DSR-3
Contributor
First, thanks to all for all of the good reading here when I decided to upgrade to a strobe, etc. I learned and found so much that helped me do it.
I've been shooting with my current Canon A720IS & WP-DC16 for a while, and an Oly C4020? before that. Like most here, I wanted to do better, but didn't want to set-off the Visa alarm with my wife...
I found a great Craigs List deal on a S&S YS-90TTL and YS-120TTL with cables. I bought the HW TTL adapter direct from HW, an the Loc-Line, Hardware, and Materials from McMaster Carr. The Nano-Focus light came from Adorama/eBay. I designed the system in Solidworks, I made some parts, and a friend made some. I opted to start with the single YS-90, thinking I would sell the YS-120 to recoup some costs. After the first use, I'll hold onto both strobes and try the other or both next time.
The HW adapter works as advertised, doing the TTL thing in tests above and below the water. I was amazed at how fast the strobe recycled. In most close shots, it was ready by the time I looked at the TTL/Ready lamps- way faster than the camera. The focus light seemed to work/help, though it's range is pretty low.
I used Energizer Lithium (not rechargable) batts in both cam & strobe, and made 8 dives with a few hundred shots and they are still going strong.
Shooting in full manual all of the time was new to me, and took some getting used to but was not as bad as I thought it might be. Strobe position is another new variable that takes work. I worked on feeling out the new rig the whole trip, so most of my efforts were slow or non-moving subjects with multiple settings & strobe positions.
Not everyone has access to CNC/machine tools, but my total $$ investment in the YS-90 setup shown is less than $300. I've put more pic's in my 2 new galleries.
-Eric
I've been shooting with my current Canon A720IS & WP-DC16 for a while, and an Oly C4020? before that. Like most here, I wanted to do better, but didn't want to set-off the Visa alarm with my wife...
I found a great Craigs List deal on a S&S YS-90TTL and YS-120TTL with cables. I bought the HW TTL adapter direct from HW, an the Loc-Line, Hardware, and Materials from McMaster Carr. The Nano-Focus light came from Adorama/eBay. I designed the system in Solidworks, I made some parts, and a friend made some. I opted to start with the single YS-90, thinking I would sell the YS-120 to recoup some costs. After the first use, I'll hold onto both strobes and try the other or both next time.
The HW adapter works as advertised, doing the TTL thing in tests above and below the water. I was amazed at how fast the strobe recycled. In most close shots, it was ready by the time I looked at the TTL/Ready lamps- way faster than the camera. The focus light seemed to work/help, though it's range is pretty low.
I used Energizer Lithium (not rechargable) batts in both cam & strobe, and made 8 dives with a few hundred shots and they are still going strong.
Shooting in full manual all of the time was new to me, and took some getting used to but was not as bad as I thought it might be. Strobe position is another new variable that takes work. I worked on feeling out the new rig the whole trip, so most of my efforts were slow or non-moving subjects with multiple settings & strobe positions.
Not everyone has access to CNC/machine tools, but my total $$ investment in the YS-90 setup shown is less than $300. I've put more pic's in my 2 new galleries.
-Eric
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