Strobe for Olympus TG-2

[james_bond_007]

I am new to Underwater Photography. I have acquired an Olympus TG-2, housing, and a Sea and Sea YS-01 strobe.

From what I have read, the YS-01 will not operate in TTL mode with the TG-2.

I have tested it in SLAVE manual mode, though, and it seems to function properly.

I have read (on this board) that I can send it in and get the firmware changed to operate in TTL, but the cost makes this impractical.

1) I am looking to acquire a 2nd strobe and was wondering if I the YS-03 would function in TTL mode with my TG-2 ?

2) I found this sheet that talks about camera compatibility with some S&S strobes, but the YS-03 is not listed. Is there one for the YS-03 ?

2) Could I then connect the YS-01 to the strobe sync output port of the YS-03 (if the YS-03 does TTL with my camera)?

3) Should I not worry and just learn to use the YS-01 with my TG-2 in manual mode (I kind of would like to have both the TTL and Manual options, though) ?

4) Is there a different strobe that is more suited for my camera (If so, I could sell the YS-01 I currently own) ?

 

[KeithG]

1) likely, the ys-03 works with the tg-4 (at least it is being sold as a package) - send an email to some of the camera distributors
this link Setting Up the Olympus TG-4 Camera and Sea & Sea YS-03 Strobe Packageprovides some hints on getting the ys-01 to work with the tg-4. maybe the same magic will work with your tg-2? but this may not provide ttl?

2) i have not seen an updated sheet (and no idea why they still list ys110)

2) connecting the ys-01 to a ys-03 will not alter the behaviour of the ys-01. the strobes are operating as optical slaves and simply mimicing the on / off pattern of your camera onboard flash. daisy chaining does not alter this (other than to introduce some time delays to the next strobe and maybe less consistent operation?)

3) you should try your setup in ttl mode at home and learn "what" does not work. it is not supposed to work in manual mode but it seems your does. maybe it already has the firmware upgrade? sometimes "not work" means consistently overexposing or consistently underexposing. these conditions can be treated by changing your camera exposure settings. if you are slightly over exposing then you can turn the dial down on the ys-01
you can still use manual mode as a fallback.

4) the "ideal" strobe would be the olympus ufl-3 as it has olympus flash internals and supports the special olympus RC mode of ttl flash control. but that is likely over kill. and kind of useless for anything but an olympus camera.

 

[KeithG]

and check out this post Strobe Decisions... ...help!

it confirms the magic should work, you just have to perform it EVERY time you turn on the camera...

 

[james_bond_007]

Thanks for the reply, giffenk.

CAMERA SETTINGS
Flash: SLV
Mode: A (Aperture Priority) Am I incorrect to call this 'Manual' ?
Aperture: 2.0, 2.8, 8.0 (Selectable)
Shutter Speed: Supposedly varies with the chosen aperture
but shows as 1/30 (Stays at this value for all aperture settings)

Note: Covering Camera Flash with tape to ensure lighting is from Strobe
Note: With these settings, I do not get any camera Pre-Flash
Note: the 'Underwater' modes are recommended as Snapshot, Wide 1 & 2, and Macro
TG-2 Manual located here

YS-01 SETTINGS
Mode Switch: Z (best I could do to show ONE Lightning Bolt, non-TTL)
Light Level: Full (Although I can go from Min to Full and the strobe responds with Weak to Strong output, accordingly)

I have been taking pictures of my strobe. My assumption is that if I can consistently photograph my strobe, it is firing at the correct time.
YS-01 manual located here

 

[james_bond_007]

and check out this post Strobe Decisions... ...help!

it confirms the magic should work, you just have to perform it EVERY time you turn on the camera...

I have read all those articles a few times. I [believe] I understand what is being said for the TG-4.

There are subtle differences between the TG-2 and TG-4, and I don't know all of them.
For example,
1)when I turn my camera off (and I verifued it by pulling the battery), it powered up in A mode and with flash set to SLV.
2) I don't have an Underwater HDR mode
3) I do not have RAW mode


It comes down to this.
I want to get a 2nd strobe.
I'd like the option to use TTL or A-mode. (Right now I can only use A-mode)
I am not sure what config is best (2 YS-1's, 2 YS-3's, 1 YS1 1YS-3 or something else).

 

[KeithG]

You are shooting in automatic camera mode and manual flash mode. Camera mode and flash mode are different things. TTL is a flash mode. A is a camera mode (Your camera only has automatic camera modes, no manual camera modes possible) With the proper flash / flash settings you can shoot TTL in A mode.

