Looking for entry level (but decent) strobe. Suggestions please.

[livewire]

Hi Divebrasil:

Here's a site that will help you compare strobes:

Underwater Strobe Comparison Guide - Digital Diver Network

Also, please look for a PM from me, I live in Irvine not too far from you and I have an extra Sea & Sea YS-90 strobe that I can offer you!

Take care,
Santiago

 

[divebrasil]

nevermind, pls go tot he next message

 

[divebrasil]

Thanks guys.
I did find some stuff on ebay.
Sea & Sea YS-120 Duo Underwater Strobe-tray & Arm - $300 - used
Nikonos SB-105 Underwater Strobe Light, NEW - $200
Sea & Sea YS60 TTL/S Underwater Strobe & Connector - $100 - used

what do you think?

and what do you think about the
OLYMPUS NEW UFL-1 Underwater Strobe ?

Thanks

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

If you are interested, we have 4 of the YS-110's used for sale that were in our demo locker. All are in excellent shape, but we are replacing them with YS-110 alphas

 

[divebrasil]

Thanks all for the advice

 

[JohnQPS122]

I was just in here doing research on a strobe for my point and shoot (Canon 570 in Canon housing) and ended up finding out that Inon America has gone out of business, but maybe Inon strobes are still available directly from the Japanese manufacturer?

The story is on their web site at: inonamerica dot com (I'm not allowed to post URLs because I am new here, but you can figure it out if you are interested).

 

[spoolin01]

There are a variety of less expensive slaved strobes that can be had used for as little as $25-$50 on eBay (I've used the Ikelite A35 and a couple of their old Substrobe 50 variants; most of the others are weaker I believe). These are full power only and you have to have a camera with a non-preflash mode. I think your SP-350 will do that. I find this approach to be workable for a lot of photography except fairly close up where lack of intensity control is more difficult to work around. Morris makes an inexpensive handheld slave strobe for $40 - I have yet to try mine out. There are also less expensive variable power strobes, Bonica I think has one that is digital pre-flash capable, but I haven't tried them. The one setup I have used a lot and like is the Ikelite DS-50 or DS-51 with their EV Controller. Powerful compact strobe. At least two long flash-happy dives on a set of rechargeable AAs. 10 quickly selectable power levels with the EV Controller. Reliable triggering even with reduced camera flash. No fiber-optic cable to mess with. You can probably get a DS-50 or even the newer DS-51 (also has variable power settings but they don't matter for use with the EV) with the EV controller for $250-$300 used on eBay but I haven't watched prices in awhile. Another plus for Ikelite as Inon users may or may not find - they're a US company and their service is second to none.

 

[wsplum]

I have a c-8080 olympus with a Ikelite 6130.80 housing. Are there other strobe and sync cable options to use with this housing other than the designated Ikelite strobe and sync cable?

Thanks

 

[RAWalker]

One suggestion is to check the guide numbers. Many of the strobes mentioned here are guide #20 which means at an ISO of 100 the strobe can reach 20 meters shooting in air.
This number give you and idea of what to expect in terms of light output for comparison.
Other features of the strobe may play a factor in your choice.
The reason I use and suggested the less expensive Pixtreme PX21 (Fantasea Nano) is within you budget you could afford 2 of these strobes. This has 3 advantages over a single strobe less shadows for closeup work, additive power for further away and wide coverage for wide angle shots. This model has only a guide #12 but using 2 strobes will give you and overall of #24 which is more light that many of the single strobes discussed while still helping to lower the amount of shadows.
This is a case where unless you are willing to step up your budget to include 2 of the higher output strobes, the smaller duals can outperform. Less money more performance but a bit more complicated.
As I said in my earlier post the Pixtreme is less expensive than the Fantasea version and comes with all the accessories (tray, flexarm, filters) except the fiber optic slave cable you will need to trigger the stobes properly.

 

[Wisnu]

You can also consider Epoque ES230DS, compact strobe, GN21; work in manual and auto (I don't use the auto mode). I just bought this strobe end of Nov. and use it with my back-up camera SP-350 during my trip to Bunaken/Lembeh. You can get it for less than USD 300; of slighly above 300 for package incl. flex. arm, tray, and FO cable.
I have to say this strobe is good for money - well built although the claimed GN probably overrated as we have to use the supplied diffuser all the time, otherwise very harsh cast; and too bright in the center. The battery compartment almost similar as Inon.
Sure, its performances is inferior compared with my other strobe, ie. Inon D2000 type 3 where I use w/ my G9; but again 230DS is half the price of D2000.
Below, two pictures were taken w Oly SP-350 and Epoque ES230DS, both in jpeg.

First, supermacro mode; taken from distance 5 - 10 cm; and the second from approx. 1 m.