YS01, YS25 and E-PL1

[divv]

Hi. I'm not sure whether to post this here or in the Olympus forum because I don't know where the fault lies.

I have a Olympus E-PL1 as well as Sea and Sea YS-01 and YS-25 Auto strobes.
I seem to not be having much luck with the YS25 and this camera (although the YS25 works perfectly with my older Canon A620 so the strobe itself functions fine).

Trying many things today I found that if I use the YS25 alone (either with or without the fiber-optic cable), it is very "hit-or-miss" as to whether or not the strobe syncs with the camera. I have tried both strobe switch positions. Occasionally it syncs but more often it doesn't.

I have also tried using it together with the YS01 and have found that if the YS01 is set to manual and the YS25 is set to power switch 1, both strobes fire.
If however I set the YS01 to TTL, the YS25 seems to not sync regardless of switch position (maybe it does intermittently but too seldom for me to have noticed).
In the attached pictures you can see what I mean; I have faced the YS25 toward the lens to see whether or not it fires.

Is there any way to get around this i.e. to be able to use the TTL function of the YS01 AND the YS25?

Other info: camera is set to Aperture priority; flash setting is on fill-in (forced); x-sync set to 160; slow sync set to 100 or 160; strobes connected via fibre optic, daisy-chained through YS01 to YS25 (I have also tried removing the daisy chain and just letting the YS25 detect the flash, but this also doesn't seem to work)

Thanks for any suggestions!!

 

[Hashsaz]

When a strobe doesn work accurately with TTL, things to consider:
- compatibility of strobe with the camera or its housing, but as you said it works with ys-01, means your housing is ttl enabled. Therefore, most probably the camera itself. Epl is categorized as dslr for Sea&sea and the strobe is commonly described that works with compact camera as it works in sense like a slave strobe. Although the camera and its housing accept slave ttl, but the strobe seems not compatible to higher range camera. This could be the problem. In this case, it still be can used with pre-flash cancellation mode, eventually u have to use it in manual mode. Not sure about the exact answer, just a thought.

- case if it works and fail sometimes, it could be affecting by various reason, such as length of fiber optic (too long) etc.

the best way to fix this, contact sea&sea helpdesk.

good luck

 

[divv]

Thanks for the input Hashsaz..
If I could justify it I'd just buy another YS01 but I guess manual mode it will have to be!

 

[Hashsaz]

Yup, to show the even light, it's better using same strobes.

 

[bvanant]

I don't think the YS25 can be run in TTL mode. AFAIK, it can only use the auto mode where the strobe sensor looks at the ambient. That being said, this strobe needs a lot of light to sync and I am sure that it will fire on the preflash of the 01 in TTL mode. I think you are stuck with manual, but that might be a good thing.

Bill

 

[Ardy]

I agree with Bill. You could try the YS 01 in TTL and put the YS 25 to slave manual at low setting and see what results you get. Still once you can use manual it solves a lot of problems but at a price of convenience. I have been messing around with TTL for the last 12 months and on balance manual is not so bad, once you have a feel for your flash output. Mind you I had 20 years shooting on manual with a film camera.

 

[gert7to3]

Swimming by a little late on this post, but divv mentioned the YS-25 was daisy chained through the YS01. Have you tried connecting the YS25 directly to the housing? You would probably use it in manual mode whilst the YS01 was operated in TTL mode.

I have disparate strobes as well. An Ikelite DS-51; S&S YS110; S&S YS25 dx.