ys-01s with Oly xz-1: TTL??

[guyharrisonphoto]

Can these strobes do TTL with the Oly housing pt-050? I have the fiber optic cords from each flash that combine together in a single connection to the flash window in the housing. I tried setting the camera on "fill" flash which is the only auto mode that fires the flash every time, and setting the strobes to the TTL setting.

I have tested this around my house and it does not seem to yield TTL results. The photos are very underexposed. Adjusting the flash compensation does not seem to make any difference. When I change subject distance to get closer the flashes overexpose. It seems pretty clear that there is no "TTL" exposure happening.

I did notice that using the camera's control to set varying levels of manual exposure (full, 1/4, 1/16 and 1/64) did result in a corresponding decrease in the ys-01 flash output, so there does seem to be some communication between the camera and the strobes in that regard. This will be very handy underwater as there seems to be no need to use the flash manual output dials, but this is still not as handy as TTL.

Any thoughts as to why TTL does not work?

 

[SEA&SEA]

HI Guy-
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Apologies for the delay in reply. We received information back from Japan and unfortunately, the YS-110a and YS-01 strobes are not compatible with the XZ-1 in DS-TTL mode. It appears that the camera and strobe are unable to sync properly for effective DS-TTL due to timing issues.
--------
5/12 - See Jack's post below.

 

[JackConnick]

I am both a Sea & Sea as well as Olympus dealer.

I believe the above is _incorrect_.

I think the issue is that the camera flash must be set to "RC mode". Although the camera does not communicate with Olympus UW strobes in RC mode (for some un-fathomable reason), it does work with their FL-50, etc strobes in slave function when set to that mode according to the camera FAQ's.

I just was doing some seat of the pants tests here in the shop and I was getting perfect TTL, ie same exposures) when the camera was set to 1/500, 1/125/, 1/60 sec in shutter priority mode with a YS-01. There may be some modes that the camera TTL doesn't work in, but safe to say shutter and aperture priority mode does, and most likely manual.

Trick is to set the camera flash to "RC mode" though.

Sea & Sea tech: Can you check with Japan on this? Did they set the camera that way when testing??

Jack

 

[SEA&SEA]

Hi Jack-
Great thank you for the research and info. We'll send your message to Japan.

I am both a Sea & Sea as well as Olympus dealer.

I believe the above is _incorrect_.

I think the issue is that the camera flash must be set to "RC mode". Although the camera does not communicate with Olympus UW strobes in RC mode (for some un-fathomable reason), it does work with their FL-50, etc strobes in slave function when set to that mode according to the camera FAQ's.

I just was doing some seat of the pants tests here in the shop and I was getting perfect TTL, ie same exposures) when the camera was set to 1/500, 1/125/, 1/60 sec in shutter priority mode with a YS-01. There may be some modes that the camera TTL doesn't work in, but safe to say shutter and aperture priority mode does, and most likely manual.

Trick is to set the camera flash to "RC mode" though.

Sea & Sea tech: Can you check with Japan on this? Did they set the camera that way when testing??

Jack

 

[skud007]

Hi,

Did an answer come back from Japan?

Thanks

 

[SEA&SEA]

Hi-
Yes we did receive a reply as follows:
RC mode will not work with YS-01(YS-110a) DS-TTL.
The result which were reached is possibly a coincidence.

"The RC mode" is used to send the signal to other external strobes.
For example, Olympus XZ-1 flash is in RC mode, strobe itself is flashing, but not for exposure.
To send signal to external strobe, for example, FL-50R, FL-36R (both strobe are not underwater strobe) and UFL-2.
In order for the YS-01 and YS-110a to function in DS-TTL a firmware update would be required, which is not available at this time. Unfortunately, there is no information if an update will be available.

 

[JackConnick]

Yeah, I tried it some more, actually with several different strobes and available settings and it either doesn't work or is inconsistent.

And trying it with a type 3 Inon z240, I got very dark photos, not mater what strobe settings (and yes the reed switch/magnet was put in/out and didn't make any difference). It might work better with a type 4, but I couldn't test it.

This info was passed on to Olympus Japan, but haven't received a reply.

The camera does work great in manual, and the YS-02 is a less expensive option that will do the job. You can set the camera to 1/64th flash power, 2nd curtain sync, RC mode off, and get extremely fast recycle, even shooting RAW.

Jack

Jack

 

[cardog]

I have shot all of my pics with the XZ-1 in manual mode, low flash power and YS-01 strobes in ttl mode and have had perfect exposure every time......

 

[Ryan]

Ron,

Are you masking the internal flash?

Could you take a picture of the front of the flash and post it?

 

[cardog]

I have a piece of velcro covering the internal flash. The internal flash is also set at ( I think) 1/64th and these are all night dive pics.
I'm usually shooting at f8 and 125 or 250 also.....