Ken Kurtis

I recently switched from dual SB-105s to dual S&S YS-D1s (which I love). That being said, I also loved my SB-105s but there are definitely limitiations you have to adapt to. Lack of TTL is not an issue for me since I shoot in full manual. It was a little bit of a PITA to only have three power settings (Full, 1/4, 1/16) which means any change is a 2-stop change. But you learn to adapt. And I mostly shot with them on 1/4 power and then adjusted my subject-camera distance &/or f-stop to get what I wanted. The biggest proboem is getting them serviced if something goes wrong. No one seems to want to touch them anymore. I live in Los Angeles where's there's a walk-in Nikon-operated factory repair center and they farm them out to someone up in the Bay area where the minimum repair charge is $224.

FWIW, if you've still got your heart set on SB-105s (they're compact, run off of AA batteries, and are powerful), I've got 6 - 2 working great and 4 in various stages of working/not-working - that are just taking up space on my shelf. Contact me privately (kenkurtis@aol.com) if you're interested in giving them a new home.

- Ken

P.S. i am aware of current process where nikon changes 103s with 105 s for free, but
that cannot be the only reason i suppose

According to the folks I talk to at Nikon here in LA, they stopped that program in the middle of 2012-ish.

- Ken

Now, my question is: What is the difference between video/photo except for the fact that the photo has a red light built in?

I dive with dual Sola video 1200s and my GoPro and LOVE them.

I dove a month or so ago with a buddy who had a single 1200 dive version. What I noticed underwater looking at the two beams side-by-side, is that the dive version has a slightly yellow cast to it. I thought my video version was a whiter, more daylight type of beam. Personally, I prefer the look (color temp) of the video version.

- Ken

I've been shooting with dual YS-D1s all week in Bonaire. 3200 shots over the course of the week. No issues with over-heating or strobe not firing or anything like that. I really l;iked them. (I switched from SB-105s.) One thing I like a lot is, shooting in manual, I can control the light better with the D1. On the SB105s, the only choices were Full - 1/4 - 1/16, two stops per switch. On the D1, it's 1/2 stop increments. Much better control of the light.

- Ken

In regards to the spring loaded screw, i believe these strobes are equipped with a mechanism to detect whether a sync cord is attached, and if so it deactivates the optical sensors. I'd say that this screw would be the switch for this mechanism.

That was my thought too.

BTW, I just got off the phone with Shane @ Bluewater and they've heard nothing back yet from S&S.

- Ken

. . . instead of one divet out of the connector it has two. Does anyone know what cord this is?

If by two divets, you mean like below, it fits a Nikon strobe like an SB-105 or 103 (if it's made by Nikon, the plastic may be yellow instead of black):



- Ken