What kind of strobe for a noobie?

[Hcklo]

Hi divers, I just bought a tg6 and I never did any kind of photography in my life. I want to purchase a strobe for my new camera and was wondering if you could make any advice or recommendation. Is the ys03 a good choice ? The fact that it is only ttl will be a problem in my evolution? What would you reccomend ? (I dont have a no limit budget but I am between the ys 03 and the 01. Maybe there is other options?)

Thank you for your time and your answers !

 

[JackConnick]

The Sea & Sea YS-03 set is a great option, easy to use, good power and the set with the tray and sync cord has everything you need at a great price. The tray and arm have been recently improved.

The other strobe to look at is the Inon s2000, which has about the same power, but a higher build quality, manual as well as S-TTL (perhaps a bit more accurate than the S&S). However it is more expensive. We've assembled a high-quality Inon s2000 set with a Kraken flexarm tray.

 

[FezUSA]

I started with the 1st kit that Jack mentions. Was very happy with it for the most part. I started to dislike the flex arm due to it being squeaky and getting stiffer to operate. This was after 3-4 years where I would use it for about 15 -20 dives each year. I also started to experience issues where the flash wouldn't always fire. Sometimes this was my human error, was catching the on/off switch when positioning the strobe, other times I'm not sure why I didn't get the results I normally got.

I now have a tray with twin arms/joints and 2 x S2000's. I've only used them with my TG-4 in S-TTL mode earlier this year on a trip to Bali. Was very happy with how they worked and my results.

My preference if I was in your position would be to go with the S2000. As Jack says, it has manual and S-TTL mode. If you ever upgrade your camera or get to the point where you want more control over your flash then it can handle it. If you get the right tray you can also easily add a 2nd light and arms without having to buy a bigger tray. With the YS-03 kit that's much harder to do.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

I use two YS-01's and was never impressed with the TTL ability of these strobes. If I were to do it again I would opt for the S2000's (anyone want to purchase a couple ys-01's?) The S&S strobes are also very fussy about the quality of fiber optic cables you use, so far I have only been able to get good results with the OEM S&S cables at the ridiculous price of $80 a piece. The only issue I see with the S2000's is the control buttons are miniscule, forget using them with dry gloves. Although the controls on the YS strobes are not huge they are certinably workable with dry gloves.

 

[Chris Ross]

TTL tends to be camera specific as the strobe should only be doing what the camera tells it to.

Having said that the TG-6 has the option for manual flash and really getting a flash that has a manual option will avoid you buying a different one down the line. Manual is not as hard as it sounds, if you fix ISO and aperture on the camera, and get close like you should be then the flash exposure should remain the same as the other variable of distance from strobe to subject will not vary that much to impact exposure. The ability to use manual and the good slave sensor would steer me towards the S-2000. It's more expensive than the YS-03 but that's apples and oranges- the YS-01 is the apples and apples comparison and it's more expensive.

 

[dirtfarmer]

I started out with a s-2000 and have since moved to 2 YS-02. Both have TTL but I've always preferred manual. I went with the YS-02 because they have more power for wide angle than the S-2000. I'd stay away from TTL only as it limits you to that. The thing with strobes is you might scale up you camera choice after a few years but if you make the right strobe choice they can go thru that progression with you. You can find lots of YS-02s for sale used if budget is a factor. ( I started with one then added another)

 

[Hcklo]

Hey guys thank you so much for such answers and advices ! It is a pleasure to receive all of those information ! After looking at your comments it seems that I should go for a s2000, it's quite hard to find in australia but I will end finding one!

What about the tray ? I saw that Jack reccomend me the kraken one, would you reccomend the ball mounting or the ys arm one ?

I definitely know that is a preference thing but is really hard to buy one of those without having them in the front for a trial (and I am in a very lost place in australia..)

Thank you for your help and your patience!

 

[JackConnick]

We can easily ship to you in Oz.

 

[Hcklo]

Unfortunately the prices of the delivery are really huge.. almost 100usd thanks for all the help !

 

[Barmaglot]

Unfortunately the prices of the delivery are really huge.. almost 100usd

Nitescuba on Aliexpress has them with free shipping. I've placed several orders with them, including a fairly expensive close-up lens, no issues.