Matching Stobes?

[Trueog]

I'm using an Inon D-2000 strobe with my Canon S95. I'm looking to get a second strobe and was looking at the Inon Z240 but was wondering if it is better to get another D-2000 to keep both sides consistant. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

 

[PatW]

I am not familiar with those strobes. I usually use one strobe as a primary and the other strobe to fill in shadows and balance the shot. In those cases, having perfectly matched strobes is not necessary. For wide angle shots, you want your strobes to be more equivalent to each other so you can evenly illuminate your field of view. But even then an exact fit is not necessary. It depends on your shooting style and how you use your strobes. If you feel more comfortable with 2 strobes that perform exactly the same way, then get identical strobes.

 

[Ran Mozaik]

I agree with Pat.
No problem using two different strobes, as long as you get used to controlling them.
I would recommend, if your budget allows it, to go for the Z240, use it as the main strobe since it is better than the D-2000 and use the D-2000 as a key light.
You can get excellent lighting that way.

 

[KeithG]

agreed. no need for EXACT match strobes. but you probably want to stay with the same manufacturer so that the controls and "strobe behaviour" will be as similar as possible.

i would not worry about "balancing" the 2 strobes as many, most, all of your shots will never have the 2 strobes in perfect alignment. even when I try, my strobes end up at slightly different distances from the camera and pointing in slightly different directions. for many shots i intentionally place the strobes in very different orientations, use them in manual mode and set them to different power levels.

so stick with Inon, but do not worry about upgrading for your next strobe.

 

[Larry C]

One hazard with using different strobes is that if you are setting them manually, the light levels will be different given the same settings. I have a Sea & Sea YS-110 (had two, one broke) and replaced my second with a YS-D1. The YS-D1 is much more powerful. When shooting wide angle, if I set them the same I experience flare on the side with the YS-D1. A solution to this is to set the more powerful strobe to a low setting and leave it there, adjusting the weaker strobe to control light levels. A better solution is to shoot ttl (or in the Inon case, strobe TTL) and the strobes will adjust themselves to the available and necessary light. You can also set the weaker strobe as a fill flash, leaving it on a low setting and adjust the more powerful strobe individually, based on results. If you have a blown highlights screen and a histogram available, you can check and adjust your flash level and shutter/aperture settings after a couple of shots.

 

[OceanEyes]

I am a fierce advocate of using pairs of identical strobes for a number of reasons:

1. Color temperature will be consistent between the pair.
2. When fired at the same power setting, recycle time should be nearly identical for both units.
3. Beam pattern, and thus coverage area should be identical.
4. Lighting ratios are under your control. You are free to choose which flash will act as your key light and which your fill light as you wish. You will not be limited to having your more powerful flash remain on only one side of your frame. Why give up the creative use of determining where and how prominently you wish to create shadows or add illumination?
5. When shooting wide angle, it is not often the case when all of the elements that you are trying to capture are equidistant from your rig. You should be able to have the same power of illumination available on any area that you so choose.

Now here’s a minor bump in the road: As you’ve already got one Inon D-2000, logic might dictate that you simply purchase a second and thus have a matched pair. However, if you intend to keep up with your U/W photography, you will eventually damage or destroy almost every piece of valuable equipment that you own, thus it makes sense to have a spare strobe on hand, (especially when you travel to a remote venue.) Therefore, were I in your place and had some money to invest, (nobody ever got involved in U/W photography to save money,) then I would seriously consider purchasing a pair of Inon Z-240’s. You’d then have the D-2000 on hand as a spare.


You may not be ready now to pop for a pair of strobes, but know that in your heart of hearts that you’d really like to have the extra power of the 240’s a little further on down the road. In that case, purchase one now and use it in conjunction with your D-2000. With just a bit of thinking, you can make the duo work almost as easily and nearly as well as a matched pair of either model. (I use 240’s, so my understanding of the D-2000 is based on the information provided by Inon. I also shoot in manual so am quite used to making calculations and adjustments.)


Both models share the same beam angle and color temperature, so that’s just fine. The Z-240 has only a marginally faster recycle time so that is manageable too. The major difference is that the Z-240 is a more powerful unit than the D-2000. Exactly how much more powerful the Z-240 is than your current strobe can easily be determined if you test them both with a flash meter, but in the interest of brevity and simplicity, let’s just say that there is a full stop of difference between the two. For wide angle photography the simplest means of matching the power of the two different strobes to each other is by using the Inon -1.5 stop diffuser on the Z-240 and the -0.5 stop diffuser on the D-2000.


For macro photography, you could diffuse the Z-240 and leave the D-2000 unaltered, but I usually prefer to have unsoftened light sources for macro work, and in fact occasionally use the hard edge of a strobe’s light as a creative tool. Rather, you could simply keep in mind the concept that the Z-240 is approximately one full stop more powerful and keep that in mind when adjusting the power settings or altering strobe to subject distance.