Inon Z-240 Issue with TTL

[bobf]

Rich,

How about sharing with us your SP-350 mode settings for use with the replacement bulkhead~converter, sync cord, and external strobe(s)

......settings such as metering, flash mode...full manual, aperture priority, shutter, Program, etc......

iow, how have you set the camera up?

thanks in advance,
b

 

[rjsimp]

Rich,

How about sharing with us your SP-350 mode settings for use with the replacement bulkhead~converter, sync cord, and external strobe(s)

......settings such as metering, flash mode...full manual, aperture priority, shutter, Program, etc......

iow, how have you set the camera up?

thanks in advance,
b

If you're wondering about every setting, I'll have to go through the menu. However, to tell you how everything in this thread was shot, it was set up as full manual at a shutter speed of 1/125. I varried the aperture for each shot accordingly. The flash was set up as Sync 1 (tried Sync 2 but didn't change anything) on external flash. For the full manual flash shots, the camera flash was put in Slave mode. Metering was spot (center).

I think that covers the settings that mean anything for this test. Let me know if there is any other settings you want to know. Thanks

 

[bobf]

Rich,

thanks!

no smoking gun there.........

regards,
b

 

[rjsimp]

Okay, the two YS-110 strobes arrived just a couple of hours ago. I ran a similar test with the SP-350 to see how the TTL and the Manual works with it. I didn't try it on my D200 yet, but the SP-350 is the real issue here anyhow and I don't see any reason the D200 wouldn't work.

Since the SP-350 always seems a bit "hot" on the 0.0 EV camera setting in TTL mode with the HW converter, I always like to shoot it also with it set to -2.0 EV. Interesting enough, even the internal camera strobe on a -2.0 EV is not as consistent as the 0.0 setting. Must be something in the electronics. Since I was also hand holding the strobe and trying to hold it in the same spot, I did notice a bit of variation, but you should get the idea from the pictures.

The short answer is it WORKS! And seems to work very nice. The spotting light is a nice addition and the full manual mode is very nice also with 12 settings.

 

[Larry C]

Thanks for all your effort, Rich. It sounds like the YS-110 is an excellent fit for the popular SP-350 & Heinrichs/Weikamp combination. I'm sure that as an auto or manual set-up or with the DSLR, the Z-240 is outstanding, but if you want to shoot ttl with the SP, the YS-110 will be the way to go. I also like that, as on the Z-220, the spotting light turns off when the strobe fires, eliminating any worry of hot-spots.

 

[rjsimp]

Thanks for all your effort, Rich. It sounds like the YS-110 is an excellent fit for the popular SP-350 & Heinrichs/Weikamp combination. I'm sure that as an auto or manual set-up or with the DSLR, the Z-240 is outstanding, but if you want to shoot ttl with the SP, the YS-110 will be the way to go. I also like that, as on the Z-220, the spotting light turns off when the strobe fires, eliminating any worry of hot-spots.

Yes, I am very impressed with the power and size of the YS-110.. It is a bit shorter than the YS-90 but seems to have much better output and recycle time than the YS-90. Plus the full manual for when you want it is great to have. The YS-90 Auto Duo didn't have the full manual.

I will probably be ordering at least one more YS-110 to replace the 3 YS-90s I have.

 

[bobf]

Rich,

Thanks for the continued updates! Appreciate all the work and effort you've shared with us, including the step by step analysis.

I'm still hopeful we can find out more info regarding the test results with the HW~SP350~Z240 ménage à trois

still looking for that smoking gun
b

 

[rjsimp]

Bob, seriously I would like to know as well. However, it gets to the point of "Why?" Obviously the HW guys think it should work, but I've been down every road on this and it gets to the point of if it doesn't work relatively easyily, then I sure can't expect my wife to be able to deal with it and I am sure other people don't need the headaches.

Seems like you go with the product that works until the engineers can figure out why theirs doesn't and they make the adjustments necessary (if they are willing and able to do so.)

 

[Ryan]

While I'm a little in the dark about why the exposures are as inconsistent with the converter & HW TTL Bulkhead as they are, this isn't a situation I've had to deal with because nearly every Z-240 customer utilizes the strobe's S-TTL mode for optical TTL.

We well the Oly bulkheads as tools to allow people with older strobes to use them with their new Olympus Digicams. If someone doesn't have a strobe, and is shopping, I'd suggest they shoot S-TTL w/ either the d-2000 or Z-240, which is very accurate.

 

[rjsimp]

While I'm a little in the dark about why the exposures are as inconsistent with the converter & HW TTL Bulkhead as they are, this isn't a situation I've had to deal with because nearly every Z-240 customer utilizes the strobe's S-TTL mode for optical TTL.

We well the Oly bulkheads as tools to allow people with older strobes to use them with their new Olympus Digicams. If someone doesn't have a strobe, and is shopping, I'd suggest they shoot S-TTL w/ either the d-2000 or Z-240, which is very accurate.

The minor inconsistency was because of the metering I had the camera on. Changing it to spot metering and not center weighted changes things and makes it much more consistent. the other differences are because I am holding the strobe and actually not pointing it directly at the subject. I have since done several other shots (over 200) and tested things. I can get a series of shots that are so close to the same, you can't tell what the settings are except for the DOF changes.

On your reccomendation for using S-TTL, yes that is an option, however, the big drawback (in my mind) with optical sync is the fact that the internal camera flash has to fire. This uses the batteries much faster on the camera and also requires the camera to recycle before it can shoot again. It is much faster to shoot without this and the batteries will last for a whole dive day without a problem. With the YS-110, you have the option to go with their DS-TTL which is similar to the S-TTL also. But it will also work with true TTL.

Unless something is done for the HW converter on the SP-350, just doesn't seem to make much sense trying to force a Z-240 to work when other strobes work and without the hassles.

Of course, any help you can be with getting to the bottom of the HW issue and Z-240 would be greatly appreciated by me and I am sure others too Ryan. So maybe your connections may help. TIA!