http://www.adorama.com/SUGF.html
Anyone has used this storbe? Any user comments or sample photos please? Thanks.
Anyone has used this storbe? Any user comments or sample photos please? Thanks.
Sunpak G-flash strobe
- Thread starter travelem
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Gilligan
Contributor
It is an underwater strobe and is identical to the Epoque. Neither are very powerful strobes and both use only 2 AA batteries. I suggest you invest in a more powerful one.
scubaPhillip
Registered
I purchased this item a year ago and finally had the chance to try it last week in Bonaire. It worked nicely making my underwater photos better then ever....until the 3rd day when I discovered it took on water and the flash is cooked. The item is destroyed. I am trying to see if I can get it fixed or replaced with warranty. The problem seems to be the battery compartment and o-ring cap.
ScubaPhillip
ScubaPhillip
Don't even think about it. Mine failed twice with no apparent reason, after only 10-15 dives each time, and flooded once when the battery cover was perfectly installed and the o-ring was clean and properly lubed. Sunpak America was great about replacing it twice while it was under the one year warranty. The last new one they sent me, when it failed for no reason (I think it has a bad capacitor or transistor, it works intermittently about one out of 50 times, and when I opened the case to look for the obvious and grounded the bulb while on, it flashed) I finally got sick of staring at it in my closet and sent it to Sunpak repair in NJ with instructions to fix it, replace it or throw it away for me, as I couldn't bear to toss $200 in the trash. They returned it to me with a note that said they regretted they could no longer repair it as it hadn't been made for quite some time and parts were no longer available. Too bad, because when it worked it was a decent flash. Spend your money on something a little more expensive and a lot more effective and reliable.:no
my take: Very wierd battery cap system. Requires extra special attention while putting the battery cover on. Even then, the confidence factor isn't good when you do it right. The strobe itself worked fine. It was stronger than I expected and recycled in plenty of time for my next P&S shot. I would buy the YS27DX if I were in the market for a cheap strobe today.
I was looking at that strobe when I first started shopping for one. I came across an overwhelming amount of people that were saying that it is very easy to flood and the output is not that great. All around I was seeing recomendations to hold off, save up more money and get something better, starting at the Ikelite DS-51 (w/ EV adapter if it needs to be triggered optically), Sea & Sea YS-110, or the Inon D2000. Anytheing less would be a disappointment in the long run.
I ended up staying away from it and while saving up for something better, I stumbled across Sea & Sea's closeout page (LINK) where I found a YS-60 kit, complete with strobe, tray and a simple arm (not that great, but at least as good as the one that comes with the GFlash) for $135. This strobe does not have an optical slave mode, so I got a Heinrichs-Weikamp DA2 for $130 (link - make sure to get this one for the YS-60 on the closeout page, not the one with the Sea & Sea plug since the YS-60 on the closeout is the 5-pin N-type) which was basically designed with the YS-50 and YS-60 in mind in order to shoot them as a slave flash triggered by the camera's flash. The YS-60 is an older (less modern) version of the YS-110 with slightly less output and lower specs, but is a very respectable setup that can be used later to compliment a more powerful strobe should I want to upgrade (at least that's the way I see it). I've only taken it in the water a couple of times now and am still struggling with strobe placement (thanks in part to limited adjustibility of the arm) and getting the hang of shooting with one in the green currents down here.
If you can afford them, the DS-51, YS110 or D2000 seem like much less hassle and I see them very highly recommended. If you can, get one of them. But if the budget is too tight, consider the YS-27 (looks like a decent setup and less hassle than mine). Fianlly, consider the setup I got for about the same price as the GFlash.
I ended up staying away from it and while saving up for something better, I stumbled across Sea & Sea's closeout page (LINK) where I found a YS-60 kit, complete with strobe, tray and a simple arm (not that great, but at least as good as the one that comes with the GFlash) for $135. This strobe does not have an optical slave mode, so I got a Heinrichs-Weikamp DA2 for $130 (link - make sure to get this one for the YS-60 on the closeout page, not the one with the Sea & Sea plug since the YS-60 on the closeout is the 5-pin N-type) which was basically designed with the YS-50 and YS-60 in mind in order to shoot them as a slave flash triggered by the camera's flash. The YS-60 is an older (less modern) version of the YS-110 with slightly less output and lower specs, but is a very respectable setup that can be used later to compliment a more powerful strobe should I want to upgrade (at least that's the way I see it). I've only taken it in the water a couple of times now and am still struggling with strobe placement (thanks in part to limited adjustibility of the arm) and getting the hang of shooting with one in the green currents down here.
If you can afford them, the DS-51, YS110 or D2000 seem like much less hassle and I see them very highly recommended. If you can, get one of them. But if the budget is too tight, consider the YS-27 (looks like a decent setup and less hassle than mine). Fianlly, consider the setup I got for about the same price as the GFlash.
scubaPhillip
Registered
I appreciate the feedback on this item (Sunpak G-Flash). I contacted Sunpak today and they responded quickly and asked me to ship my unit back for review, I have a good felling they back their product and ship a new one. Hopefully once I use it again the same problem doesn't happen again.
The only thing I can imagine what happened is even though the o-ring clean and lubed it still has a chance of rolling out of it's proper position, you would not ever know for sure once the cap snaps back in to place. I suppose you have to feel and look the best you can before submerging to make sure it's where it should be. It sure is a nice flash, my photo's when it worked turned out spectacular.
ScubaPhillip
The only thing I can imagine what happened is even though the o-ring clean and lubed it still has a chance of rolling out of it's proper position, you would not ever know for sure once the cap snaps back in to place. I suppose you have to feel and look the best you can before submerging to make sure it's where it should be. It sure is a nice flash, my photo's when it worked turned out spectacular.
ScubaPhillip
DesertEagle
Contributor
A good, cheap strobe is not easy to find. For a simple setup, Ikelite's new Autoflash AF35 kit for $369 is a good deal, since it includes everything.
Like randini, I also have the Sea & Sea YS-60 with Heinrichs-Weikamp DA2. However, I have a ULCS tray & arms. The positioning makes a huge difference.
Like randini, I also have the Sea & Sea YS-60 with Heinrichs-Weikamp DA2. However, I have a ULCS tray & arms. The positioning makes a huge difference.
Similar threads
