Suggestions for WA strobes?

[ChyLn]

Hi all,

So I've finally given in and decided to pitch in for a few strobes to add to my underwater get-up: Canon 5dm2 with 24mm f1.4 with Ikelite housing and 8inch dome. Was wondering what suggestions that people have. I'm trying to decide 1 vs 2 strobe as well as which strobe to get. I do mostly wide-angle shots but have a growing interest in lighting closer things as well as macro (eventually).

From what I've read, it seems like 2 strobes is always better than 1 and the more power the better. I'll also be using this rig primarily for travel so portability/weight is of some concern. My question is whether or not something like a S2000 (or two) would provide sufficient coverage for me and if that would work with my housing.

Thanks!

 

[bvanant]

For wide angle remember that you will not be able to light up things much further than 5 or 6 feet away. Two S2000 will NOT do it, but two of the Retra/S&SYSD2/Inon Z240 (or the next version) will do a lot more. These will let you do lots of CFWA as well as the occasional bigger thing.

Bill

 

[ChyLn]

Thanks Bill for the reply, also seems that the s2000 won't be able to actually work for my setup anyways. Now leaning towards dual YS-D2. Looking forward to trying them out in Raja next year!

 

[Ricardo V.]

I've used Ikelite 161's and InonZ-240s. The first with cables and the later with fiber optics. After 6 years of heavy use, lots of travel and extensive use, I would recommend hands down the Z240s. Ikelite has not been a good product for me. They cost more, but are not even in the same league.
Fiber optics is the way to go. Hopefully your housing will support that. They are easy to repair, no current and no flood to be worried about.
For the inon's you will need to get good quality rechargeable batteries. They (Inon), recommend using eneloop brand. I have just over 100 eneloops and not even one has ever failed. These batteries are truly exceptional products. I've narrowed down my travel setup considering weight, space and functionality. Before I bought the envelops, I used several competitors and non worked as well as envelop, so don't skimp on that.
The inons are compact and reliable. With a fresh set of eneloop batteries, I can reliably shoot up to 400 shots on manual, with ev power set to anywhere between 5.6 and 8.

I understand inon has discontinued the z240s, but has a new line to carry the torch.

With a Canon 7D in a Nauticam housing and 2 inonz240 strobes, I can shoot to my hearts content and never run out of power with 8 AA eneloop batteries, that would be 4 per strobe.

I travel with 16 AA batteries, and have built a workflow or habit of always recharging a set, just in case I need to replace them before calling it a day.

Hope this helps with your decisions.

Ricardo
PS. Like with many other things in underwater photography, your wide angle lens and strobe positioning are key elements in getting the shot. You will need to have good arms and clamps to position the strobes just right. By good I mean long enough, and strong enough to stay put, either because you pull them closer to the camera because you have a wide angle closeup opportunity, or you have some divers posing at say...6 feet from you and some nice feature in the background and you sude tlf need to push those strobes away from you and of course need them to stay put.

Cheers,

Ricardo