Inon's though.

And, thank you on the positive shot comment.

Have a look at Gazzer's test posted here:

http://wetpixel.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-5591.phtml

His results are consistant with my brief, qualitative tests when I owned both strobes.

Boydski, thanks for those numbers - that certainly makes the strobe performance a bit less impressive considering you had the aperture openned right up to get your shots (the shots are still very impressive). Thanks, Alex

Thanks Alex,

I have to agree. I have pretty much relegated my YS90's to my backup camera, but they do a fine job as a backup.

Boydski

Thanks for all the feedback and honesty. Is anyone going to speak out strongly in favour of the YS90DX? So far I get the feeling that the consensus is that it is a good strobe, well priced, but a bit outgunned by some of its rivals. In terms of my friend's needs it may not be the best choice for her.

Alex

Thanks Herb for reminding me of Gazzer's tests. I have re-downloaded the pdf.

On one occassion, one of my YS120's developed a problem and I had to use a friends YS90 as my 2nd strobe....with both strobes at half power, the side with the 90DX was definitely darker...easily by 1 stop....I'd only use the 90's as backup, better to have some light than none, but am now getting a 3rd YS120.

Stu

I have just recently entered the realm of digital underwater photography and own a YS120, YS50 and an Ikelite MS50 used with my other film camera housings.

I recently bought a D70 and Sea&Sea housing.

I too have been looking at the YS90DX as it has more control over light output.

On my recent dive trip I used the YS120 on half power with the diffusser but still found many shots overexposed.

For Macro I used to always have the strobe positioned a palmwidth above the port, but I find this is too close with the YS120 on the above settings so have been experimenting to use it in a higher position.

Incidentally coverage of the 120 is 105x105 and the 90 is 105x95