YS-01 as slave without cable.

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Hector1959

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I am just curious for the moment. I have 2 YS-01 which I use each attached to a Seafrogs A6xxx Salted Line by Fiber optic cables.

I know I can also connect them from first to second strobe like this:
upload_2019-8-21_17-4-48.jpeg


I have tested (above water) that when strobes are more or less facing each other the 2nd fires as a slave, with no cable, when the first one is fired. But a certain alignment is necessary for the incoming light to pass thru the socket hole, so it is unpractical.
I wonder how will it work if I fix a solid core fiber optic cable (5 or 6 mm) protruding in order to allow light to reach sensor at the bottom of the socket hole?
I asked a friend to bring me from the US a few feet of 6mm solid core cable and some Loc-line segments for DIY snoot and I will make my own test but i am curious if anyone has already tried.
Regards
 
I'm curious as to why you would want to do this compared to having each strobe attached to the housing with a cable?
 
Not being attached to the housing I can place that strobe wherever I want to satisfy my lighting needs or wishes. ( I lost a Nikonos 105 that I used to fire dettached from the housing but YS-01 are not so sensitive because the sensor is at the bottom o f a hole)
examples:
1) backlighted subjects, where I just want the "glow" or the silhouette. This could also be done with long arms but it is easier to fix the light where you want and move your camera/housing independently and try differents angles.
2) using a snoot for macro. I can fix the strobe/snoot pointing to the subject avoiding that small movements of the camera puts the lights off the subject.

I have built this:
upload_2019-8-22_10-37-46.jpeg

And I planinng to place a DIY Fiber optic snoot on it. If the solution to use it without cable is not functional i can still use it attached to the housing with a long cable.

Regards
 
Fibers are very good at propagating light (very low loss) and are flexible (kind of) that's why they are used.
Water no so much. For small distances (few feet if your master strobe is strong) and if the strobes are aligned well it might work in water - but for anything more I doubt it.

Changing media and especially from fiber to water (or vice-versa) adds A LOT of loss. The reason is that since the fiber diameter is so small only a very small portion of the total light power hits the cable end and even less actually go through it to make it to the far end. No way this will work.

In theory you could make long fiber cables (they are sold very cheaply at e-bay by the meter - BTW 6mm is too much even 2-3mm work fine) - problem is how to handle/manage them underwater....

FYI I use DIY 3mm diameter clear fiber to fire my strobes. You can bend them permanently where needed by heating them (using hot air gun or boiling water). It works much more reliable than the spiral ones sold for this purpose and they cost about 1-2$ a piece compared to 60 or more $.
 
Well, I understand the possible issues. Just some precisions.
When I talked about 6mm solid core optic fiber cable I was talking of the cable I plan to use for the snoots, made of Loc-line hose with the cable passing thru. This is the cable
https://www.amazon.com/Fiber-Optic-Solid-Diameter-Overall/dp/B00IOW8SF0

It was not supposed to use to fire the strobes. But I wondered if I could place a lenght of 1/2 or 3/4 inch of this cable into the socket of the 2nd strobe like if it was an extension of the sensor in the bottom of the socket (black hole of the strobe) making easier the light to hit it.

It it were possible, I would fire a first strobe using my usual FO cable and the second strobe, detached from housing, would fire as a slave (with no cable). Anyway, if it doesnt't work I still have the option to fire using a longer cable (not 6mm but the ones I currently use).

I had a Canon G7X which I used with one YS-01 and one Nikonos 105 both fired by cable. When I bought th A6300, and before I had my second YS-01, I had to fire the Nikonos as slave with no cable since A6300 preflashes and Nikonos fired with the pre-flash when using cable. With the 2 YS-01 I had no more this problem. However, I am preparing for some type of photos where a detached strobe would be a bonus (not necesarily a must) and the Nikonos it not anymore with me.

So, that was the reason of my curious question.

regards
 
I tried it with my setup on dry land. Camera (sony A5100) without case and the build-in flash in full power pointing an the 3mm fiber that is about 20" long and ends up in my YS-02's sensor. It works for up to about 6" distance between flash and the fiber when things are kind of aligned - if not aligned it doesn't work at all. You external strobes would be stronger than my camera's build in flash but I wouldn't expect much improvement (power per area decreases very fast with distance). Maybe double that distance, triple? for this kind of distances you'd better be using cables...
You could always try things out of course...
How do you plan to pair this fiber/snoot with your strobe?
 
I think you would be pushing it to get this to work, the S&S slave sensor is not very sensitive and as you say it is recessed. INON strobes have a much better sensor and have a cable free system that they sell, don't know how good it is though.
 
Not being attached to the housing I can place that strobe wherever I want to satisfy my lighting needs or wishes.

I believe this is what remote triggers are for, example. A simple fiber strand will pick up too little light when placed away from triggering light source to be useful on its own. Unfortunately an Anglerfish costs almost as much as an entry level strobe.
 
Remote triggers are out of the equation, they cost relatively too much.
My universal solution woul be using optic fiber cables. They do not need to be too long. The only embarrassement would be that I would have to take care with movements as the flash would not be fixed by arms to the rig but just by the cable and standing on a tripod or base (as picture above).
A I said I was just curious about what would happen if a piece of solid core fiber (5 or 6 mm) "extended" the sensor out of its hole, "accepting" light rays not perfectly aligned to the socket. That would have made the set easier.
 
.
How do you plan to pair this fiber/snoot with your strobe?

Here is a schema (jus to give an idea) of what I think to build. 3D printed. One piece acts as a base to be fixed to strobe, and a second piece (with whichever configuration of snoot) to be attached to the base by some sort of coupling (bayonet, thead..) In this case I show a single loc-line hose thru which a solid 6 mm optic cable passes.
snoot para YS-01  IMP.jpg
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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