With respect to the YS-D2, Sea&Sea has not published an update to the camera compatibility chart on their web site after 2015.
With respect to the YS-D2 and the E-M1 mk II, I sent a query to Sea&Sea US where their reply was, "You may use the SEA&SEA YS-D2 strobe in either TTL, TTL II, or Manual mode. Customize Mode may be set to A."
In testing of the YS-D2 with the M1 mk II I found that the in mode A the strobe does not illuminate the status light green (e.g. TTL automatic light control completed) after the strobe fires. On the other hand if the strobe is set to mode B, the status light illuminates green. All other possible strobe modes does not illuminate the status light green after a shot in TTL mode.
With respect to resulting exposure I found that mode A yielded the most consistent exposure across aperture settings in TTL, though not completely consistent. At no time did I have blown out or dark images. Note testing the same strobe in mode A with an older E-M5 mk I, yields extremely consistent light output at every aperture setting using the same lens as used for the M1 testing, as shown in a histogram.
With the M1 mk II and the YS-D2 set to any other mode than A, including mode B (e.g. TTL light comes on in this mode), light output is very inconsistent including shots with whole frames blown out or dark.
Overall while mode A appears to yield the best results with respect to the image, it is disturbing that exposure control remains somewhat inconsistent and the green TTL automatic light control LED doesn't come on after the strobe fires. I’m concerned that the YS-D2, even when operating in the suggested customize mode “A” has differing exposures with varying aperture settings.
Has anyone else had time to test the YS-D2 with the M1 mk II? What are your results?
[Update]
I retested and found a flaw in what I was doing. In short I have concluded mode B on the YS-D2 is the correct mode for the E-M1 mk II (e.g. just like the recommendation from Sea&Sea for the E-M5 mk II).
The YS-D2 is sensitive to stray light at the fiber such that it can see it's own emission and miss the quench termination from the camera's strobe, thus causing a full dump. Some might call this a race condition. By shielding the fiber from the YS-D2's output I was able to capture multiple frames per aperture setting (constant shutter speed for the sake of testing) with consistent histograms and apparent scene illumination across all frames captured. As cited only in mode B does the strobe's status indicator show TTL regulated output after a shot.
For reference using the YS-D1 in a similar test, I was able to also obtain consistent histograms / images. While the YS-D1 appears to be less sensitive to stray light getting into its fiber pickup, it is possible for it to miss the termination of the camera's strobe, thus causing a full dump. As cited above shielding the fiber eliminated the stray full dumps and other inconsistent frames.
With respect to the YS-D2 and the E-M1 mk II, I sent a query to Sea&Sea US where their reply was, "You may use the SEA&SEA YS-D2 strobe in either TTL, TTL II, or Manual mode. Customize Mode may be set to A."
In testing of the YS-D2 with the M1 mk II I found that the in mode A the strobe does not illuminate the status light green (e.g. TTL automatic light control completed) after the strobe fires. On the other hand if the strobe is set to mode B, the status light illuminates green. All other possible strobe modes does not illuminate the status light green after a shot in TTL mode.
With respect to resulting exposure I found that mode A yielded the most consistent exposure across aperture settings in TTL, though not completely consistent. At no time did I have blown out or dark images. Note testing the same strobe in mode A with an older E-M5 mk I, yields extremely consistent light output at every aperture setting using the same lens as used for the M1 testing, as shown in a histogram.
With the M1 mk II and the YS-D2 set to any other mode than A, including mode B (e.g. TTL light comes on in this mode), light output is very inconsistent including shots with whole frames blown out or dark.
Overall while mode A appears to yield the best results with respect to the image, it is disturbing that exposure control remains somewhat inconsistent and the green TTL automatic light control LED doesn't come on after the strobe fires. I’m concerned that the YS-D2, even when operating in the suggested customize mode “A” has differing exposures with varying aperture settings.
Has anyone else had time to test the YS-D2 with the M1 mk II? What are your results?
[Update]
I retested and found a flaw in what I was doing. In short I have concluded mode B on the YS-D2 is the correct mode for the E-M1 mk II (e.g. just like the recommendation from Sea&Sea for the E-M5 mk II).
The YS-D2 is sensitive to stray light at the fiber such that it can see it's own emission and miss the quench termination from the camera's strobe, thus causing a full dump. Some might call this a race condition. By shielding the fiber from the YS-D2's output I was able to capture multiple frames per aperture setting (constant shutter speed for the sake of testing) with consistent histograms and apparent scene illumination across all frames captured. As cited only in mode B does the strobe's status indicator show TTL regulated output after a shot.
For reference using the YS-D1 in a similar test, I was able to also obtain consistent histograms / images. While the YS-D1 appears to be less sensitive to stray light getting into its fiber pickup, it is possible for it to miss the termination of the camera's strobe, thus causing a full dump. As cited above shielding the fiber eliminated the stray full dumps and other inconsistent frames.
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