I bought a pair in June 2019
I was driven by the decision after seeing the retra strobe tests. After careful analysis I concluded that the YS-D2J were the best value for money and appropriate fit for my Panasonic GH5. I was aware of the history of issues and faults and I relied on the fact the product was quite mature at the time I bought it.
Due to covid I have only done 6 trips and a handful of local dives. I can report that the strobes have been working (so far touch wood) flawlessy. The ergonomics are great and they are fairly light and almost neutral. I have used them in TTL initially and then with the nauticam store trigger. Always with the 100 degrees diffuser and at times with ambient light filters
The strobes have never let me down and never went into error or lock. I presume this has to do with the fact that using a micro four third camera my smallest aperture for wide angle is f/10 which I use for sunburst and split shots and therefore I am normally at 11 to 22 on the strobe power dial. In some occasions I fire them at full power for big wide angle scenes
They do not have the same gradual fall off of the retra however they do their job well in all conditions and I like the fact that with a flat front I can easily insert filters
Recently I have been shooting mantas at 24 meters judge for yourself the quality of light looking at this post
View archived post in: Baa Atoll Maldives 2 of 3 Mantas Only
It is unfortunate that the product had flaws at launch and even more unfortunate that the YS-D3 has cooler light temperature and that awful black ring that no doubt will reduce the angle of coverage
I would definitly recommend this product to any MFT or APSC user. For full frame shooting at f/16 I do think this strobe has not enough headroom and may lock up for temperature issues. Unfrotunately the plastic material and flat front make heat dissipation very difficult and when the reflector heats up the protection system kicks in. I would think OneUW or Seacam or Retra or other strobes with more powerful bulb and metal body would be my choice if I was a full frame user but for cropped sensor the strobes are incredible and I much prefer the color rendition to my Z240 which I have used until I replaced them with this set
I pray every trip that the strobes would not fail but I know the performance is just great and I see no reason to change. I say this until probably they will lock or fail and then I will be very angry hahahah
