Olympus UFL-3 strobe - now with 4AA batteries

[Thormar 0]

Along with the announcement of the Olympus E-PL7 and corresponding housing (PT-EP12),

Olympus also announced a new strobe, the UFL-3 http://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2014b/nr140828epl7e.jsp

 

 

Where the previous strobes from Olympus only used 2xAA batteries, the new model uses 4xAA which is a welcomed change.

 

The first strobe from Olympus, the UFL-1, was basically a rebranded Sea & Sea YS-17 TTL.

 

Their second strobe, the UFL-2, was essentially an underwater version of their land flash FL-36R housed by Sea & Sea. While it retained the zoom function and wireless RC flash system, it was excessively bulky and low powered compared to the competiton, i.e. larger than an INON Z-240, but only packing 2xAA batteries instead of 4xAA.

 

The new UFL-3 appears to be a Sea & Sea YS-01 with the addition of the Olympus Wireless RC flash system (to be used with fiber optic cables).

 

Compared to the UFL-2, it appears to be a lot better. While it does not have the zoom function, it is about 300g lighter without batteries, and carry 2 extra AA batteries which hopefully translates to more power and faster recycle time (the press release states GN22 and 2 second recyle), where the UFL-2 had a recycle time of 6-8 seconds at full power !

In addition it also appears to have the target light as the YS-01, which the UFL-1 and UFL-2 did not have.

 

Compared to other strobes, the Wireless RC flash system will allow flash sync speeds of 1/4000 or 1/8000 (FP modes) with most Olympus cameras instead of being limited to the 1/250 or 1/320 range. This could be usefull in some applications.

 

More interesting is that the FP-TTL mode will allow TTL underwater with (hopefully) less drain on the camera battery (and faster recycling) than when using conventional TTL. The reason being that the camera flash only needs to transmit light signals through the fiber optic cable instead of a stronger flash pulse.

 

Hopefully the UFL-3 also retain the TTL modes of a normal Sea & Sea YS-01 so that it can be used with other camera brands, but that we will know when it has been released.

 

Guide number of the UFL-3 is stated as GN22, while the Sea&Sea YS-01 states GN20. Possibly just a result of a minor upgrade from Sea & Sea to their strobe unit.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Thormar

[JackConnick 76]

But. It's. Red...!?

[Thormar 0]

:-) yes... - not my fault. And does not appear the be the same red as the housings. Dive deep and you won't notice. Or find a permanent marker...

[ReallyMadRob 0]

I may be the only person who ever loved the UFL-2, but then I did dive with the housed FL-36 after which it was a blessed relief ;-) Seriously a lot of the objections are paper based because the numbers of them in the wild are so small. It is great for macro and its problem isn't pure lack of power (on paper it has a GN of 36 when zoomed in) or that recharge time is too slow but that the capacity of 2 AAs to recover from a savage beating for wide angle dies off quite fast. It does all kinds of things other strobes can't and it really can do FP modes.

 

I'm really interested in the UFL-3 as it looks cheap, simple and like it will last for a long dive. My reading of the manual suggests it can't do FP modes. All it's control is optical and in RC A or B it'll follow your choices set on the camera, and the manual says it won't enjoy Auto or FP. In RC mode strobes are controlled by low power data bursts from the on board flash which is fairly economical. It doesn't do Mimic/Copy cat/S or DS TTL and so for non Olympus cameras you only appear have a manual slave mode - without preflash cancellation - which is a shame as shops hate carrying strobes which are dedicated. It looks quite useful, for Olympus people like me :-)

 

Rob

 

P.S. I'd add that the UFL-2 wasn't the simple YS clone I always assumed and proved, when I got hold of one, to be a very capable copy cat that has worked with everything I've tried with it without any configuration other than the power switch.

[Thormar 0]

Yes, unfortunately looks like you are right. Super FP flash not possible with UFL-3, but only the UFL-2. Damn. So sync speed of 1/8000 is not possible...

 

And the flash is of little interest for other than Olympus owners, due to lack of TTL compatibility.

 

So the only advantage of the UFL-3 vs. other third party strobes is the RC mode which gives lower battery drain of the camera battery and potentially faster recycle of the internal flash. And exactly the same TLL as the camera.

 

So worth it if you are an Olympus user, don't plan to change brand, and need a strobe in this class/size.

[davirond 2]

Hi folks,

 

anyone got a try on UFL-3 ? I'm considering it as potential replacement of my Z240s for my E-M1. Would be interested in feedbacks on TTL accuracy in different types of scenes (WA, fishes ...)

 

Thanks

[balagan 2]

I still have my UFL-2s and they are still going strong after 4+ years. I now use them with my Nikon D7100 and have never felt the need to change . Most of my work is Macro and so the zoom function is great - but yes more battery strength would be nice.

[davirond 2]

Thanks balagan for this interesting feedback. I assume you use them in manal mode, not RC mode ?

[dawnclerkson 0]

I'm a bit of a novice. One of my 2 UFL 2's has died. Will a UFL 3 work with the other UFL 2?

[leepix 1]

Should I presume that there is NO way to sync the Olympus flashes to any other systems such as INON or Ikelite fiber optic?

[djourneyz 0]

Halo everyone, I really need a feedback, I have the olympus UFL 3 and it was a gift from a friend, but it's in trouble right now, he has two color blinks (red and blue) after I turn it on and it lasts long, before it works well for a few times, I've tried to replace with new battery but still in the same condition, is there any solutions for it?

 

Cheers from Indonesia

[heatheraherring 0]

Halo everyone, I really need a feedback, I have the olympus UFL 3 and it was a gift from a friend, but it's in trouble right now, he has two color blinks (red and blue) after I turn it on and it lasts long, before it works well for a few times, I've tried to replace with new battery but still in the same condition, is there any solutions for it?

 

Cheers from Indonesia

I am having the same issue with my Ufl-3. Did you figure it out?

[giants90 0]

Should I presume that there is NO way to sync the Olympus flashes to any other systems such as INON or Ikelite fiber optic?

I think that depends on the housing you have and camera, I think certain housings (Subal, Sea & Sea, etc) can utilize the your camera's built in flash to trigger a strobe like the UFL-3. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.

[EvenChu 0]

Hi...i am a new user here. I had a similar Problem with my LED-Lights.Most of them are Pretty Cheap ones, and most of them Flicker a lot.So i built a litle Box to Plug in between my Lamps and Mains Outlet.Just a Simple rectifier and Electrolytic Capacitors and Ceramic Capacitors to Filter out all Riple.Use Big enough Capacitors to get rid of all Voltage Ripple, Size depending on what kind of Power your Lamp has.