Ikelite DS125 vs. INON Z240

[RGist]

Warren L, Thanks for your input. I am not using an ike housing, so the ike TTL is not an issue. I guess I am leaning more and more toward the INON's...

 

[alcina]

Ah! It's all about getting your gear to work for you - it's not the equipment that causes most problems, unfortunately LOL

Practice, practice, practice

 

[aquakiwi]

Very interesting info here, I'm housing my EOS 400D in an Ikelite housing and was thinking of an Inon. Do they have compatiple plugs for the Ike housing? Also I have
a couple of Inon 180s with the fibre obtics cable. Could I use one as a slave?

 

[dbh]

I could be using any strobe made. I am using 2 Inon Z240's. AA batteries.....small size....bulletproof.....powerful.

Check out my Grand Cayman Gallery. All shot w/ dual Z240's.

Dave

 

[RonFrank]

I am struggling choosing strobes for a new DSLR system. I want a quality strobes with fast recycle times and minimal weight. Any suggestions on which one to choose?

If you use an IKE housing, IMO go with the IKE strobes with iTTL.

If you want a smaller package, the Inon's are hard to beat.

Ike's service is excellent. I can not comment on Inon. They are made in Japan but they do have an American division.

Inon's are feature rich out of the box with 13 steps of manual control, and an auto mode that seems like it would be very handy in lieu of iTTL or eTTL.

The IKE's don't have much in the way of manual control, or an auto aperture setting. However coupled with the Ike Housing either iTTL/eTTL, or manual control is available using a stepless control on the housing which is very nice. The Ike TTL which is standard with most DSLR housings, and built in to every flash is a great option, and very cost justified. Sea&Sea's TTL controllers are over $500 which is not much less than the cost of a good strobe.

Either way you go, I think you will be happy. I shoot Ike strobes, but INON has a very good reputation.

 

[bobf]

.........The IKE's don't have much in the way of manual control, or an auto aperture setting.........

As far as any Ikelite DS series strobe lacking manual control latitude......may I offer my opinion, please.........

The new DS 51 has 6 intensity levels built right into the strobe head. I would consider that more than adequate.

The DS 125 and DS 200 each have 4. imho 4 (full, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8) is still plenty of latitude.......especially if you factor in other intensity control options such as aperture, distance from strobe to subject, and the1 stop rated diffuser. The diffuser when added reduces 1/8 power to 1/16. Minimizing a strobe's intensity to 1/16 may be useful for macro work with compact digital cameras (typically digicam smallest aperture @ f/8-11)....but digicams also have the ability to set low (vs dSLR) ISO sensitivity levels (ISO 50 vs 200).........

Generally speaking, small apertures are chosen for macro work on dSLR's to maximize DOF, therefore higher strobe intensity levels {say f/16-f/22 at 1/2 power?} are commonly chosen. So the need for minimizing the intensity of the strobe's GN beyond 1/16 is less a factor. If the need to reduce intensity still existed, for each 12" (30cm?) of strobe to subject distance, on average an f/stop of strobe intensity level is lost underwater (6" = @ 1/2 intensity lost). Fine tuning a strobe's intensity influence between full and 1/2 stops can be accomplished by position (distance).

As Ron pointed out, the Ikelite DS series does not offer Auto or External Auto. External Auto may be useful in close macro work where aiming the strobe directly at the subject would not increase the chance of capturing backscatter as much as when attempting to use the strobe set to Auto for Wide Angle work. External Auto may be quite useful for macro work if some form of TTL were not available and Manual strobe control was not desired.

Less common today are Ikelite DS series strobes operated by themselves, without added manual control features. Access to additional EV control, either as Ron noted conveniently built into the housing itself or attached by sync cord to the 10 step Ikelite EV controller is the norm with Ike strobe systems.

imo,
b