Putting the camera flash to SLV (slave) mode is selecting a manual flash control (distinct from the camera mode) instead of TTL flash control.

What results do you get when you select "fill in flash" (which is a TTL flash mode) and then put the strobe in TTL mode?

If fill in flash does not work, then you can not use YS-01 for TTL flash with your camera, only manual flash. You will need different strobes for TTL.

 

[james_bond_007]

You are shooting in automatic camera mode and manual flash mode. Camera mode and flash mode are different things. TTL is a flash mode. A is a camera mode (Your camera only has automatic camera modes, no manual camera modes possible) With the proper flash / flash settings you can shoot TTL in A mode.

Putting the camera flash to SLV (slave) mode is selecting a manual flash control (distinct from the camera mode) instead of TTL flash control.

What results do you get when you select "fill in flash" (which is a TTL flash mode) and then put the strobe in TTL mode?

If fill in flash does not work, then you can not use YS-01 for TTL flash with your camera, only manual flash. You will need different strobes for TTL.

Thank you
Let me go gather some data to reply to this post.

Regarding manual mode, I agree with what you are saying regarding A-Priority and Manual. From my 35mm SLR days, Manual meant 'Set the Shutter Speed AND Set the Aperture by hand'. I had seen the 'Manual Mode' tossed around in various articles and manuals that I thought maybe since it was not just 'Point and Click' they were calling A-mode manual mode...but you pointed out that they are not. From what I read, the TG-4 has no Manual mode either.

 

[JackConnick]

The TTL on the YS-03 works very well with the TG-3/4. We've never tested it with the TG-2, but it should be ok.

 

[KeithG]

Thank you
Let me go gather some data to reply to this post.

Regarding manual mode, I agree with what you are saying regarding A-Priority and Manual. From my 35mm SLR days, Manual meant 'Set the Shutter Speed AND Set the Aperture by hand'. I had seen the 'Manual Mode' tossed around in various articles and manuals that I thought maybe since it was not just 'Point and Click' they were calling A-mode manual mode...but you pointed out that they are not. From what I read, the TG-4 has no Manual mode either.

Agreed - Coming from a land film background (mostly high speed sports) I had a hard time learning "scuba photography". I finally realized it was mainly because some (many, most) people mixed different concepts together and confused themselves (and others). There is no new physics or laws of nature. Just way more marketing buzzwords and lots of fud.

Put your 35mm brain on and try out a few TTL experiments and let us know the results. The info I have read is "it does not work", but I have not read any hard facts about what that really means. We are mostly here to learn things. Your results will help us learn something.

If your strobe never fires, or randomly fires, or consistently fires with random power output, then you are screwed. If you discover a consistent mode of "poor" operation, then there may be some adjustments you can take to fix the problem.

For example: TTL on my first scuba setup worked pretty good in most situations, except it had a 100% failure rate when shooting in bright light on a sandy bottom - it always way overexposed - seen pink sand before?. It took a while to figure that one out.

 

[james_bond_007]

I have played a bit more and found the following to be true.
1) If in A-mode, the flash will stay in SLV mode even after being powered off.
2) If SLV was set in A mode, changing to a different Mode changes the flash mode to FILL IN (ONE lightning bolt)
3) If SLV was set in A mode, changing to a different Mode changes the flash mode to FILL IN (ONE lightning bolt) but
changing back to A mode 'remembers' the camera was in SLV, and sets the flash back to SLV.
4) If SLV was set in Scene Mode (Snapshot, Wide1, Wide 2, Macro) and Super Macro mode it is turned to FILL IN

a) When Powering off
b) When changing to another camera Mode or SubModes within SCN​

5) Wide 1, Snapshot, Supermacro SYNC when using the SLV flash
6) Wide 2, does NOT FLASH when using SLV flash
7) FILL IN Flash mode does sync with the camera.

Q: To address your question "What results do you get when you select "fill in flash" (which is a TTL flash mode) and then put the strobe in TTL mode?"
A: Flash Fires and SYNCS. Flash level control has no effect on flash brightness/power.

Summary:
So A mode 'remembers' the SLV, after Power Off and Mode Switches.
None of the other modes 'remembers' the SLV and reverts to FillIn mode.
Wide 2 seems to not allow flash. (I need to re-verify this).