Dive Light Or Strobe?

[four_engines]

Hello

I'm an amateur at u/w photography and am thinking of giving more light to my pictures. But here comes the dilemma. I have a Canon A520 and I'm not sure if I should get a Dive Light or a Strobe.

Within my budget, my considerations are: UK Light Cannon 100, Sea & Sea YS-15 Auto, and the Inon D-180S and the Sunpak G-Flash.

Anyone with experience with the any of the above? Would appreciate any comments at all.

There's been some discussion on this already but those were quite some time ago. Would like to seek more opinions.

Thanks in advance.

F/E

 

[DesertEagle]

Strobe. You'll need one to freeze motion at slower shutter speeds. The YS-15 isn't very powerful, the Sunpak/Epoque has battery compartment issues- so of the three the Inon is the best.

 

[RiotNrrd]

I've been using the Sunpak, and it's been pretty good to me so far. I've only taken it down to around 60 feet or so, though, so I don't know how it will behave at depth. According to the manufacturer, it will go down to around 150 feet or so, if I remember correctly.

I also decided to replace the frame with an Ultralight tray and arm setup, and added the Epoque fiber optic cable. I haven't shot with it since making those changes, but I'll let you know how it goes when I do - planning on going diving the 12th/13th (PA diving - BRRRR!).

RiotNrrd

 

[Monkey Knife-fight]

A little light is nice to have on the housing but you will appreciate the strobe much more. At least i did. I now have a small ikelite flashlight and an ikelite DS50 strobe. I love the DS50. Small and powerful. Sorry but i've never used any of the strobes you mention.

I would think a light cannon might be a bit bulky and uneven in lighting your pics.

 

[bobf]

Inon D 180 is discontinued and may be hard to find new in box. Considering your budget, you may wish to expand your search to include an Epoque ES 150 DS Alpha, which has a newly designed battery compartment door, or the Epoque ES 230 DS Auto. I have not used either strobe nor am I connected to Epoque in any way.............

I agree with DesertEagle that a strobe is preferable to a dive light for illuminating underwater compositions. One reason would be the greater beam angle offered by a typical strobe (70-100&#176 vs a dive light (@ 50&#176. A dive light may only be useful for very close macro subjects.

When choosing a shutter speed of 1/100 sec, commonly used to avoid motion blur underwater, a 10 watt dive light will emit only one tenth of a watt of light (a 25 watt dive light=0.25 watts in 1/100 sec). Slowing the shutter speed further increases the chance of motion blur and the probability of a washed out background exposure.

BTW a used Ikelite DS 50 with a manual controller, an Inon D 2000, or a S & S YS 90 DX may also be in your budget.