YS02 strobe Eel with Shrimp

Global Dive customer Glenn Smith has sent us an example of what you can shoot with a YSo2 strobe

Strobe Review by Tom Crisp

Usually I am the diver in front of the camera, posing for photographers, recently this has changed.  In July I took the plunge and bought my first camera.
After all, we do have a lot of talk about photography around the shop and I was starting to feel left behind.
Buying a camera system is no easy task as there are so many options and opinions out there. You have to consider the camera itself, lenses, housings, ports and finally strobes, each with their own sub categories to make the decisions harder.
After finally deciding on which camera and housing to get with a lot of help from both Andrew and Bonnie (thanks guys) I set my heart on a Sony NEX5 camera with fish eye lens and Nauticam housing.
This system is small, light and very high quality so I needed strobes to match.

The search began for a strobe (or two) which would complement the size of my housing whilst maintaining build quality. I have had little previous experience with strobes. In fact about the extent of my experience was being blinded by them.
So once again I turned to Andrew for some expert guidance. He told me to borrow the shop’s rental strobe which was a Sea and Sea YS27 so I took it to the pool along with my new setup and started to fire away.
It was almost exactly what I was looking for. A week later we had a new strobe in the Sea and Sea range dropped in to us so we could have a look, the YS01. This was the newest model in the range so naturally, I had to have it.

Munching mollusc / Photograph by Tom Crisp

With little persuasion I ended up making the YS01 the latest addition to my equipment, and I have not looked back since.

There are two strobes to choose from in the new YS series, the YS01 and YS02.
Both have the same features except the YS02 does not have TTL function or a built in focus light.
The focus light was the deciding factor for me as I bought it with the intention of getting some cave diving shots, making it a necessity.
The strobe itself weighs only 500g keeping it in line with my lightweight rig. It uses a fiber optic cable allowing the unit to be used with almost every camera and housing on the market.  The controls are extremely simple, off, pre flash, normal flash and power adjustment. They are also very easy to use when wearing thick gloves.
I was overwhelmed by the power output of the YS01 and found myself dialing down the power on some of my shots in open water.  Sea and Sea have clearly improved on the YS27 by making the unit smaller, lighter and brighter. At the moment I still have only one strobe so I am still borrowing more for my trip to Mexico (the camera was bought specifically for this trip).
As soon as I get back I will definitely be taking the next step to obtaining the younger brother, the YS02. As I will already have a focus light and rarely use the TTL function this seems the logical choice to accompany my existing kit.

All up I think the newest editions to the Sea and Sea YS series are a winner for entry level to advanced photographers alike.

They will also make a great travel set of strobes and really don’t hurt the wallet as much as some others on the market.
You get a hell of a lot for your money with this package and I can’t wait to start shooting with two of them.

Open water photos shot with YS01 and YS27 strobes

Pool photos shot with YS27 only

As promised here at the Cave photos I took on my recent trip to Mexico.

Related Pages

• Product Review : Scubapro Seawing Nova Fins
• Sea and Sea DX-1200HD Camera
• Scubapro Jet Fin
• Nikon L22 with Ikelite housing

The current star of our camera range this year has been a fantastic little package from two top names in dive photography, Nikon and Ikelite.

The Coolpix L22 is easy to use, with fantastic results from all the divers who have been using it.
The 12MP sensor captures great images, which are easy to see on the 3.0 inch TFT LCD screen.
The standard AA batteries mean you should never be without power, and the SD card means storage solutions are simple and common.

The Ultra compact Ikelite housings are simply the top of their league.  Full camera control is available, whilst also offering a strong, durable package.  The system has proven its worth in many charter operations rental fleets worldwide.

The housing is rated to 60m with additional upgrades available through adding lighting solutions such as the AF35 Auto strobe system, (also in store).

One of our popular Divemasters, Lee Haslam, has been using this system for several months now, with some fantastic results. He loves how you can switch between video and stills whenever your artistic desire takes you.

The package comes with camera, housing, 4GB SD memory card, o-ring lube, vinyl lanyard, port cover, flash diffuser and flash deflector.

