Inon or Sea & Sea?

[Bogdan]

Hello! I am in the process of outfitting a Olympus OMD E-M1 rig (upgrading from an Olympus E-PL1 for which I currently use a S&S YS-110 and YS-01 strobes) and was trying to decide between the Sea & Sea YS-D1 and the Inon Z240 strobes. I'm planning on pairing my current YS-110 with either a Sea & Sea YS-D1 or Inon Z240, but I am not yet sure which to get. Any thoughts with respect to which of these may be preferable? I'm particularly interested in reliability and consistency. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
(I recently rented a Inon D2000 in Bonaire when one of my Sea & Sea's flooded, and I was impressed with the quality….thought the complexity of the back panel of dials was a bit intimidating I must say).

 

[mjh]

Inon makes a good product but for now the S&S YS-D1 is the class leader. With a Guide Number of 32 at 80 degrees it gives you more power in a very small package, for less money. It's TTL system is excellent for those who want to shoot in Auto. Yes there was a run that had software issues but that has been resolved and for the last year or so no returns.

 

[Interceptor121]

I was at the same cross road after using Sea and Sea for years I bought myself an Inon Z240

Various reasons, first the Inon strobes have more modes and are compatible pretty much with anything. Specifically if you don't want to use TTL the external auto mode is great as you can match the aperture of the camera on the strobe and shoot in manual

Second you need to evaluate that the YS-D1 it is GN 32 at 80 degrees but actually drops to 24 at 100 degrees the Z240 is 24 at 100 degrees but does not need a diffuser because of the two lights. The focus light is much more powerful on the Z240 and finally Inon support is much better

The Z240 is more expensive than the sea and sea but if you shoot in manual it has many more options although some of the flexibility will not be useful when you pair it to a sea and sea strobe that is relatively simpler and won't give you the full benefits of having two inons

 

[bvanant]

Both are good strobes, and at the same beam width have almost identical performance. Yes the D1 has a higher guide # at a narrower beam and this might be great in some circumstances (can you say snoot) but as a general purpose strobe it is pretty much the same as the Z240. The Inons have a much better track record of longevity than S&S and in spite of the claims of having fixed the firmware, a recent strobe I bought 3 months ago still has the battery issue but since i shoot in manual it isn't important. In my hands the Z240 TTL behavior is a bit better at very wide f:stops (like f/3.5) but at normal shooting they seem perfectly equivalent. One important point is that in cold water with dry gloves the S&S is much easier to change settings, the Inons are a bit of a challenge although XIT makes knobs for them that can help. On the other hand on my S&S strobes the bloody diffuser is always falling off, the Inon attachment is much more secure but this is a very minor point. The S&S is about $100 cheaper and that might help. Bottom line for me (I have both) is that both are great strobes. This probably doesn't help your decision very much does it, in any case, good luck and Happy New Year

Bill

 

[Bogdan]

Thanks for all the great advice! I ended up going with the YS-D1 because it seems easier to use and has a smaller form factor and we try to travel as light as possible. I can't wait to pair it with the new OMD-EM1 and the new Nauticam housing that just arrived. Looks like our first trip with it will be in Kauai in mid to late January (a week away). Thanks again.

 

[Interceptor121]

Thanks for all the great advice! I ended up going with the YS-D1 because it seems easier to use and has a smaller form factor and we try to travel as light as possible. I can't wait to pair it with the new OMD-EM1 and the new Nauticam housing that just arrived. Looks like our first trip with it will be in Kauai in mid to late January (a week away). Thanks again.

The YS-D1 is bigger than the Z240 and weights 70 grams more?