Buy a strobe that can mimic preflash? Built-in target light?

[mrwa]

Hi,

I am planning to buy a single strobe that can be triggered optically. I am considering spending some extra money to get a strobe that mimics preflash to cut down on the amount of manual adjustments necessary to prevent overexposure. I have heard some people say systems that mimic preflash don't always function very well. I like the idea of letting my camera make as many automatic adjustments as possible so that I can spend less time worrying about settings and more time shooting (yes, I know about TTL, but can't afford it yet). Has anyone found that this sort of system can offer substantially increased flexibility and convenience and/or produce more consistent results? Secondly, do strobes that have target lights make a big difference in being able to get your subjects in focus more consistently? Any help would be great! Thanks

 

[f3nikon]

Very interesting...your question sounds more like a sales pitch for Inon strobes. The "mimic" preflash is just a "Gimmick" IMO I hear more stories of inconsistent results like over exposed pictures and target lights built into a strobe is a big waste of power, better off installing a seperate modelling light to help in the focusing.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board.
Personally, I always shoot manual so preflash is a non issue. If you shoot much UW and want any creativity with it you will eventually shoot manual. My best advise to go ahead and learn manual, it's really not that hard. My Inon D180 has a modeling light. I don't use it so much for focus assist as I do for strobe alignment. As for them being a power waste it depends on how your using them. If you leave it on all the time they do eat batteries but for a few seconds for strobe alignment or to to light up a hole I am shooting into (so I can see) they work fine. Reserve battery power is not really an issue for me, I swap batteries every other dive anyway. The Inons also have the advantage of shutting themselves off during the shot, preventing a hot spot on the photo from the modeling light.

 

[dbh]

I agree w/ f3 (for ONCE....and that is scary) that you need a separate focusing light. Your strobe is not always pointing the same direction your camera is pointing.

The sTTL on Inon strobes works VERY well.

Dave

 

[mrwa]

Thanks for the information, your comments are helpful. Since I don’t dive very often, I was hoping there might be an easy way to cut down on the “trial and error” process to get good results. I guess the challenge is what makes UW photography interesting. I have already started to read up on manual shooting; which seems to be necessary knowledge even with TTL in many cases. Unfortunately, I can’t afford an Inon (unless someone has a cheap used one they want to part with), so I may end up trying to get a quality starter strobe with less bells and whistles. Do you think I should opt for a modeling light that shuts off automatically when the strobe fires? How important is that feature? I don't work for Inon by the way

 

[KARELNIJEBOER]

Hi;

I started out the same way as you; and decided for a cheap flash with manual control. It works well and reliable; but you need to adjust exposure quite often. An epoque 230 ES is very powerful, and has a light metering mode which works reasonable. It is triggered very reliable with the optical cable.
It has a light that you can use for aiming the strobe, which can be useful. I would buy a separate sea and sea nano focus light; this is a laed light that lasts forever, and shuts down when a flash is detected. The focus light I have not used yet, and i'm curious if this is a good improvement. I shoot a lot of my pics in sweet water lakes, here in Holland, and any light is welcome to focus better or faster.

Regards
"豐英水中撮影機材 FUN-IN Underwater Photo Equipment"
karel

 

[Puffer Fish]

Hi,

I am planning to buy a single strobe that can be triggered optically. I am considering spending some extra money to get a strobe that mimics preflash to cut down on the amount of manual adjustments necessary to prevent overexposure. I have heard some people say systems that mimic preflash don't always function very well. I like the idea of letting my camera make as many automatic adjustments as possible so that I can spend less time worrying about settings and more time shooting (yes, I know about TTL, but can't afford it yet). Has anyone found that this sort of system can offer substantially increased flexibility and convenience and/or produce more consistent results? Secondly, do strobes that have target lights make a big difference in being able to get your subjects in focus more consistently? Any help would be great! Thanks

Sadly, one person "mimic" is not the same as another persons.

Inon, for example, uses a really strong preflash, which causes the camera to reduce the output of it's flash to the minimum it can do, which saves batteries and heat and shortens the camera recycle. However, the "real" flash from the strobe is then based on setting done on the strobe and a sensor on the strobe, which works most of the time, but as it can be a different distance to the object... will make mistakes every so often.

Some just send out a preflash, and don't do anything with it. Nice for saving camera batteries/heat/ recycle, but you have to do the manual adjustment thing.

The S&S YS110 flashes with the camera preflash, and shuts off when the camera preflash shuts off and then uses that to adjust the flash. (automatic flash adjustments are time based). So, if done correctly, that is a TTL system, using what the camera sees. It's weakness is the same as the camera's flash, in that macro images may be too close and the flash will be too strong. This can be adjusted for, but you have to turn down the flash output... good new is that you can predo it, once you learn the rules.

I have seen several remote (attached to the housing) systems that measure the light at the camera, but the cost of the ones I have seen make them rather pricey.

Regarding the light... I cannot speak about any others, except the YS110, and it is a very effective for telling where the flash is pointed. Does it help with focus? My camera has built in light, so not sure... could try and see by blocking mine. It is a nice feature, though. Worth the cost, particularly if you use two strobes and like macro shots.

 

[Puffer Fish]

Hi;

I started out the same way as you; and decided for a cheap flash with manual control. It works well and reliable; but you need to adjust exposure quite often. An epoque 230 ES is very powerful, and has a light metering mode which works reasonable. It is triggered very reliable with the optical cable.
It has a light that you can use for aiming the strobe, which can be useful. I would buy a separate sea and sea nano focus light; this is a laed light that lasts forever, and shuts down when a flash is detected. The focus light I have not used yet, and i'm curious if this is a good improvement. I shoot a lot of my pics in sweet water lakes, here in Holland, and any light is welcome to focus better or faster.

Regards
"豐英水ä¸*撮影機材 FUN-IN Underwater Photo Equipment"
karel

That is one of the stobes that I don't know exactly how they "mimic" the camera's preflash... do you happen to know much about it?

Short of that, how is it adjusted (which tells a lot about the system being used).

That is a fairly low cost strobe.. so might be worth adding to the list of strobes to consider.

 

[bobf]

Sadly, one person "mimic" is not the same as another persons.

Inon, for example, uses a really strong preflash, which causes the camera to reduce the output of it's flash to the minimum it can do, which saves batteries and heat and shortens the camera recycle............................

The above statement reflects INON's Advance Cancel Circuitry (D-2000, Z-240).

http://www.inonamerica.com/content/docs/AdvCancelCircuit2F375.pdf

INON strobes (D-2000, Z-240) also offer S-TTL, which relies on mimicking a pre-flash.

http://www.inonamerica.com/content/docs/STTL_D2000.pdf

 

[Puffer Fish]

The above statement reflects INON's Advance Cancel Circuitry (D-2000, Z-240).

http://www.inonamerica.com/content/docs/AdvCancelCircuit2F375.pdf

INON strobes (D-2000, Z-240) also offer S-TTL, which relies on mimicking a pre-flash.

http://www.inonamerica.com/content/docs/STTL_D2000.pdf

My hat is off to Inon, for being nice enough to explain how their systems work.... The S&S YS110 is an S-TTL system.

But I know of no other flash maker that is willing to actually explain how their system works....even going so far as to point out issues with their standard system.