Inon Z-240 Type 2

[walkerl]

I have a Canon Powershot A640 in a WP-DC8 housing. I found a new Inon Z240 "type 2" strobe for about $610 including shipping. I'm wondering if this is a good deal. This will be my first strobe and while I'm just getting started in u/w photography, I'm thinking about getting a DSLR within the next year once the new models from Canon and Nikon come out, hopefully dropping the prices of their entry level cameras. So, basically I want a strobe that will work with either a DSLR or a point and shoot and that I won't have to upgrade within the next couple of years. That's why I'm looking at this over the D-2000S. Any thoughts out there. Am I going a little overboard with the Z640?

Aloha and thanks for the help.
Walker

 

[Larry C]

The Z-240 is a great strobe. It's very powerful and has a wide coverage area. The only downside I can think of is that for the S-ttl to work, you have to aim the strobe directly at the subject. This can cause backscatter in water with any particulate. It should work just fine set manually with an optical cord, though. The price is pretty good, they're close to $800 normally. I'm not familiar with the "type 2" designation though. Are there features missing, as with the difference between the D-2000 and D-2000S?

 

[jbb]

I have a Canon Powershot A640 in a WP-DC8 housing. I found a new Inon Z240 "type 2" strobe for about $610 including shipping. I'm wondering if this is a good deal. This will be my first strobe and while I'm just getting started in u/w photography, I'm thinking about getting a DSLR within the next year once the new models from Canon and Nikon come out, hopefully dropping the prices of their entry level cameras. So, basically I want a strobe that will work with either a DSLR or a point and shoot and that I won't have to upgrade within the next couple of years. That's why I'm looking at this over the D-2000S. Any thoughts out there. Am I going a little overboard with the Z640?

Aloha and thanks for the help.
Walker

I use a Z240 with my Canon g7 and am very happy with it. I would also recomend two sets of AA rechargable batteries with it and an Ultralight arm/tray arrangement. A strobe was probably the best purchase for UW photography to make, i.e. more of your photos will turn out at least lighted up and it really opens up your night time photography.

 

[walkerl]

Thanks for the imput. I'm not quite sure about the "type 2" and was hoping that anyone out there might know about this. Since I'm new to this, comparing the specs between this strobe and a "normal" Z240 is kind of annoying since I'm not sure what it all means and there are a ton of specs.

Walker

 

[Larry C]

After a private correction from someone more knowledgeable, a quick review of the website and a bit of reminiscence from the brief two weeks that I owned one, the Z240 offers both S-ttl with an optical link, which will use your camera's strobe settings from the preflash and "external auto" which can be used with a hotshoe in addition to manual settings. Since your camera lacks a hotshoe, and you'll be using an optical link, the S-ttl should work fine-the external auto setting is the one that requires pointing the strobe directly at the subject.
PS It also offers full ttl, when used with DSLR and selected P & S systems with ttl coverters. Some details can be found in the Sea Optics website, but it's pretty sparse.