Upgrading Questions

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paradicio

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Location
San Dimas, CA
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi all,

I've finally convinced the wife that it's time for me to upgrade my U/W setup (yay)!

So I went online and purchased the Canon G9:

Canon Powershot G9 digital camera

and Ikelite housing:

Ikelite Underwater Housings for Canon G7 & G9 Cameras

Now I am looking at strobes. Unfortunately, after the purchase of the Camera and the housing my funds are running a bit low. I am considering getting either a pair of the Ikelite DS51's:

IKELITE Substrobe 51 specifications

or a single DS125:

IKELITE Substrobe 125 digital

Does anyone have experience with either of these strobes? I'm thinking two strobes are better than one, but I am not a pro by any stretch of the imagination, so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Ikelite makes awesome strobes.

What do you like to shoot?

I'd probably go with the single 125 myself - I'd then save for a second strobe. I shot with a single strobe for ages and only added a second to the new rig last year. There's lots to learn and explore with a single.

Doubles will open up new worlds of lighting opportunities for you.

I like the more power of the 125, but those 51s are nice, too.

Basically, you can't go too far wrong, I'd guess :)
 
What do you like to shoot?

To be quite honest, I like to shoot macro (though I'll be the first to admit, I'm not very good at it! :rofl3:). Although, I'm wondering if having the two strobes might open up some w/a opportunities that I've not had before. My previous setup was a single strobe as well.
 
Hi Paradisio:

Two strobes will make a world of difference with macro shots. I shoot with twin 125's in the Seattle area, and they have been very reliable. The only issue I have had is that the studio bulbs need to be replaced fairly regularly, but this is a pretty simple operation. If you purchase the 125's, you might also want to tie some dental floss or other type of line to the diffuser and attach it to the strobe. They seem to loosen up quite easily.

Good Luck,

Dan
 
If you are primarily going to shoot macro than the the pair of DS51s would be my recommendation. However, to for a more versatile system, and if you intend on shooting some nice wide angle, especially pelagics, than a single 125 to start, then adding a 2nd later on as Alcina put it would be the way to go. The reason I like DS51s when shooting macro is that they are so much smaller than the 125s.

Taking into account your shooting style and what you will spend most of your time shooting is most important when selecting your system components. Dual strobes will certainly allow you to be a more creative photographer.
 
Thanks for all the good advice everyone! I think I will probably end up going with the 2 DS51's, I've worked with one strobe for a while, and I'd kind of like to experiment with 2 so that I can see the difference. As I mentioned I'm rather new to all this, so any and all learning experiences are extremely valuable right now. :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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