Oly SP-350 / PT-030 and a Strobe?

[blahblah]

I've flicked through the various and numerous threads on strobes choices for the
Oly SP-250 and PT-030 combination

What I'm at is which strobe will suit me now and be an asset later
I'm in the air with 3 choices

1. Ikelite DS-51 with EV Controller
2. Inon D2000 with Optical D cable and Clear Photo System
3 YS-110 with either optical or Divervision Conversion Cables for Oly to Sea & Sea

I'm not sure which will best suit my shooting style as I've just started getting used to RAW and setting f stops and iso's etc so I don't really need to be overwhelmed by setting strobes etc for various shots whilst diving.

Here's my thoughts on it (feel free to point me in the right direction)

Option 1
Plug and Play, no need for mods etc to camera, backscatter may be an issue

Option 2
Plug and Play, Optically fired , Nil Backscatter, Unsure of what I need to do to set the strobe

Option 3
as above with optical cable
or hard wired through conversion (is it true ttl)

as you can see I'm limited by my experience
I've taken a few photo's and know a strobe is what will help me to the net level
and I'm looking for ease of use till I learn more and can handle manual control


ta

 

[jlyle]

Your best bet, for what you want, is to sell the PT-030, buy an Ikelite housing, and hardwire a DS-51 or DS-125 to your camera. Otherwise, I would go with the first option - the only strobe setting you need to do is on the EV controller to control the amount of light.

 

[djanni]

I use an Olympus housing with an Inon and optical cable. It works just fine for me. I do think Ikelike housings are better.

 

[ce4jesus]

I actually looking at upgrading my strobes at the moment. I've narrowed it between the Inon and leaning heavily toward the Sea&Sea and here's why:

Ikelite Housing - I've heard complaints from some users about controls, bulkiness etc.

2. The Inon optical flashes send out a very strong preflash which fools your camera into not firing the internal flash. This saves battery life and recycles the camera faster (time from picture to picture)

3. The sea&sea you can use with an athena cable (built in Heinrichs adapter). This will allow you to eventually expand to 2 strobes that will work together and be hard-wired to the cameras TTL port. I've gotten very reliable firing from my hardwired FL20 but the optical flash is another story. You also have to love Sea&Sea's 3 bulb strobe head. Very good coverage out of one strobe.

 

[ianw2]

Great thread and great question! I'm in the same boat. I have to admit that the choices just seems to make my head swim.:shakehead

Jim: I do NOT want to dump my Oly housing to go to Ikelite. I've heard the same points that ce4jesus makes. Going to an Ike housing just about mandates Ike lites. The price soars exponentially. This is a hobby, not a business. Are the housings better? I don't know; they are more expensive. On the other hand, it’s hard to argue with the quality of the photos you post.

Don Janni and ce4jesus, which of the Inons do you use/recommend for typical Southern California dive conditions?

Ian

 

[ce4jesus]

Don Janni and ce4jesus, which of the Inons do you use/recommend for typical Southern California dive conditions?

Good question as I've seen the challenging conditions you guys face out there. Pea soup is kind. Since I'm from Colorado and my closest dive site is a lake where 15-20ft viz would be considered excellent, I can relate. I've also had the unlucky timing to be in good places where the viz was just really bad at that time. It's been my experience that if your trying to photograph anything in those conditions you almost have to have 2 strobes angled away from the subject so that you're feathering the subject with the light from the edge of the strobe. Otherwise, the suspended particles ruin otherwise good photos. That's why I'm leaning heavily toward a hardwired, sea&sea + athena dual cable solution. I get to dive about a dozen trips a year max. So when poor viz is there, I get close and do the best I can with two strobes. Inon also makes a two strobe solution that's just as viable but uses optical cables. I think either one of these would make any diver happy with the outcome of the lighting.


Cheers,
Gary

 

[blahblah]

So the EV controller on the Ike's is reliable, how much does backscatter come into play from having to use the camera's internal strobe

And how reliable are the optical cable's.

 

[AndyT]

IMHO the way to go is to get a YS 110 , replace the flimsy Oly bulkhead with one from Matthias and use a Sea & Sea sync cable which you can get most places you will travel to (just in case of a flood or you damage it). The Athena cable will not be as easily replaced.

 

[jlyle]

So the EV controller on the Ike's is reliable, how much does backscatter come into play from having to use the camera's internal strobe.

To avoid the backscatter fromt the camera's flash, you block it with some duct tape or plastic parts. With my Ike EV-controllers and PT-015 housing, the duct tape solution worked well. some optical sensors come with plastic parts that also block the flash from the camera.

One slight problem with slave strobes is that no one can take your picture without setting off your strobe!

 

[jlyle]

Ike housings are excellent. The Oly housings are, how do I say this, underengineered?

If you buy an Ike strobe, you will use it for your next camera, and your next... Cameras getting better and better - very few people are still shooting 3 Megapixel cameras anymore; five years from now ten megapixels will seem primitive, but I'll still have my Ike DS-125s...