Manual, inexpensive strobe advice

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scubastingray

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Location
Cleveland/Jacksonville
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Hello,

I've got a Nikon J3 and the Nikon branded housing (WP-N2), and am looking to add a strobe to the mix. I'm not looking to spend more than $150 or so (which I know leaves me incredibly limited), and as such assume that anything in that price range will be manual. I have been eying the Intova ISS 2000. What other strobes would work? I've read that the preflashes can't be adjusted on the J3, so I'll need a strobe that can adjust for that. I don't mind looking into the used market, but am worried that most strobes will not work because of the pre-flash issue.

Would the SL960/SL960D work? What sort of modes do they support?

Use will be primarily lighting up subjects in the 2-10ft range (probably closer end of that), and I'd like to be able to use it in caves, on reefs, and in wrecks.
Thanks for your advice.
 
Ended up spending double what I planned and got the YS-02. Should be good, but I'll have to use flash compensation to act as a pseudo manual mode. I can't wait for it to get here; hopefully it proves adequate for some basic cave and wreck diving photos.
 
A DS-50 used with an EV Manual Controller might have fit your bill with the expanded budget, but I'm glad you found something.

Having a manual mode on the camera when you are using a manual flash is really helpful, but I'm sure you can make it work. Something is better than nothing an everything camera for scuba seems to be expensive. You'll probably end up using that strobe for something for years and years even if you expand, more is better for cave lighting. It's a good investment!
 
The EV Controller is no longer available.

Ikelite has gone to a slave controller that screws into the bulkhead of the strobe. A fibre optic cable plugs onto that controller. They have an adapter to stick on the front of housings over the camera's flash and the other end of the cable plugs into that.

Although bulky, the EV Controller had a fair number of manual power settings, more than the strobe itself.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

Yeah I'm a little disappointed manual flash mode is something they removed from the J3 (earlier versions had it), but I think I can still get some decent photos. I messed with the rig above land today (just got the flash), and I can't wait to get it wet.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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