Inon S-2000 vs Backscatter MF-1

[_anak_pulau_]

Greetings scuba friends!

I'm looking to purchase my first strobe and can't decide which one of these to get. I mostly take close up pictures (not necessarily macro specifically) but worried that I would find myself not having sufficient lighting in say a frame with a shark or ray swimming past.

Is MF-1 legit revolutionary that it is comparable to old school strobes or is it still not quite there yet? Keen to see some non-macro photos taken with either strobes if you're happy to share

I do find the MF-1 a bit awkwardly long but do like the fact that it uses 18650 battery, simply because my torch also uses that battery and I already carry a spare of that.

Many thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!

 

[deeper thoughts]

Loved the mf1 but really not strong enough for anything but macro, my opinion

 

[_anak_pulau_]

Loved the mf1 but really not strong enough for anything but macro, my opinion

Have you used the INON before?

 

[deeper thoughts]

Have you used the INON before?

No never always sea and sea

 

[bvanant]

I have both and use them all the time. Neither will light up a passing shark but either could be used successfully for close focus wide angle. The Backscatter has a strange (what engineer thought that pressing a button 5 times was useful) way to start up the strobe but after that is fine. The real advantage of the BS is that it is perfect for snooting. They sell a snoot and they have designed the strobe so that the focus light points where the flash will go. The Inon is about a full stop more powerful in on-land tests, haven't tried the BS in the pool. For macro either is great, the one downside of the Inon is that the buttons are tiny and nearly impossible to use in drysuit with dry gloves; other than that my S2000s have all been reliable.
Bill

 

[_anak_pulau_]

Th

I have both and use them all the time. Neither will light up a passing shark but either could be used successfully for close focus wide angle. The Backscatter has a strange (what engineer thought that pressing a button 5 times was useful) way to start up the strobe but after that is fine. The real advantage of the BS is that it is perfect for snooting. They sell a snoot and they have designed the strobe so that the focus light points where the flash will go. The Inon is about a full stop more powerful in on-land tests, haven't tried the BS in the pool. For macro either is great, the one downside of the Inon is that the buttons are tiny and nearly impossible to use in drysuit with dry gloves; other than that my S2000s have all been reliable.
Bill

Thank you Bill. That's very helpful. Do you find either of them more convenient from a battery perspective (1 x 18650 vs 4 x AA) and in terms of size? MF seems a bit oddly long, although I may have this impression as it looks different to your typical strobe.

 

[bvanant]

The BS does indeed look funky-far too long but practically it works fine. For me I always prefer AA batteries but now have to carry two types of chargers. Still no worry
BVA

 

[hedonist222]

Th

Thank you Bill. That's very helpful. Do you find either of them more convenient from a battery perspective (1 x 18650 vs 4 x AA) and in terms of size? MF seems a bit oddly long, although I may have this impression as it looks different to your typical strobe.

I did pick up the backscatter mf1 but haven't used it yet.
But I do have the backscatter macro wide video light and snoot.
I always have the snoo stowed away in my dive shorts pocket.
I'll take it out, use it, then show it away. Not inconvenient this way.