First dives with E-PL3 -- flash sync problems

[ProfF]

Hi All,

I am spending a week in a marine biology class and managing to "sneak" about a dive a day, with the aim of getting experience with the new camera. Setup is NA-EPL3 + two Sea & Sea strobes (YS110a and YS-01) with optical cable.

One immediate problem that I run into is that the camera seems to loose sync with the strobes. The strobes are set up in TTL mode, the camera is manual (Say T = 1/100, F = 5.6) with fill-in flash mode. The phenomna is that I start taking pictures and the strobes work fine, and then at some point the images do not include the strobes (the strobes fire, but image does not include them, and thus the suspicion that the synchronization is lost). So far the relative location of the strobes does not seem to matter, nor the exposure time. This is not pre-flash problem, as I get a series of images correctly lit and then suddenly the camera looses it.

So far, turning the camera on/off seem to solve the problem some of the times. But I don't have good idea why this happens. Would appreciate suggestions (so that I can try them in the dives the next few days).


Thanks!

-Nir

 

[brucetrinity]

Hi All,



One immediate problem that I run into is that the camera seems to loose sync with the strobes. The strobes are set up in TTL mode, the camera is manual (Say T = 1/100, F = 5.6) with fill-in flash mode. The phenomna is that I start taking pictures and the strobes work fine, and then at some point the images do not include the strobes (the strobes fire, but image does not include them, and thus the suspicion that the synchronization is lost). So far the relative location of the strobes does not seem to matter, nor the exposure time. This is not pre-flash problem, as I get a series of images correctly lit and then suddenly the camera looses it.

So far, turning the camera on/off seem to solve the problem some of the times. But I don't have good idea why this happens. Would appreciate suggestions (so that I can try them in the dives the next few days).


Thanks!

-Nir

I'm assuming you are using two fiber optic cables (one for each strobe) and both strobes are TTL ( neither is a slave). Since the strobes fire, it does sound like you have lost TTL and they are firing early (off the preflash/TTL burst). For a start, you might try switching "fill-in" to "full" to eliminate the possibility of a weak signal.

 

[ProfF]

I'm assuming you are using two fiber optic cables (one for each strobe) and both strobes are TTL ( neither is a slave). Since the strobes fire, it does sound like you have lost TTL and they are firing early (off the preflash/TTL burst). For a start, you might try switching "fill-in" to "full" to eliminate the possibility of a weak signal.

Indeed two optic cables (one inon L-type and one souped up from hoslink(?) cable). Both strobes are in TTL mode, but I tried them in slave mode with similar problem. I suspect this is due to how the camera flash operates, but as I suspected the manual is not very helpful. I did search for the flash control menu options but didn't find any useful ones, but maybe I missed what is going.

Thanks!

 

[gstrek]

I shoot an E-PL1 in its Olympus housing with a single S&S YS-01 strobe. The camera is set to manual (1/125, f/8, fill in flash, ISO 200) with fresahly charged batteries in camera and strobe. The YS-01 is set to TTL and full output. The strobe on the E-PL1 is popped up.

There is at least one other camera flash setting that you want to check and make sure is off - RC Mode. If it is ON, it may enable some features you don't want and cannot use with the S&S.

As I am holding the camera in shooting position, flash is on the left, the fiber cable is from the outboard (left) fiber port on the housing to the black port on the strobe. According to the YS-01 manual, a second strobe would be connected to the clear port of the YS-01 (not the camera housing second port).

After I kit up inside, I take a test shot in the mirror to make sure I see the strobe having fired in the exposed shot (a very hot spot). There have been a few times I forgot to pop up the flash, something I don't want to discover under water and I don't want to open the housing on the boat. This also has helped me asses which mode my YS-01 needs to be set to.

This may very well be a question that you could post in the S&S forum.

 

[ProfF]

I shoot an E-PL1 in its Olympus housing with a single S&S YS-01 strobe. The camera is set to manual (1/125, f/8, fill in flash, ISO 200) with fresahly charged batteries in camera and strobe. The YS-01 is set to TTL and full output. The strobe on the E-PL1 is popped up.

There is at least one other camera flash setting that you want to check and make sure is off - RC Mode. If it is ON, it may enable some features you don't want and cannot use with the S&S.

As I am holding the camera in shooting position, flash is on the left, the fiber cable is from the outboard (left) fiber port on the housing to the black port on the strobe. According to the YS-01 manual, a second strobe would be connected to the clear port of the YS-01 (not the camera housing second port).

After I kit up inside, I take a test shot in the mirror to make sure I see the strobe having fired in the exposed shot (a very hot spot). There have been a few times I forgot to pop up the flash, something I don't want to discover under water and I don't want to open the housing on the boat. This also has helped me asses which mode my YS-01 needs to be set to.

This may very well be a question that you could post in the S&S forum.

Gary,

Thanks for the informative reply. The setting I use are basically identical (RC mode is off). I will try to connect the YS110a to the YS01 clear port. However, I suspect that the problem is the camera. When I do a test shot on land things work fine, and I cannot recreate the problem right now...

