Ss ys-01 & olympus z1

[griffon]

Hi folks, I can't seem to get my setup to fire the strobe in synce with the shutter. I'm kind of new to using a strobe so looking for some debug and test advice.

Camera: Olympus Xz-1
Case: pt-050
strobe: sea&sea ys-01
Connected via fiber cable to case plug hole.
I have tried a couple different camera modes. I tried blocking any extra light coming out of the front of the case. But I'm not sure how to debug by the numbers.

Flash works fine with shutter, but strobe allways fires late , both TTL and manual.

Thanks!
-Griffon

---------- Post added ----------

Hmm couple testing notes: different flash sync modes don't seem to effect it much I get maybe 1:10 try's the flash to sync. Locking the auto focus seems to make it worse, most reliable for flash sync seems to be press and pray but that is not so helpful for getting a in focus picture. Adding or removing a magic filter (wet attachment) seems to mark focus worse but the flash behavior seems static but might be worse hard to judge,

 

[mozaik]

Hi Grifon,

Please take a look at the S&S compatibility chart, this strobe is only partially compatible with your camera. Make sure you are only shooting in the supported modes , in Manual and flash sync on manual as well ( on the camera and strobe ) .

SEA&SEA |

 

[griffon]

Cool thanks though off hand this confuses me even more. Can you add some clarity setting wise? I'm shooting in the prescribed underwater modes. And even in manual rather through TTL it misfires most of the time. The randomness is what is truly aggravating for debug. How dose this relate to the compatibility if mode is correct?

XZ-1	PT-050	DS-TTL possible, with some conditions. *7	Possible	Equipped with Fiber-optic cable socket	*6 Compatible only with M/S/A/SCN (Underwater wide and Underwater macro) modes

7 says firmware update, um ok no idea how to even check that on a strobe.
Not sure if six applies to ys-01 other then shoot mode. The ys-10 comment seems to conflict with TTL support (since manual would turn it off)
*6 Compatible only with M/S/A/SCN (Underwater wide and Underwater macro) modes
Set the camera's built-in flash to manual and set the YS-110Alpha to manual 2 mode.

Camera sync modes are
slow sync off/on
sync mode 1/2
rc mode off/on

In the image modes you can set over rides for fill, powers 1/4 etc

So in that context it's not clear under *6 what manual mode refers to. I'm going to go dig out the manual again and make sure I'm not missing an idiot adjustment .

update:
Right so quick manual check says no manual flash camera setting except for setting power overide. In the menu settings we have
#Slow Choose whether to use slow shutter speeds when using the flash.
Off/On
# Sync 1/# Sync 2
# Sync
Control flash timing. (If [# Sync 1] is selected, the flash will fire immediately after the shutter opens. If [# Sync 2] is selected, the flash will fire just before the shutter closes so that moving light sources appear to be followed by streams of light.)
# RC Mode Choose whether to use a wireless flash unit.
Note that when [On] for [# RC Mode], pictures will only be taken if a wireless flash unit is available.

 

[LeeParrish]

What do you have the strobe set to for mode, manual with preflash or just manual without preflash? On my Canon G11 when in manual mode I use manual with no preflash (middle position of the switch for on positions). If I use manual with preflash on the strobe it won't fire correctly.

 

[griffon]

Well ideally I want the DS-TTL to work but I just tested with the two manual modes but the result seems the same, Flash fires out of sync most of the time, but randomly not.

 

[JackConnick]

Well ideally I want the DS-TTL to work but I just tested with the two manual modes but the result seems the same, Flash fires out of sync most of the time, but randomly not.

The XZ-1 is not compatible with the DS-TTL on the YS-01 strobe. I think it has a variable pre-flash that throws it out of sync. S&S will do a firmware upgrade (I think) but it's expensive, and I'm not even sure they're doing them here in the US.

But it will work fine in manual. Set the camera to manual flash at a low power like 1/64th or something. I also shot the camera in manual as well.
That will make it recycle very quickly. Then set the flash up I think it's to the second setting, but I can't quite remember. It works fine and is very fast. I could shoot in full RAW shots, having to wait just about 1-2 secs between shots for the strobe.

The good news is that the new YS-D1 does work fine with it as far as we can tell.

Hope that helps.

Jack

 

[griffon]

Grrr, I bought this late last year, really frustrating that function should hinge on firmware update.. I'l give their support a try maybe they can tell me based on serial number or something if it needs it needs the update.

 

[coralcruiser]

There are a lot of postings about this on the oly forum. You might want to read through some of them.

 

[MMM]

I feel your pain. Here's a link to a thread I started earlier this year on the olympus forum on same problems: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/olympus-outlet/412531-xz1-flash-settings-strobe-help.html The firmware update isn't the best solution, in my opinion, if you hope to use this strobe with any other cameras in future.

 

[herbdb]

Here is a thread with links that should answer your questions and tell you how to solve your problems.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/olympus-outlet/423809-xz-1-ys-01-strobe-syc-problems.html