Advice Re Strobe

[Doctorfish]

I currently shoot with a PEN EPL 10 in an AOI/Backscatter housing with a single Sea and Sea YS2 strobe. I shoot macro, standard and some wide angle.
My strobe burned out yesterday and I would like to replace. Any advice from users with a similar setup? I want to stay with a single wide angle capable strobe because of weight, cost, and ease of use.

 

[Cali_diver]

FYI I use a crop sensor dslr.

Have you looked at the new backscatter miniflash 2? I have used the mini 1 and it was great for macro and the snoot was easy ...am not sure about its wide angle capabilities yet but for macro it rocks. I think they increased the power on the 2 as well. I am taking it on a trip next week to test it out. I used to use the Ys-d2's then moved to the Inon z330s and have really been happy with them (I had 3 Ys-d2s burn out).

 

[davehicks]

Pass on a new S&S. Inon 330 is great, and I love the Backscatter. Getting one of each of these two is actually a good combo for all shooting options.

 

[Dann-Oh]

I have dual Backscatter MF1s and I just recently got a set of Inon Z330s. Im hoping to test out the Z330s soon.

 

[Doctorfish]

thanks for the advice

 

[Ardy]

Pass on a new S&S. Inon 330 is great, and I love the Backscatter. Getting one of each of these two is actually a good combo for all shooting options.

Inon make a great strobe but be careful with the Oring when replacing batteries, I flooded one and it was stuffed, so I went back to SnS and all has been well.
I read somewhere here that the YS D2 can burn out if you run multiple shots on max output or with black enneloops. Did that happen to yours?

 

[davehicks]

Inon make a great strobe but be careful with the Oring when replacing batteries, I flooded one and it was stuffed, so I went back to SnS and all has been well.
I read somewhere here that the YS D2 can burn out if you run multiple shots on max output or with black enneloops. Did that happen to yours?

I've never owned a S&S strobe. It's pretty difficult to punch the Inon oring as the cap is transparent.

 

[Ardy]

I had a 330 and after about the 10th dive, I was in a hurry, when I put the cap on there was a very slight resistance and it flooded. On opening, the oring was pinched. I am fairly careful but this is easy to do. I use SnS now because you can flood them without destroying them. I was told it was similar in Inon but that is not the case.

 

[Barmaglot]

Any chance you could fit a Retra within your budget? With a circular bulb, they produce a wider, more even beam than straight-bulb strobes, which is always good, but even moreso when you're shooting wide-angle with a single strobe rather than a pair.

They don't appear to suffer from the infamous reliability issues of the YS-D2 (and to a lesser extent the YS-D3), as they're made from metal and thus dissipate heat much better, the battery compartment on them is sealed away from the electronics, the battery cap has dual o-rings, and even if you do pinch one while closing, it is extremely obvious, as you have a black o-ring sticking out in the middle of a grey aluminium panel. They also have a leak detector, so in the unlikely case water does get into the battery compartment, the strobe will start blinking and beeping at you.

 

[Searcaigh]

I'm now running a YSD2J + YSD3 Mk2 and recently added a BackScatter MiniStrobe (first model) to my SLR rig.

I've been using two BackScatter Mini Strobes with my TG6 for some time and used them with my SLR rig when I had YSD2 issues during my trips to Indonesia this year.

I recently decided to do some snooting with mixed results, and want to get this perfected before I return to Indonesia again next April/May.

My rig is now looking like this