D-2000 Strobe

[Hooked4Life]

I am using a C-5050 with an Oly housing. After my last trip to cozumel I have decided I can convince myself that it's time to get a strobe.

Anyone have a D-2000 strobe here? If so how do you like it? Any comments/suggestions would be helpful.

 

[f3nikon]

Look before you leap!

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=93207&page=2

http://www.wetpixel.com/i.php/full/inon-d-2000-s-ttl-strobe

 

[limeyx]

I am using a C-5050 with an Oly housing. After my last trip to cozumel I have decided I can convince myself that it's time to get a strobe.

Anyone have a D-2000 strobe here? If so how do you like it? Any comments/suggestions would be helpful.

I have one for my Canon S-300 and it seems to work fine.
I am not sure what the options for controlling it are if you are hooking it up to certain more advanced cameras (I *think* the only way to control it is with an optical cable which you have to make sure INON supports for your cam/housing)

all the pics in my gallery were taken with the above setup

 

[10X]

I bought one for my 5050 late last year, in just enought time to learn how to use it (somewhat) before going to Tahiti and Hawaii. Any problems I had with it were operator error, simply from not enough bottom time with it. By the end of the trip (11 dives) I was getting the hang of it. Some of my problems were with improper camera settings, not the strobe. I don't regret buying this strobe for my 5050.

 

[dbh]

IMHO it is the best fiber optic fired strobe on the market at this time and would be my choice for your set up.

Dave

 

[f3nikon]

I am using a C-5050 with an Oly housing. After my last trip to cozumel I have decided I can convince myself that it's time to get a strobe.

Anyone have a D-2000 strobe here? If so how do you like it? Any comments/suggestions would be helpful.

Actually after looking into the Inon strobes and manual I come to find out that their strobes are NOT a true TTL at all!!! In fact not even a TTL system as the industry knows it!

Facts about TTL systems: The system must be closed looped, meaning that there must be a feedback path back to the controlling unit in order to control a device. It the case of a SLR camera there is a fast reponse light sensor just under the reflex mirror, pointing at a 45 degree angle at the film. The camera's hot shoe has at least 3 most times 4 pin input/ouputs, the strobe has the same pin outs.

When the camera and strobe is set to TTL mode the following events occurs:

1) The shutter button is tripped the camera trips the shutter and at the same time closes the strobe sync pin to ground ( 2 pins).

2) The strobes fires and starts to light up the subject, light is reflected back towards the camera's lens.

3) The light enters the lens then strikes the film or CCD sensor, for digital.

4) At the same time the light is striking the film or CCD the fast reponse sensor is monitoring the light intensity bouncing off of the film or CCD.

5) The sensor feeds this data back to the camera's TTL control system, which then sends a signal ( pin #3) back to the strobe to shutoff the light.

The problem with the Inon strobe is that in does not use a 3 or 4 pin sync cord connected the camera's hot shoe. Inon uses a SINGLE pin OPTICAL cord! To fire the strobe ONLY! NO FEEDBACK Therefore NO TTL!

Here is a picture of an Inon strobe control dial, I was wondering why a TRUE TTL strobe would have settings for apertures and a darker and lighter positions on the dial?

Its because you are really shooting in MANUAL MODE! You set the aperture in the camera and set the same aperture on the strobe which has a factory preset strobe power made to properly expose the picture a ISO 100!

What Inon really has here is a varible power MANUAL strobe! Inon will have some serious explaining by labeling their strobes as S-TTL, Could it be that the "S" stands for SHAM - TTL?

Someone please tell me what is going on???

 

[alcina]

I love my Inon 220 and will be adding another one.

The main problem for me with the D2000 is that it cannot be hard wired if/when one upgrades to dslr etc.

I've used the Inon 220s with my Canon A series, my Oly 5050 and seen them used to great effect with multiple dSLRs. That's where I would put my money.

 

[ReyeR]

Actually after looking into the Inon strobes and manual I come to find out that their strobes are NOT a true TTL at all!!! In fact not even a TTL system as the industry knows it!

I don't think Inon has ever claimed that the D-2000 is a 'true' TTL strobe (TTL in traditional sense, the steps you described correctly).

S-TTL stands for 'Syncro' TTL, Inon's term for 'mimic' TTL - which basically means it is a slave strobe and will 'copy' the flash duration of a master (true) TTL strobe or flash, e.g. the camera's built-in flash. When the master strobe fires, the D-2000 will fire, when the master strobe quenches (step 5) the D-2000 will quench.

If you read the manual carefully you will notice that the D-2000 is a multi-mode strobe. It offers 3 different modes of strobe control: (a) S-TTL (as described above), (b)External Auto and (c)Manual mode. The control or 'EV' dial has different functions for each of these modes.