Related Pages

• Sea and Sea YS series Strobes
• Product Review : Scubapro Seawing Nova Fins
• Sea and Sea DX-1200HD Camera
• Scubapro Jet Fin

Today we have just received stock of a new underwater camera system from Intova. What makes this system stand out is the fact that for under NZ$500 you get a 12 megapixel digital camera and housing, with rechargeable battery and even HD video!!

Underwater photography has never been so affordable. What used to be a hobby for dentists and lawyers is now well and truly open to the masses. If you are after a simple, compact system that can record your memories and still fit in your pocket, this is the camera for you. Whats more, it can grow with you if you choose to expand your skills and improve your pictures by using an external flash and wide angle lens, both of which are available at a suitably reasonable price.

This system seems too good to be true, so we have bought one for our rental/school fleet. so if you want to try the camera out, you can rent for the day and if you like it, your rental fee comes off the price. Keep an eye out for future reports using the camera and also a full review once we have had it in the water a few times. the housing is rated to 54m so we will also test this claim n a future Tech trip.

Andrew – Global Dive – August 2010

Related Pages

• Global Dive’s Poor Knights Liveaboard Weekend & Advanced Open Water
• Product Review : Scubapro Seawing Nova Fins
• Making The Transition
• Diving Mojo

Based on the DX-1G, SEA&SEA has applied its state-of- the-art technology to develop the housing design, paying special attention to even finer and more detailed controls.

Now you can effortlessly operate all the capture- related buttons on the 2G camera’s body.

1/1.7-inch CCD with approximately 12.1 effective megapixels.
High image quality with low noise and rich smooth gradation range that lets you capture perfect underwater images from highlights to shadows.

Large, high definition 2.7-inch LCD monitor with 460,000 pixels.
Vivid and bright display that lets you see even the finest details in the picture. The monitor features a wide angle of view (160° in any direction) and high contrast, and offers excellent visibility underwater. 24-72mm, 3.0x optical zoom lens that demonstrates excellent optical qualities for any lighting situation and focal length.

Capable of RAW image photography.
A newly-developed image engine and enlarged buffer memory allow you to take up to 5 continuous shots in RAW mode. The recording speed has improved to 3 seconds.

Up to three individual settings of the My Setting function allow you to customize recording settings to your preference.
This is convenient to assign frequently used functions to these customized settings.

Convenient built-in electronic level.
This allows you to easily verify that the camera is level using the level indicator displayed on the LCD monitor.

Related Pages

• Global Dive’s Poor Knights Liveaboard Weekend & Advanced Open Water
• Photography Liveaboard with Richard Robinson
• Featured Photographer – Marcia Davie
• Featured Photographers

Just announced at DEMA show, the Sea and Sea DX-1200HD looks set to become the must have camera for 2009.

We are expecting our first shipment of cameras in the first week of December.

Sporting some fantastic specifications, Sea and Sea have again, pushed the boundaries of technology with this amazing little camera.

Andrew had a sneak preview of a pre production prototype in Australia earlier in the year and said it was simply awesome!!

Specifications include;

* 12.1MP

* 3″ widescreen LCD screen

* Flash Light Diffuser function – Effective diffuser that softly diffuses the light of the built-in flash

* Depth rated to 45m

* Capable of recording HD (high definition) videos at a size of 1280×780

* Features SEA&SEA mode, a still image mode for optimal underwater photography.

Global dive is New Zealand’s only “Sea and Sea Pro Photo centre”, with full range on display in stock, including the full range of strobes and arms.

Come and talk to us about your photographic needs.

Also come in and have a chat to us if you are interested in a Digital Underwater Photography Course.

Related Pages

• Sea and Sea YS series Strobes
• Product Review : Scubapro Seawing Nova Fins
• Nikon L22 with Ikelite housing
• Shearwater Predator Computer

This weekend, I had the opportunity to spend the weekend at the Poor Knights Islands with a great group of people – and professional Photojournalist Richard Robinson.

I was not feeling too sure of the results of my photographic efforts after flooding my camera and housing on Wednesday, but a huge thank you goes out to Stacy from Aquanaut who actually lent me a Sea&Sea 750G camera and housing (compatible with my strobe) so that I could participate in all the workshops and thus the competition. My buddy for the weekend was my fabulous friend Marcia who has an eye for angles and dives the same as I do – not very far and not very fast.

