Sealife SL960D vs Bonica Neon

[DougNR]

Hello to all;

I need to add a flash to my Nikon L3 / Fanasea FL3 combo and have been looking at the Sealife SL960D and the Bonica Neon Digital. After reading through Flash Dance, it seems the Sealife is a well know item. On the other hand, I have seen no info here on the Bonica. Anyone with some experience with both? From what I can gather, here are the pros and cons...

Sealife - PRO=appears to be a solid performer for the price.
CON=has a single seal. Flood the battery compartment, flood it all.

Bonica - PRO=Has a double seal, but I'm not sure this means the battery is seperate from the electronics.
CON=No sync cord - could be problematic seeing the built in flash depending on conditions. sync could also be unreliable also depending on conditions.

I believe both units have similar GNs. Sealife is 20, and I have not seen specs on the Bonica.
Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[roadkils]

Doug,

I do not have any experience with the Bonica strobes but I did have a Sealife SL960D until I flooded it. Other than the single seal on the Sealife, I had no complaints with the strobe.

Dwight

 

[DougNR]

Doug,

I do not have any experience with the Bonica strobes but I did have a Sealife SL960D until I flooded it. Other than the single seal on the Sealife, I had no complaints with the strobe.

Dwight:

Thanks for that. Sort of falls in line with what I was hearing here in general with the exception of flooding. Can you elaborate on the failure? Was it an issue with the unit itself or where there other factors involved? I had a chance to put my hands on a 9600D at Divers Direct yesterday and clearly a leak of the single seal housing would be the end of the strobe.

I realize that most would advise spending more which would ultimately be better bang for the buck, but it's just not in the budget right now.

Thanks!

 

[roadkils]

Doug,

Honestly, I do not know what happened. I put in a fresh set of batteries and don't know if I didn't get the strobe properly sealed or if the o-ring was dirty/contaminated. This happened at the beginning of a week-long liveaboard so I was strobeless for the remainder of the week. Sealife did fix the strobe for me but charged me due to "User Error" in their words.

Best,

Dwight

 

[DougNR]

Sealife did fix the strobe for me but charged me due to "User Error" in their words.

Well - That's what they tell you when there is no other explanation. Dwight, I think I'll take your experience with the 960D as a "neutral" comment.

I'm surprised there has been no input on the Bonica. While I originally asked for comment from those having experience with both, I'd be more than happy to hear from those with just Bonica Neon experiences as well.

Again thanks for any help.

 

[nivla80]

If i'm not wrong.. I THINK...Bonica Strobes and Sealife SL960D strobes are all manufactured by Bonica... That was what I was told when i called up a store to ask for more information regarding both strobes. Hope that helps!

 

[DougNR]

If i'm not wrong.. I THINK...Bonica Strobes and Sealife SL960D strobes are all manufactured by Bonica... That was what I was told when i called up a store to ask for more information regarding both strobes. Hope that helps!

That's interresting. I did notice that the power level control dial on both units looked surprisingly similar. The Bonica does claim a double seal where the Sealife is a single. No question though that a manufacturer makes certain changes for different brands of essentially the same product.

Thanks for that.

 

[Diver_C]

I have dual 960D strobes. One did flood the night before the last day of a week's diving. Have no idea why either. SeaLife didn't charge me.

 

[f3nikon]

Keep in mind that those "expensive" strobe will FLOOD like the inexpensive strobes. The Nano strobes at $120 sounds very good:

http://www.fantasea.com/email/nano_flash_press_release_done.asp

 

[DougNR]

Keep in mind that those "expensive" strobe will FLOOD like the inexpensive strobes. The Nano strobes at $120 sounds very good:

http://www.fantasea.com/email/nano_flash_press_release_done.asp

Yep - No question about it. I can't speak to the issue of higher price equaling a higher quality seal. What you might get though is an electronics compartment sealed from the battery. IOW flooding the battery might not bring an end to using it on that trip. More experienced photographers may have something to say on that issue.