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Sea & Sea YS-03 Review and Test Shots
Sea & Sea have recently released the new strobe on their YS Line – the YS-03 Auto TTL Strobe. We took it out for a test run and we were very happy with the results!
About the YS-03
Sea & Sea strobes need no introduction. The popular YS-01 and YS-D1 along with the YS-250PRO have been leading the market for quite some time and are known as reliable and high quality strobes, both for DSLR users and compacts.
Up until now, Sea & Sea have offered the fully manual YS-02, offering the same features as the YS-01 , but without TTL, for a lower price range. Sea & Sea have decided to discontinue that model and replace it with a different approach – the YS-03. A fully automatic, single mode strobe (TTL Only), using the same body as the YS-01 (Guide number 20, 100 deg beam angle), packaged with a great universal tray, flex arm AND fiber optic cable, for only $350. A very affordable price without a doubt.
Many customers are reluctant to use a fully automatic strobe, since it might deprive them of certain options, but we will show you that doesn’t have to be the case.
Controls and Features
One single switch. That’s all you need. Off / On. Or more precisely – Off / TTL. Let the strobe work its magic.
Specs
| Guide Number (ISO 100/m) (land) | 20 |
| Beam Angle | 100 x 100 (with diffuser 110 x 110) |
| Batteries | 4xAA A: 6V Ni-MH: 4.8V |
| Number of Flashes | A: 230 Ni-MH: 330 |
| Recycle time (full) | A: 3.1 sec. Ni-MH: 2.5 sec. |
| Color temperature | 5600K |
| Color temperature w/diffuser | 5250K |
| Depth rating | 75m / 250ft |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 68x108x129mm / 2.7×4.3×5.2inches |
| Weight | 430g / 15.0oz (w/o batteries) * Fixing bolt fitted |
| Underwater weight | Approx. +10g / 0.4oz(w/ batteries) |
| Others | – Exposure control: Slave TTL – Slave function – Auto power OFF function – Sync cord: Fiber-Optic Cable – Over-pressure relief valve |
Performance
The strobe is engineered to mimic your internal flash (or the master flash). It automatically identified whether a pre-flash has been fired or not, so it supports a vast array of cameras. It is said to fit all cameras with an internal flash.
We tested it out above water at first, with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 set to manual mode, fixed the ISO on 200 and shutter speed at 1/250, and we set the Flash mode to TTL of course.
This is what we got when changing apertures:
As you can clearly see, these are perfect results. We tested it out with a few more cameras and a few more situations and kept getting perfect exposure time after time. That is very impressive. It easily out-performed the YS-01 which is known to have some compatibility issues with certain camera models on TTL mode, which is why many use it on manual, but the YS-03 TTL is a great technological improvement and gets it right every time.
Underwater Samples
Manual Operation
Wait a minute… You just said it’s TTL only! Isn’t it?
Well yes, BUT, most cameras have some control over flash output, whether it’s flash exposure compensation (-2 to +2) or actual flash output (1/64,1/32, 1/2 etc…). The YS-03 will imitate that power perfectly, allowing you some level of control over the power output! That’s a nice trick…
Another easy method of getting manual control, is using a second strobe such as the YS-01 or YS-D1 on manual mode and syncing the YS-03 directly from that one. That will get you 2 strobes on manual mode with just one switch. Even better than 2 manual strobes 🙂
Bottom Line
This is a good strobe! If you are looking for a simple strobe to start out with, and add some color to your shots, the YS-03 would be an excellent choice. Later on you can add another YS-03, or any other strobe using the YS-03 as a slave / secondary strobe. The YS-03 Universal Lighting System is one of the best value light bundles in the market. We give it a big thumbs up!
Visit his personal portfolio at www.ranmorphoto.com.
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3 comments
Hi, thanks for the reviews. Do you shoot only with the YS-03 underwater to see the power. ? Do you have pictures ? thanks
Good review, and helped me decide how to purchase this flash. However discussion of how to connect the flash to a housing (i.e. Does it snap on to those 1″ balls or require an adapter?) does it require fiber optic cable ? Etc would have been very helpful.
Thanks for the feedback Patrick!
Glad you liked the review.
The YS-03 package includes a basic tray, flex arm, and the fiber optic cable.
It connects to the housing with 2 screws on the bottom and the flash is mounted on a flex arm with a YS end.
To attach it on ball mounts, you would need a YS to ball adapter / arm segment.
Let me know if you have any further questions!