We started the weekend on Landing Bay Pinnacle. There was not lot of lift and the visibility was reasonable. We dropped down to our maximum depth and slowly headed up and around the pinnacle. I spent a lot of time photographing the base of holdfast kelp and trying to set up some shots that would look good in black and white. Towards the end of the dive, I found some lovely and bright Solitary corals which are my favourites from this dive. Eventually, we both needed a bathroom break and it became apparent that we had not even made it halfway around the pinnacle as we needed to swim 180 degrees back to the boat.

We headed up to Cleanerfish Bay which was looking calm with some nice natural light. Marcia and I decided we would head out over the boulders just to the edge of the bay. It was here that I found my Cadlina Willani. We spent a good half an hour on the edges of the boulders before deciding to turn around – it felt like we were nearly at the corner of the bay 100m away – turns out we were only 15m or so from the boat. We headed up into the back of the bay to check out the walls of the cave. Sitting on the sea bed at the entrance to the cave were some lovely fat Gem Nudibranchs (Dendrodoris denisoni).

Back on the boat, Richie was spending time with each of the photographers onboard. We had enough laptops and memory cards for him to take a look at the photographs being taken and answer questions on composition and workflow and also make recommendations on lighting. Even five minutes with Richie made the trip worthwhile.

The sun was getting low in the sky so we cruised into Middle Arch. We were going to spend the night here and some of us wanted to go for a dusk dive and some of us wanted to go for a night dive. By the time Marcia and I descended down the wall, our dusk dive turned into a night dive. We were not planning to be down long – but this quickly changed. It is so different at night! A 10m x 10m location turns into an enthralling experience. Two firebrick starfish, a large scorpionfish, Tamja verconis, yellow anemones – and my strobe battery was flat. I experimented with torch light as a focus light and also as back lighting but in the end it didnt really matter – we could dive this site again in the morning and in the mean time, I could just enjoy my postage stamp size piece of wall!!

After Marks classic (and very VERY delicious) lamb shanks, Richie set up a presentation on his photographs and talked through lighting and composition examples. He talked through the benefits of natural lighting and how to use what is available. He also talked about strobe position so the next time you are out on a dive trip and some photographer has their strobes pointed backwards or upside down or behind the viewer, they have probably done the Richie Robinson Photographic Tour.

The kettle starting boiling … the toaster perfumed the air … I looked at my dive computer – it was twenty to seven in the morning. Time to get up!! Morning dive time!!
My favourite dive of any liveaboard is the Sunday morning dive. Marcia and I hit the water before 8am and I headed straight back to the size of the wall to see if my starfish was there. Sweet – he was still hanging out. I took Suzy and Anna up into the air bubble in Bernies Cave and then let them know that Marcia and I were headed through the arch on a deeper dive. We stopped and let the longtail stingray pass and then continued down through the boulders to play ‘touch the sand’ on the other side. Marcia was quite narc’ed – we were diving on EANx34 – and we both had silly grins on our faces.
Coming back up, we let the slight movement of water and just our breathing carry us up slowly. Two giant boarfish were playing a game of tag on our right and we stopped for a few moments to enjoy their spiritedness. We got back into the arch and it was pretty empty. I went back to my starfish and set up the shots that I wanted.

Our next dive was at another of my favourite sites – Marys Wall. Pete Snookes jumped in with Marcia and I and played Wrasse wrangler. He sat on the bottom at the start of the wall and knocked rocks together so Marcia could shoot their faces. I spent time with the fans on the wall. In a previous dive there, I had taken a shot that I was pleased with but after talking with Richie, I had a new plan for lighting.

We had a group of three longtail stingrays cruising around throughout the whole dive and although I dont have a lot to write – this was the BEST dive of the whole weekend for me and I ended my dives here.

Martin Wallis - Banded Shrimp

Related Pages

• Photography Liveaboard with Richard Robinson
• Global Dive’s Poor Knights Liveaboard Weekend & Advanced Open Water
• Spring time at the Poor Knights Islands
• Sea and Sea DX-1200HD Camera