Picking a strobe

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pughio83

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Can anyone give me any recommendations on choosing a strobe for my wpdc38+canon s95 setup, of which I have just got some new macro lens. Am looking to improve my macro photography in lembeh in may and want to buy a strobe but really have no idea on what to buy. I am very unfamiliar with strobes in general so would be looking to be a complete setup I guess.

Any help much appreciated, cheers
 
Well, if you want to be able to choose your setup instead of having someone just say "Buy this one, it's the best" you might start with some homework. UW Photographers Guide, that Scott Geitler puts out, has good starter help:
Underwater Strobe Guide|Underwater Photography Guide

I'll add this. Decide carefully and buy with the idea that you will probably have this strobe or strobes through a few camera changes. That means, for example, that it will have enough output to allow for higher f/stop choices in macro or wide enough coverage for wide angle work (which the S-95 can do quite well). Hard to go wrong with Sea & Sea or Inon as brands but the choice of a specific model will be aided by a good understanding of basics. Check out Scott's article in the above link, it should help on the understanding biz.

As important as strobe selection is, arm & tray considerations are part of all this too. Go with something solid that you can add to easily, take a systems approach. (ie--You may not be buying a 2d strobe right away but if/when you do, you sure don't want to have to toss a cheap tray setup and start again.)

Lastly, get things in your hands well before Lembeh and practice. You can do solid macro work with a single strobe, so if what the budget dictates you can buy now, no biggy. An external strobe can make an incredible difference and doesn't have to needlessly complicate things. Just make sure you can get the setup working reasonably well long before you get distracted by all amazing stuff in Lembeh! :eyebrow: // ww
 
Well, if you want to be able to choose your setup instead of having someone just say "Buy this one, it's the best" you might start with some homework. UW Photographers Guide, that Scott Geitler puts out, has good starter help:
Underwater Strobe Guide|Underwater Photography Guide

I'll add this. Decide carefully and buy with the idea that you will probably have this strobe or strobes through a few camera changes. That means, for example, that it will have enough output to allow for higher f/stop choices in macro or wide enough coverage for wide angle work (which the S-95 can do quite well). Hard to go wrong with Sea & Sea or Inon as brands but the choice of a specific model will be aided by a good understanding of basics. Check out Scott's article in the above link, it should help on the understanding biz.

As important as strobe selection is, arm & tray considerations are part of all this too. Go with something solid that you can add to easily, take a systems approach. (ie--You may not be buying a 2d strobe right away but if/when you do, you sure don't want to have to toss a cheap tray setup and start again.)

Lastly, get things in your hands well before Lembeh and practice. You can do solid macro work with a single strobe, so if what the budget dictates you can buy now, no biggy. An external strobe can make an incredible difference and doesn't have to needlessly complicate things. Just make sure you can get the setup working reasonably well long before you get distracted by all amazing stuff in Lembeh! :eyebrow: // ww

Great information for you. The UWP Guide is not only an excellent source for info about strobes, it's great for all areas of uw photo help including shooting macro.

I have the Inon S2000 and chose it, at the time, because it was so nice and compact. There are now other compact strobes on the market to chose from but I'm an Inon fan. It takes eneloop batteries and I can go 4 dives without having to change batteries which is a great selling point for me.

My first outing was with it, a G10 and +10 subsee in Lembeh... you're definitely in for a treat there.... just wish I was going!!
 

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