-Nir

 

[gstrek]

Gary,

Thanks for the informative reply. The setting I use are basically identical (RC mode is off). I will try to connect the YS110a to the YS01 clear port. However, I suspect that the problem is the camera. When I do a test shot on land things work fine, and I cannot recreate the problem right now...

-Nir

Please post what you discover. I believe that the fiber cable sends a 2 way signal that quenches the internal strobe a the appropriate time. My guess is that a second cable for the second strobe may be throwing off the internal strobe synch. Probably not an issue if using the Oly strobes (most likely using the RC mode).

 

[pennywise]

Please post what you discover. I believe that the fiber cable sends a 2 way signal that quenches the internal strobe a the appropriate time. My guess is that a second cable for the second strobe may be throwing off the internal strobe synch. Probably not an issue if using the Oly strobes (most likely using the RC mode).

Did my first dive with the E-PL3 last Sunday with 2 Inon Strobes. Both firing all the time.... cam flash set to fill in and strobes on S-TTL. Done the same with our E-PL1; working perfectly ok.
Got a few friends with same set up as you're using; no probs either! So... yes, cam looks suspect!

 

[cardog]

Problem solved with mine. Faulty fiber optic cable was the problem......

 

[brucetrinity]

Gary,

Thanks for the informative reply. The setting I use are basically identical (RC mode is off). I will try to connect the YS110a to the YS01 clear port. However, I suspect that the problem is the camera. When I do a test shot on land things work fine, and I cannot recreate the problem right now...

-Nir

There seems to be a misunderstanding about RC Mode. RC Mode is Wireless TTL .... RC Mode must be set to ON for wireless (fiber optic). If RC Mode is set to OFF the camera will NOT communicate TTL commands to the remote strobe (the YS-01) thru the fiber optic cable. If RC Mode is OFF it will behave like a non-RC body (such as an e-500) which can do standard (not wireless) TTL. Wireless TTL communicates instructions to the remote strobe by including signals during/instead-of pre-flash. The S & S YS-01 should be set to TTL using the strobe Mode switch and RC Mode should be set to ON in the E-PL1/2/3 control panel.

If you have RC Mode to Off you are NOT doing wireless TTL.

Yes .... I have confirmed this on my E-PL1 and my UFL-2 .... if the UFL-2 is set to RC mode and the E-PL1 is set to RC = ON the strobe will fire and do TTL .... if the UFL-2 is set to RC mode and the E-PL1 is set to RC = OFF the strobe will NOT fire.

No .... I do not have a YS-01. However, the YS-01 mimics the UFL-2 wireless TTL function and should do the same thing.

See Jack's Olympus Underwater Guide at Optical Ocean Sales for the e-pl1 http://opticaloceansales.com/files/guide_E-PL1.pdf .... assume camera instructions as if you had the UFL-2.

I think you need to start over with the correct modes in the YS-01 and the E-PL3 and see what happens.

BTW, the YS-01 manual is here: http://www.seaandsea.com/PDF_manuals/YS01.pdf and specifies TTL setting using the Mode switch (page E-10).

For some detail on the camera strobe setup options look here near the bottom of the page: E-PL1 flash

 

[cardog]

There seems to be a misunderstanding about RC Mode. RC Mode is Wireless TTL .... RC Mode must be set to ON for wireless (fiber optic). If RC Mode is set to OFF the camera will NOT communicate TTL commands to the remote strobe (the YS-01) thru the fiber optic cable. If RC Mode is OFF it will behave like a non-RC body (such as an e-500) which can do standard (not wireless) TTL. Wireless TTL communicates instructions to the remote strobe by including signals during/instead-of pre-flash. The S & S YS-01 should be set to TTL using the strobe Mode switch and RC Mode should be set to ON in the E-PL1/2/3 control panel.

If you have RC Mode to Off you are NOT doing wireless TTL.

Yes .... I have confirmed this on my E-PL1 and my UFL-2 .... if the UFL-2 is set to RC mode and the E-PL1 is set to RC = ON the strobe will fire and do TTL .... if the UFL-2 is set to RC mode and the E-PL1 is set to RC = OFF the strobe will NOT fire.

No .... I do not have a YS-01. However, the YS-01 mimics the UFL-2 wireless TTL function and should do the same thing.

See Jack's Olympus Underwater Guide at Optical Ocean Sales for the e-pl1 http://opticaloceansales.com/files/guide_E-PL1.pdf .... assume camera instructions as if you had the UFL-2.

I think you need to start over with the correct modes in the YS-01 and the E-PL3 and see what happens.

BTW, the YS-01 manual is here: http://www.seaandsea.com/PDF_manuals/YS01.pdf and specifies TTL setting using the Mode switch (page E-10).

For some detail on the camera strobe setup options look here near the bottom of the page: E-PL1 flash

The E-PL2 flash should be set to "FILL" not to "RC". The YS-01 and the Inon strobes will fire in sTTL in manual, aperture and shutter priority using the fiber optic cables(s).
With the YS-01 you can tell that the ttl is working when the light is green on the strobe after you take the shot.