Strobe for Canon S70 - WP-DC40
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RonFrank:
I don't know Ron. And I've tried to find out, too.
As far as my dive buddy's strobe being defective, you've never seen me write that. I have relayed other people's comments and their frustrations only after you asked for supporting documentation. But whenever I discuss the strobe, I try to be fair and balanced. Please review all I have stated regarding it. That is why I mentioned my personal experience with it.
In fairness I have also seen reports of problems with other manufacturers equipment. The difference appears to be that other companies have different customer policies including repairs, etc.
RonFrank
Contributor
DigitalDiver lists the Ikelite 125 at 16UW/16Surface??
B&H list this at 64 Surface, 32 Underwater
So maybe my information is wrong as I was using digital diver to judge GN.
If I was looking for a DSLR TTL strobe UW, the Ikelite 125 would certainly top the list. With my less than perfect S70, while I may want the TTL with the Ikelite, the price may exclude such a strobe until I go DSLR.
B&H list this at 64 Surface, 32 Underwater
So maybe my information is wrong as I was using digital diver to judge GN.
If I was looking for a DSLR TTL strobe UW, the Ikelite 125 would certainly top the list. With my less than perfect S70, while I may want the TTL with the Ikelite, the price may exclude such a strobe until I go DSLR.
RonFrank:DigitalDiver lists the Ikelite 125 at 16UW/16Surface??
B&H list this at 64 Surface, 32 Underwater
So maybe my information is wrong as I was using digital diver to judge GN.
Ron, when using the digitaldiver strobe finder database, what URL were you using?
Digital diver strobe database:
http://www.digitaldiver.net/strobes.php
Guide numbers are all listed in meters, ISO 100. It was chosen due to the majority of the strobe makers listing their data as such. The Ikelite DS 125 Guide number in meters is listed at 20 air, 10 underwater (ISO 100, m). If you were to multiply either of those two guide numbers by 3.2 (approximate meters to foot ratio) you would arrive at both the B&H listing and the Ikelite web site listing.
But if you do find any errors in the database (Duncan found one a couple of months ago), please mention it to me and I'll see that it gets corrected it asap.
regards,
bobf
I have an Epoque strobe and an Inon. My Epoque has well over 100 dives and I have had no trouble at all with it. Yes, the battery door can be tricky, but I take my time, do it right and it's all good. For it's size, it puts out a good light, enough that I had to get a diffuser for it. It's very easy to get caught up with the "it's more expensive, therefore it's better" attitude. If you read various sites, there are just as many other name brand strobes flooding as well as Epoques. If you want to take professional, magazine quality snaps, yes, by all means get an expensive setup, as they will more than likely have the features the cheaper ones don't, but for the majority who just want to show their friends what they saw, go with whatever you can afford. At the end of the day, look after your gear (whatever it may be) and it will look after you.
RonFrank:
Not that this is really relevant, but if you have something from sea level, and bring it to high altitude... the pressure INSIDE the item is built up because the air inside the item has expanded due to the decreased air pressure outside.
Simple science experiment... buy a bag of chips in denver, or anywhere lower... bring to 10,000'... you have exploded bag, not imploded bag. Yes there is decreased pressure outside the bag, the air inside is pushing out now.
The strobe had pressure pushing OUT, thus potentially causing a crack.
Not trying to be a jerk... just clarifying.
Ryan
Contributor
I've been told by someone in Japan that neither Sunpack or Epoque build their own strobes, but do buy them from the same vendor. I don't know that they are the same strobe, as they could be built do different specifications, but trust that they come from the same production line...
deepseafalcon
Contributor
Gar Whaley:
I have two Canon digicams & UW housing with the Inon D2000 strobe as well as their wide angle converter.
www.inonamerica.com
Both are extremely well designed and high quality.
Their wide angle converter is also very competively priced, the strobe is middle of the road at 500.-
I have to say that I like the strobe MUCH more than the Ikelite DS125, and also the Substrobe 50. I owned both before.
