One strobe or two?

[skyward]

I have a Canon G9 with the Canon housing and I want to get some lighting for day and night dives. I'm wondering if it's better to get two less expensive strobes or one more powerful and more expensive strobe assuming about the same amount of money spent for each setup. I'm assuming with two strobes the lighting will be more even with less shadows but what about other performance factors?

My budget is $400-$800 and I'd like to get something that I won't feel like I want to upgrade right away.

I see that B&H has a dual YS-110 package for $799 that seems like a good deal.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Doug

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board

Get one good one, the extra power and control are worth the extra cost. It takes a while to learn to use one strobe much less 2. There are plenty of great photos that you can take with a single strobe and even the pros use a single strobe on some dives. IMO buy a good one, learn to use it and save money for the second one later.

 

[marcaumarc]

I second what Herman says. I have a canon P&S and one flash (sea&sea dx27) and it's instantly better than no flash. I'm also almost never using it at full power, so if you get a one strong flash, you won't be lacking brightness. I think the controls are important, especially if you take photos at different distances from your subject throughout the dive. I think I have maybe 7 settings on mine and that helps a lot. I would also say that while you're getting started it's tricky enough to keep one flash manually adjusted properly. You get better fast, but you still only have two hands, so one to hold the camera and the other to adjust the (single) flash is a pretty good way to go.

 

[Mariozi]

Go for the dual kit. The light quality (evenness = no shadows) of a dual is unmatched. Even a dual YS27DX or a dual YS17 are better than ANY single strobe. And if you want dramatic shadows you can turn one of them off.
And if you CAN buy the dual YS110 kit go for it, they will stay with you even if you upgrade to a housed DSLR.

 

[Jorgy]

I recently added a second YS-110 strobe to my rig............

It made a huge improvement for me, lack of shadows and getting even light onto the subject........

I am no expert, but I get many more good shots......

My wider angle shots are much better I think it is just quantity of light I can get into
the water.........

I love my YS-110's the focus light is great for night dives.........

Dual YS-110 package for $800........that is a real deal......

Hope this helps........M

 

[ayeshacantrell]

Personally I prefer using one strobe and if its your first time using external strobes you will find it much easier to get used to with one.

 

[Jorgy]

For $800, you could buy the dual set and just use one to start.......

I paid almost that much for each (with tray and arm and FO cable)........

I agree that when first learning, one is easier........

M

 

[marcaumarc]

I'll amend my reply by saying, yes, I'm sure you can get better results with two. Unless you're getting a great deal to buy a pair, though, I don't think you need two to start with. And, as Jorgy said, even if you get two right now, you may want to use just one at first as you get the hang of it.

 

[Mariozi]

There is no difficulty, believe me. Go ahead and by the dual strobes.
I am an UWPhoto Inst. and I have seen people going straight to 2 strobes, going straight to a housed DSLR, working with fisheye lenses from the start... everything can be done without worries.
The difficulty you will have with 2 now is the same you will have if you just one.
Just that instead of doing one adjustment you are doing 2, no big deal... and you will get the chance to experiment with things most people only get to know later on!!!

 

[scottfiji]

>> I'm wondering if it's better to get two less expensive strobes or one more powerful and more expensive strobe assuming about the same amount of money spent for each setup.

If your choice is between 2 YS-110's, or 1 more expensive strobe that costs the same price as 2 YS-110s, then imho clearly the answer to get 2 YS-110's. You really do not need more power than that for the canon g9, since you will mainly be shooting at F2.8 to F8

hope this helps,
Scott