Ikelite DS-125 or DS-160/161
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John Gulliver
Contributor
As nobody else has answered your question, I'll give you my opinion, for what it's worth. The DS160 is definitely an improvement over the DS125 but I wouldn't say it is a huge improvement. There are still an awful lot of DS125's being used out there and many of us are quite happy with them and see no reason to invest in new DS160's. The DS125 is an excellent strobe and, as you say, you can pick one up for half of what a new DS160 costs. Just make sure the serial number is higher than 5000 if you intend to use the strobe(s) with a digital housing.
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I strongly agree with John !!!
The DS160 has more power than the 125 and some improvements, but like Jim said you can get a lot of bang for the buck out of the 125. If you are possibly looking at both video and stills, look at the 161. The modeling light makes a great video light. Quite expensive, but worth it.
John Gulliver
Contributor
Brett, whether or not it's worth paying several hundred dollars more compared to a used DS125 for guide# 12 instead of 10, 10 manual settings instead of full 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 and an LED modelling light instead of halogen is of course a decision everyone must make for him or herself but I was intrigued by your comment re TTL circuitry. As I understand from your website, all DS125's with a higher serial number than 5000 are fully compatible with all current Ikelite housings, so what advantage does the DS160 offer in that respect?
Regards,
John
Regards,
John
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I have no connection with Ikelite, but I checked the minimum time between flashes at the Heinrichs Weikamp site. According to that, the later DS125s had a minimum time of 25 milliseconds between flashes, while the DS160 had a minimum time of 8 milliseconds. If that is true, certain digital cameras will not work with the DS125, but will work with the DS160. Check the detailed listing here:
HW
I wonder if Ikelite sped up the DS125 since HW measured it. The reason is that the DS125 does work with some of the cameras it should not be fast enough for.
If this information is correct, then the DS125 should not be fast enough for the Olympus E-volt cameras, nor for most of the Nikon DSLRs. But it is. Maybe I am missing something. But it leads me to opt for the faster strobe, on the grounds that future cameras might have even shorter minimum times between flashes.
John! You ROCK!
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