The Inon is much more flexible, smaller/lighter package, has standard batteries (unlike the DS125), and is specifically designed for small digital cameras with very short flash burn time and preflash. The Ikelite is not!
d-s-f
Well, here are my thoguhts so far on the Sunpak-G:
1.) Absolutely no problems with the door. I had been a little worried about this, because if you try to rotate the power switch from the center of the unit (as opposed to the edge) you get awfully close to the door itself. But as the previous sentence implies, I figure out rather quickly it is not only safer, but easier to rotate it from the outside edge (whcih is, I'm sure, why they put the little lever there - d0h!). Went down to about 55', so higher pressures are still an unknown.
2.) No problems with the slave. As far as I can tell, every time I fired the camera, the Sunpak fired too.
3.) I _think_ the beam is somewhat tightly focused, but I'll need more experience to find out. In most cases, everything seemd fine, but on one photo, I noticed the color balance at the edge was much more green/cyan than at the center (comapring two fleshtones). I'll need to play with it some more to see how it goes.
4.) The recycle was not a major problem - but I did have one or two shots where I "jumped the gun" before a full recharge and ended up with less light than I might have liked. I can see where a significantly shorter recycle time would be beneficial. I did, however, shoot at 100% the whole time, so it could have done better if I hadn't been pushing it.
5.) The power of the unit seemed fine. I was shooting as ISO 50, 1/60th of a second, between f 6.3 and f 8. Most shots (except the "jump the gun" ones described above) were well exposed.
6.) Backscatter sucked. Since I am a new UW photog, I'm not sure of the reason for this. I have several theories - any suggestions or comments would be appreciated:
a.) I'm in a quarry (Dutch Springs, PA), and that just the way it is - a lot of crap in the water (sometimes, it's just creepy how much junk you can see floating in the water)
b.) I need to get one of the fiber-optic cables described by others, and suppress the on-camera flash with a black card or something (assuming the on-camera flash created reflections)
c.) I need to get the flash unit farther away from the camera (i.e., replace the handle that came with the strobe)
d.) some combination of the above
I'm going out again tomorrow, so I'll try to change things up a bit (lower power, for example) and see what happens.
RiotNrrd
1.) Absolutely no problems with the door. I had been a little worried about this, because if you try to rotate the power switch from the center of the unit (as opposed to the edge) you get awfully close to the door itself. But as the previous sentence implies, I figure out rather quickly it is not only safer, but easier to rotate it from the outside edge (whcih is, I'm sure, why they put the little lever there - d0h!). Went down to about 55', so higher pressures are still an unknown.
2.) No problems with the slave. As far as I can tell, every time I fired the camera, the Sunpak fired too.
3.) I _think_ the beam is somewhat tightly focused, but I'll need more experience to find out. In most cases, everything seemd fine, but on one photo, I noticed the color balance at the edge was much more green/cyan than at the center (comapring two fleshtones). I'll need to play with it some more to see how it goes.
4.) The recycle was not a major problem - but I did have one or two shots where I "jumped the gun" before a full recharge and ended up with less light than I might have liked. I can see where a significantly shorter recycle time would be beneficial. I did, however, shoot at 100% the whole time, so it could have done better if I hadn't been pushing it.
5.) The power of the unit seemed fine. I was shooting as ISO 50, 1/60th of a second, between f 6.3 and f 8. Most shots (except the "jump the gun" ones described above) were well exposed.
6.) Backscatter sucked. Since I am a new UW photog, I'm not sure of the reason for this. I have several theories - any suggestions or comments would be appreciated:
a.) I'm in a quarry (Dutch Springs, PA), and that just the way it is - a lot of crap in the water (sometimes, it's just creepy how much junk you can see floating in the water)
b.) I need to get one of the fiber-optic cables described by others, and suppress the on-camera flash with a black card or something (assuming the on-camera flash created reflections)
c.) I need to get the flash unit farther away from the camera (i.e., replace the handle that came with the strobe)
d.) some combination of the above
I'm going out again tomorrow, so I'll try to change things up a bit (lower power, for example) and see what happens.
RiotNrrd
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