jl_va_21
Contributor
First off, I am still pretty new to underwater photography so take this all with a grain of salt. However, I have now had a few opportunities to dive with the Intova ISS-2000 strobe so I thought some of you might be interested in my experience.
I should mention also that I started my underwater photography experience with a SeaLife ReefMaster Mini. I've used it for a couple years now, but have recently decided that I've outgrown it and just purchased a Canon S95. I don't have any underwater pics with that one yet, but hope to soon. So all the shots you see here are from my reefmaster - which by the way is a convenient all-in-one starter camera, but in my opinion seems to be lacking the quality and features of the more popular cameras on the market. Anyway.. here's the review.
I initially purchased the strobe on Amazon for something like $105, but added on a bit more for a flash link cable, tray/arm, and diffuser. The diffuser was a must as all the initial test shots had the light showing up in long lines/streaks. The link cable also seemed to be a must since I was having trouble getting consistent results without it. This may have been in part due to the fact that I later discovered one of the light sensors to not be working. I was able to return the strobe to Intova for a replacement, after a few emails to work out the details.
Using my reefmaster over in various conditions over the years led me to the understanding that it would ok for mid-wide angle type shots with lots of light. It was hard to get a fast shutter speed and it has a fixed aperature (I think f3.1). So the only pictures that ever came out well required lots of ambient light and a decent distance from the lens for focus. Also if something was moving I would probably not get it sharp. I tried sport mode for some dives which helped, but required lots of light. For anyone interested in the camera here are some of the better of those pre-strobe shots.
ScubaBoard Gallery - freeport_09_026
I noticed though that the shots with more light allowed faster shutter so I figured a strobe would help me freeze the action a little and get sharper images. Not too mention getting some colors. Both proved to basically be correct. Here are some shots from a with the strobe.
ScubaBoard Gallery - Bonaire
This one is my favorite (too bad the camera could not handle the macro on that little crab):
ScubaBoard Gallery - PICT00508
I'm still learning how to use it, but since my camera only had a macro focus range of like 18-inches, there was not much hope at really getting the shots I wanted. This is why I'm upgrading the camera. I think the strobe as potential to work well with my new camera too though.
It took me several dives to get a feel for how to use the strobe without overexposing, or cast shadows, or not using enough power (it has 4 power levels to choose from). This resulted in me throwing out most shots, but it definately gave me a lot more color and some new options for shooting in conditions (at night for instance) that were not really likely to work before.
I took it to Bonaire over the summer. Due to its size and the fact that I'm still getting use to diving with it, I did not take it on every dive. I mainly used it on boat dives. However I soon noticed that the shots with it were so much better than the shots without it that I really did even bother taking many shots when I did not have it. It definately made a big difference in the quality of my results.
Anyway, to summarize - I like the strobe. I have no other experience to compare it with, but for the price it seems like a great starter, or even backup for more experienced photographer I bet. It seems to recycle sufficiently fast (though its several seconds) but is a little bulky. It takes 4 double A batteries but seems to use them pretty economically.
I had to grab a few bits and pieces from Home Depot to make my own little arm to hold the flash link cable over the flash on the reefmaster mini, but it seemed to work well. I'm planning to use this as my initial strobe with the S95 (once my housing arrives) and will be happy to post some more pictures whenever I finally get out to another good dive destination to use it. For what it worth - the initial dry land tests of the camera (w/o strobe) are great. Looks like it will be really nice.
I should mention also that I started my underwater photography experience with a SeaLife ReefMaster Mini. I've used it for a couple years now, but have recently decided that I've outgrown it and just purchased a Canon S95. I don't have any underwater pics with that one yet, but hope to soon. So all the shots you see here are from my reefmaster - which by the way is a convenient all-in-one starter camera, but in my opinion seems to be lacking the quality and features of the more popular cameras on the market. Anyway.. here's the review.
I initially purchased the strobe on Amazon for something like $105, but added on a bit more for a flash link cable, tray/arm, and diffuser. The diffuser was a must as all the initial test shots had the light showing up in long lines/streaks. The link cable also seemed to be a must since I was having trouble getting consistent results without it. This may have been in part due to the fact that I later discovered one of the light sensors to not be working. I was able to return the strobe to Intova for a replacement, after a few emails to work out the details.
Using my reefmaster over in various conditions over the years led me to the understanding that it would ok for mid-wide angle type shots with lots of light. It was hard to get a fast shutter speed and it has a fixed aperature (I think f3.1). So the only pictures that ever came out well required lots of ambient light and a decent distance from the lens for focus. Also if something was moving I would probably not get it sharp. I tried sport mode for some dives which helped, but required lots of light. For anyone interested in the camera here are some of the better of those pre-strobe shots.
ScubaBoard Gallery - freeport_09_026
I noticed though that the shots with more light allowed faster shutter so I figured a strobe would help me freeze the action a little and get sharper images. Not too mention getting some colors. Both proved to basically be correct. Here are some shots from a with the strobe.
ScubaBoard Gallery - Bonaire
This one is my favorite (too bad the camera could not handle the macro on that little crab):
ScubaBoard Gallery - PICT00508
I'm still learning how to use it, but since my camera only had a macro focus range of like 18-inches, there was not much hope at really getting the shots I wanted. This is why I'm upgrading the camera. I think the strobe as potential to work well with my new camera too though.
It took me several dives to get a feel for how to use the strobe without overexposing, or cast shadows, or not using enough power (it has 4 power levels to choose from). This resulted in me throwing out most shots, but it definately gave me a lot more color and some new options for shooting in conditions (at night for instance) that were not really likely to work before.
I took it to Bonaire over the summer. Due to its size and the fact that I'm still getting use to diving with it, I did not take it on every dive. I mainly used it on boat dives. However I soon noticed that the shots with it were so much better than the shots without it that I really did even bother taking many shots when I did not have it. It definately made a big difference in the quality of my results.
Anyway, to summarize - I like the strobe. I have no other experience to compare it with, but for the price it seems like a great starter, or even backup for more experienced photographer I bet. It seems to recycle sufficiently fast (though its several seconds) but is a little bulky. It takes 4 double A batteries but seems to use them pretty economically.
I had to grab a few bits and pieces from Home Depot to make my own little arm to hold the flash link cable over the flash on the reefmaster mini, but it seemed to work well. I'm planning to use this as my initial strobe with the S95 (once my housing arrives) and will be happy to post some more pictures whenever I finally get out to another good dive destination to use it. For what it worth - the initial dry land tests of the camera (w/o strobe) are great. Looks like it will be really nice.
