Accessorizing my G15

[tplyons]

Hi all,

I have my G15 with the OEM Canon WP-DC48 housing. The G15 itself gets used in my travels regardless of whether or not I'm diving.

I've booked a trip to Egypt at the end of the year and am determined to have a fully capable rig, and be fully capable of using it by then. So its time to start accessorizing.

Here's my plan:
Initially, buy a tray, arm, strobe and fiber optic cable.
Then, buy a wide angle lens and dome.
Lastly, buy a second arm, strobe and fiber optic cable.

I'd like your opinion on my planned progression. I spend a lot of time in the quarry and would love to spend time improving my skills behind the camera. The camera shoots great, but I'm lacking color and lighting so I'm prioritizing the strobe.

On that note, which strobe would you recommend? I've been recommended the Sea & Sea YS-01 and the Inon S-2000 strobes. I'm personally leaning towards the Inon strobe and Inon tray and arms.

I'm looking at this package: Inon S-2000 Starter Kit D4 (S-2000, Grip Base D4 Set) [ino.456212143435] - $651.95 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

Thoughts? If I do go with the package above, which fiber optic cable will I need? Struggling to understand the differences and applications for each.

 

[ScubaMarc]

I am ok with the strobe, i have the z240, i think there are better options for the arm which would grow with you. The inon tray looks limiting. I see the price is good, but you might be changing it out later on.

 

[Hetland]

Buy the most powerful strobe you can afford. I'm partial to the Inon line. I've used Sea and Sea, and really like their newer strobes, but I keep reading about people who have problems with them. The z240 and D2000 offer an additional "Auto" mode that allows you to set the aperture on the strobe to match what the camera's shooting, but I think sTTL works better for wide shots in practice.

Nauticam, Inon, and ULCS all have good hardware. I think the Nauticam gear has the edge on quality. I like the redundancy of their trays and handles, each component has two screws, so you have a back-up in the very unlikely event of a failure.

 

[rks]

Agree with Hetland, buy the most powerful strobe you can afford. I started with some pretty small strobes and eventually just kept upgrading till I got to my current Ikelite DS160/DS161 setup. I wish I had skipped the in-betweens because I spent more money running through a few different strobes if I had just gone straight to the bigger units.

I'm also a big fan of the Ultralight Arms for the strobes they just feel solid.

 

[coralcruiser]

I bought the inon s200 a few years ago and have been very happy with it. Since you're using the oem housing, which attaches to the tray with one screw, I would look at the UCLS tray for $34 and either their arms, or shop around for less expensive ones. The $34 tray is clean and simple and you can buy the add-on piece to attach another arm to it when ready. If you're already dealing with Reef then ask for Kevin. I've bought most of my uwp gear through him and he's very upfront and easy to work with.

I-DAS may be less costly but am not sure and you can find them at opticaloceansales.

Another good store to deal with is bluewaterphotostore.com or backscatter.com