TTL Settings for YS-D2 and Sony RX100 VII

[AllanHarr]

I have a Sony RX100-VII in an Ike housing with a pair of YS-D2 strobes. For the past year or so, I've been running full manual on both the camera and the strobes. Overall, I'm very satisfied with both the camera and the strobes. I'd like to continue to use my camera on manual settings -> but run the strobes in TTL mode. The question is, what is the appropriate strobe setting?? From what I can see in the (incredibly confusing Sea and Sea manual) is that there are two digital slave TTL settings. One is the third option on the strobe control (which illuminates the back of the strobe in a light blue color); the second is that same strobe control setting but by pushing the modeling light button, it becomes the Slave - TTL mode (which illuminates the back of the strobe in a dark blue color).

Any ideas from some Sea and Sea experts out there???

Thanks!!

Allan

 

[Nemrod]

The light blue is DS-TTL and the dark blue is slave (S)-TTL. You need to be in the S-TTL mode I think for your Sony. The DS mode is able to mimic cameras with non-standard pre-flashes. In other words, the pre-flash auto strobe exposure is like a mysterious dark hole into an Alice in Wonderland world where nothing makes sense. I think your Sony RX emits a single pre-flash from which the camera then calculates strobe exposure for the main flash to which your strobes must sync. Some cameras, may at times, emit more than one pre-flash pulse and for those you would run the DS mode. Maybe.

Sony RX and A6XXX and also the A7 series ALWAYS emit a (single) preflash no matter what mode your camera is in. Thus your strobes must be set to expect a preflash if you have them in manaul mode and if in S-TTL mode the strobe defaults to expected pre-flash. Many cameras, not Sony, can be set to not emit a pre-flash and have a manual strobe mode in which the strobe power can be set manually at pre-set steps. This is useful UW because we can set the camera strobe power low to conserve camera battery and use the camera strobe simply to trigger the external optical strobes (set in manual mode) and this is without a pre-flash. Sony sucks in that regard if I may .

 

[AllanHarr]

David-
Thank you for a well thought out, and logical approach to the question. There is always this gap, (chasm), between strobe & camera manufacturers. Everyone screams "TTL". Yet I really wonder what that logic is given optical cords cannot really sync to camera settings, (like an old school Ike set up). Is there TTL logic in the strobe itself, and if so, how does it interact with the camera?? It sounds like I should be shooting my camera in manual mode, and run the slave TTL on the strobes as you've outlined. Make sense?

 

[MrChen]

What kind of photos are you taking? In the super macro world, everyone screams manual.

 

[AllanHarr]

Most of my subjects are fish, etc. and not super macro. I have a wet dome that I pop on, and shoot close up, but rarely go super deep into macro. I work my camera in full manual mode.