In S-TTL mode it acts an exposure compensation dial, similar to your camera's flash exposure compensation. That means you can 'force' the strobe to give more or less light during TTL flash exposure. (How the D-2000, as a mimmic TTL strobe, knows when to cut-off before the master TTL strobe quenches is beyond me, but apparently it works).

In External Auto mode the strobe uses a sensor mounted on the front of the strobe to determine the exposure. To do this you simply dial in the Aperture value of your camera on the 'EV' dial and the strobe will do the rest. The aperture valued doesn't have to match exactly, you can bracket by dialing in a smaller or larger value and this will influence the auto exposure.

In Manual mode the 'EV' dial acts as a 13-step output control.

HTH

 

[f3nikon]

Thanks for the feedback. S-TTL…. But I really think it was a marketing ploy by Inon, directed at the amateur UW photographer, who is just starting off.

Ok, lets say that Inon really meant “Syncro” meaning in Sync or in Step. Meaning that Inon is tapping off the internal flashhead, the true TTL system of the camera. You had mention this yourself:

“How the D-2000, as a mimic TTL strobe, knows when to cut-off before the master TTL strobe quenches is beyond me, but apparently it works).”

Yes, they are in sync with the leading edge (beginning) of the firing internal strobe, but what about the trailing edge (end) when the strobe is on its way down? The trailing edge is what tells the external strobe when to stop! Are you saying that Inon has a built in Heinrich TTL adapter? Because there still isn’t a feedback path for the “quench” signal.

What is really happening is that Inon is guessing on what the flash duration (equates to strength of light) should be at a given distance, aperture setting, and film speed, ISO.

That is why Inon needs to have the user preset the aperture settings on the strobe to match the aperture on the camera. The preset setting on the strobe are the actually strobe duration times for a set aperture opening in order to get a decent exposure… then increase or decrease the strobe power to bracket the shots. Which is just like shooting in MANUAL! Only in Inon’s case the strobe power is varied and not the aperture, as the case in manual shooting.

The external Auto mode is not much use, unless the strobe is mounted right next to the camera’s lens, which for most UW folks here is a no-no. This is because the sensor is mounted in the face of the strobe itself. As the strobe fires, the light reflecting off of the subject has to come back to the strobe face in order to shutoff the flash. The problem here is that the strobe is usually mounted away from the camera, so the camera may see a different light than what the strobes sees. Ikelite has a similar setup but their sensor can be mounted remote, like near the camera lens.

Manual sounds like it will work just fine; in fact if Inon or anyone else would just make a MANUAL strobe with 12 variable power settings (1/3 stop increments) even I would buy one or four! Just cut out the fake TTL and Auto modes, dropping the prices would also help.

Dive Safe

Al

 

[dbh]

Thanks for the feedback. S-TTL…. But I really think it was a marketing ploy by Inon, directed at the amateur UW photographer, who is just starting off.

Ok, lets say that Inon really meant “Syncro” meaning in Sync or in Step. Meaning that Inon is tapping off the internal flashhead, the true TTL system of the camera. You had mention this yourself:

“How the D-2000, as a mimic TTL strobe, knows when to cut-off before the master TTL strobe quenches is beyond me, but apparently it works).”

Yes, they are in sync with the leading edge (beginning) of the firing internal strobe, but what about the trailing edge (end) when the strobe is on its way down? The trailing edge is what tells the external strobe when to stop! Are you saying that Inon has a built in Heinrich TTL adapter? Because there still isn’t a feedback path for the “quench” signal.

What is really happening is that Inon is guessing on what the flash duration (equates to strength of light) should be at a given distance, aperture setting, and film speed, ISO.

That is why Inon needs to have the user preset the aperture settings on the strobe to match the aperture on the camera. The preset setting on the strobe are the actually strobe duration times for a set aperture opening in order to get a decent exposure… then increase or decrease the strobe power to bracket the shots. Which is just like shooting in MANUAL! Only in Inon’s case the strobe power is varied and not the aperture, as the case in manual shooting.

The external Auto mode is not much use, unless the strobe is mounted right next to the camera’s lens, which for most UW folks here is a no-no. This is because the sensor is mounted in the face of the strobe itself. As the strobe fires, the light reflecting off of the subject has to come back to the strobe face in order to shutoff the flash. The problem here is that the strobe is usually mounted away from the camera, so the camera may see a different light than what the strobes sees. Ikelite has a similar setup but their sensor can be mounted remote, like near the camera lens.

Manual sounds like it will work just fine; in fact if Inon or anyone else would just make a MANUAL strobe with 12 variable power settings (1/3 stop increments) even I would buy one or four! Just cut out the fake TTL and Auto modes, dropping the prices would also help.

Dive Safe

Al

Uhh, the Z220 has 11 manual settings. Close enough ??

Dave