Question WWYD: On trip; busted strobe adapter; new Strobe time?

[AggressorBLUE]

Looking for some “what would you do?” Advice from the SB Photo hive mind:

[Long, deep, sigh]. It’s always something. Currently down in West Palm for a week of diving, and was setting up my rig yesterday (Oly OM-1 in AOI housing with dual Ike DS125s), and my optical adapter bit the bullet when i stupidly twisted it while screwing down the electrical connection. So now I’m down to a single DS125. Bummer

I’m diving the bridge today, using my 60mm Macro, so single strobe is fine. But rest of the week I’d like to shoot my Oly 8MM FE.

One last note of relevance, this trip was likely to be my DS125s ‘swan song’; they’re stalwart, especially now that I’ve rebuilt the battery packs, but showing their age and as a mostly travel diver, the size-to-light-output ratio isn’t as travel friendly, so two DS125s coming soon to a classified section near you!

So there are a few options I see:
Option 1: Order another RC1 adapter from BH photo; will be here by Wed, in time to salvage my last two days of diving. Annoyed at spending $150 on another adapter though.

Option 2: Suck it up and dive with a single DS125 for the 8MM. (Single strobe for the 60mm is fine for bridge work). I’ll wind up doing that tomorrow anyway most likely, as after tomos dive will be the best chance I have to get down to Reef for…

Option 3A: New Strobes: I called Reef Photo (about an hour south of where I am in WP) this AM and they have the new Inon D200 Type 2 in stock. My wife wasn’t entirely against the idea. I’d be able to get them tomorrow and get 3 days of diving out of them this trip. Idea is they’d then be my next set of strobes for a good ~15 years, just as the Ikes have been.

Option 3B: New Strobe: get one D200 and shoot a hybrid of Ike and D200 for this trip. Weird, but cheaper than a duo of strobes.

Thoughts?

 

[David Haas]

Inon D200 while nice is no more power than the tiny S2000 units which come up from time to time used. Same for clean used Inon Z330 whether original or Z330 II where the only difference the Z330 II has the "fly eye" diffuser dome built in.

I shot tons of photos over the years with a single DS125 aimed well.......

Yes, your 8mm Fisheye is super wide and 2 strobes might be nice but it's not like you flew to Indonesia, Philippines, Maldives, etc. You can come back to FLA fairly easy once you're all set up.

I'd shoot your remaining DS125 strobe then once back home consider what strobe(s) you may want next weighing physical size and weight, type of batteries required and finally long term reputation.

Just one old guy's opinion

David Haas

 

[rmorgan]

I would hold off on the D200 And have a nice last experience with the remaining Ikelite. The D200 Is really a macro strobe, so it won’t help much with wide angle, and it has no focus lamp. You can play with the fisheye and close focus wide angle. I think David’s right about getting some used Z330s if you want to save some $$—with new strobes presumably out before too long, used 330s will probably be, errr, flooding the market, and the 330s are workhorses.

 

[AggressorBLUE]

Thanks David, thats some sane thinking. I’ll “shut up and dive” and shoot my DS125

Rmorgan, surprised to hear the D200 labeled as a macro strobe; is that mostly owing to it’s lower GN? Even reviews of the Type 1 cited a healthy beam angle of something like 100 degrees.

Minor note too, the current Type 2 model of the D200, according to Inons product page, does indeed have a 200 lumen, shutter synced focus light

INON D-200 Type2 [Overview]

Official web site of INON INC. Manufacture of underwater imaging gears, strobes, conversion lenses, arms, housings and more.

www.inon.jp

 

[rmorgan]

Oh, man. Mea culpa, AB. I was looking at the 2000. . have a great trip!

 

[cetacean]

@AggressorBLUE

It looks like you already made your (correct) decision. Shoot the Ike and then figure out what you really want... (BTW - both my kids shoot single strobe Z330's w/a, and have won awards for their images). Get close, then get closer, focus on a single subject.

On your (eventual) choices, I've shot 3 generations of Inon strobes and been very happy with them. However, the D-200 is a little underpowered for w/a. Most people are waiting for the successor of the Z330, or they have already moved on.

For me, I've moved to the Retra's and unlikely to look back anytime in the near future. They are built well, powerful, great quality of light...

 

[David Haas]

I will add one more comment to the GN 20 power (Guide Number) of both the current Inon D200 and previous tiny S2000 which I've used since 2016.

The Inon S2000 beam angle is 100 degrees wide by 95 degrees vertical without the included diffuser that drops power .5 of a f-stop. The diffuser DOES soften the flash a bit and supposed to make it more circular. I generally have used it but recently started leaving it off to maximize the power output.

