Inon z-330 vs two ys-01’s

[GirlonFire]

Hello folks,

At the moment I shoot with a tg5 in a pt-058 housing and have been only using the internal flash and an ORCATORCH D550.
I am looking for lights and was considering the Symbiosis SS3 at one point but now think strobes may be better in the long run.
I prefer stills/macro but like to shoot WA if the opportunity arises.
Would one Inon z330 be preferable to 2 ys-01’s?

As this will be my first foray into true external lights, are these options overkill?
Would a focus/video light be necessary? Could I use one for videos? Or could I continue to use my torch?
Thank you in advance.

 

[bvanant]

With the TG-5 you can get away shooting macro with only a video light (there is a tutorial on the Backscatter site). Shooting with a single strobe is different but some folks like Richard Salas can get astounding photos with only a single strobe. Most of us though use two strobes. Also look at the Inon S2000s they are great.
Bill

 

[Laurie S.]

When my older Inon D-2000 failed due to a water leak, I bought a Z-330. Love it! They are fantastic strobes and I wouldn't have anything else.

 

[stuartv]

When it comes to underwater photography and lighting, there's not much that's overkill, I don't think. Certainly not one strobe.

You can get good photos with one strobe, but 2 is almost always better.

My philosophy is buy the best strobes you can afford. If you can only afford 1 Z330, then get that with a plan to save up for another one. One Z330 won't be quite as good as 2 x YS-01s, but 2 x Z330 will be much better!

 

[stuartv]

A nice thing about strobes is that they will carry right over when (if) you buy a better camera. Unlike some things, like lenses or whatever.

One of my friends just got 2nd place in the Point & Shoot camera category at the NC Wreck Shark Shootout shooting a TG-5 with 2 x Z330. She got some great photos!

 

[GirlonFire]

Would one z330 plus a video light or torch suffice while I get my UWP footing? With the thought of adding another in the near future.
I wouldn’t want to buy the 2 YS-01s and regret it.

 

[GirlonFire]

When my older Inon D-2000 failed due to a water leak, I bought a Z-330. Love it! They are fantastic strobes and I wouldn't have anything else.

Do you use only one Z-330? Focus light?

 

[stuartv]

Would one z330 plus a video light or torch suffice while I get my UWP footing? With the thought of adding another in the near future.
I wouldn’t want to buy the 2 YS-01s and regret it.

I am far from an expert. But, I would think that a video light would be superfluous in that situation. It might be useful just as a focusing aid, but if you have much ambient light at all, you wouldn't need that.

 

[Chris Ross]

If you are staying with compacts a pair of S-2000 can be had for the price of one Z-330 and are powerful enough as the likes of the TG-5 are either f2 or f2.8 so are less demanding on flashes.The S-2000 pair would also be fine if upgrading to a 1" sensor compact like a G7X-II . Getting a little marginal for mirrorless m43 cameras but still usable. So a reasonable upgrade path with them.

 

[bvanant]

If you are only doing macro then 2 x S2000 will be fine (I often only use these on an Olympus EM-1 Mark II) but if you want to do wide angle then more powerful strobes will be much much more useful. Personally I would get the 330 then save up for a second one. OR (I know there are too many choices) you might get a pair of used Z240s.
Bill