I've successfully shot close fish shots, macro and wide angle shots with those little wonders. Many times a pair but many times with just one due to my laziness!!! LOL.......

The soon to come Inon S220 will be the same small footprint of the S2000 but with an easier to use power output dial and "fly eye" diffuser dome built in. It has a slight increase to GN 22. Depending on price a pair of those might last you the rest of your diving underwater photography life.

I continue to use the Inon S2000 and there are plenty out there on the used market. Another small GN20 strobe is the Sea and Sea YS-01. Works well and has been pretty reliable too.

For me small size is #1. Modern cameras like my compact 1" sensor Canon G7X II produce files detailed enough to make big prints and any other photo use.

Enjoy your last days diving in FLA!

David Haas

Here's a Cuttlefish sequence putting eggs in the coral I shot in Philippines with dual Inon S2000 strobes.

All shot with my Fantasea housing Canon G7X II with F Series Air Lens (24mm focal length restored angle of view underwater) and on S-TTL Auto flash

 

[rmorgan]

For me, I've moved to the Retra's and unlikely to look back anytime in the near future. They are built well, powerful, great quality of light...

which Retras?

 

[Hoag]

There might be another option (I honestly do not know if it is a viable option or not). Is there a place from which you could rent a strobe for the remainder of your trip? Sure, it wouldn't be free, and it might not be perfect, but it might be a short term (gap-filler) solution which would let you think about what is the best long term solution for your needs.

Like the song says "We can't always get what we want, but sometimes we get what we need." A rented strobe might meet your short term needs.

 

[AggressorBLUE]

@AggressorBLUE

It looks like you already made your (correct) decision. Shoot the Ike and then figure out what you really want... (BTW - both my kids shoot single strobe Z330's w/a, and have won awards for their images). Get close, then get closer, focus on a single subject.

On your (eventual) choices, I've shot 3 generations of Inon strobes and been very happy with them. However, the D-200 is a little underpowered for w/a. Most people are waiting for the successor of the Z330, or they have already moved on.

For me, I've moved to the Retra's and unlikely to look back anytime in the near future. They are built well, powerful, great quality of light...

I will add one more comment to the GN 20 power (Guide Number) of both the current Inon D200 and previous tiny S2000 which I've used since 2016.

The Inon S2000 beam angle is 100 degrees wide by 95 degrees vertical without the included diffuser that drops power .5 of a f-stop. The diffuser DOES soften the flash a bit and supposed to make it more circular. I generally have used it but recently started leaving it off to maximize the power output.

I've successfully shot close fish shots, macro and wide angle shots with those little wonders. Many times a pair but many times with just one due to my laziness!!! LOL.......

The soon to come Inon S220 will be the same small footprint of the S2000 but with an easier to use power output dial and "fly eye" diffuser dome built in. It has a slight increase to GN 22. Depending on price a pair of those might last you the rest of your diving underwater photography life.

I continue to use the Inon S2000 and there are plenty out there on the used market. Another small GN20 strobe is the Sea and Sea YS-01. Works well and has been pretty reliable too.

For me small size is #1. Modern cameras like my compact 1" sensor Canon G7X II produce files detailed enough to make big prints and any other photo use.

Enjoy your last days diving in FLA!

David Haas

Here's a Cuttlefish sequence putting eggs in the coral I shot in Philippines with dual Inon S2000 strobes.

All shot with my Fantasea housing Canon G7X II with F Series Air Lens (24mm focal length restored angle of view underwater) and on S-TTL Auto flash

View attachment 792017View attachment 792018View attachment 792019View attachment 792020View attachment 792021

As an epilog to the trip, on our last day we decided to make the ‘pilgrimage ’ down to reef photo just to go and checkout the show room and window shop strobes for our forthcoming upgrade. Having shot the TG-6 most of the trip, my wife was warming to the idea of getting a strobe dedicated to that rig, so that also allowed us to shop together.

A minor bust on the first mission, as Reef is currently redoing the show room section, so not a lot on display. But we did get a chance to talk strobes, and get to hold a few models, including Retras, the Inon D200 Type 2, and Inon S220 (which had just come in that week).

Short version, we’ll be joining team Inon

The S220 was an immediate no-go; the dials on the back are way too tiny for use with gloves. The rep was bearish on Retras as while they are great strobes on paper, in practice he was seeing more of them come back in for board replacements than he’d like. Same with the YS strobes. My wife and I really liked the D200; controls are easy to use, not too heavy/bulky, but still felt sturdy. We also like that Reef can service them in house. Nice to know we have a US based retailer to ship to for servicing. It was actually the Reef rep who suggested we wait till the fall/winter when Inon will presumably update the 300 series to a “type 2’ equivalent before making a decision. So that is what we’re going to do