Recommendations for a "less expensive" strobe

[f3nikon]

As I said...just my opinion but pretty much ALL of it.

I don't think Alcina needs to be told how a camera or a strobe works as if she's some newbie!

And again - I'm still waiting for some supporting evidence/facts about the manufacturing cost part.

I was not telling her how they work I was pointing out the difference in the two devices.

Ok since you really want to do a big favor for the manufacturers I'll produce pictures of the actual printed circuit boards price out the electronic components a flash bulb, caps, transistors, resistors and misc. wiring plus the plastic strobe case. And we'll have the manufacturers present their side of the story.

 

[f3nikon]

aha!! that only took 6 pages.... my fingers are sore from holding the pliers pulling those teeth...

yes, i agree, those are toys and that is a lot to pay for one...

nowhere in the league of the Inon for quality, goes back to the get what you pay for idea....

Please name the quality differences so we can make a wise purchase, keep in mind that the strobe I presented are less than $200 arm and tray included, Inon does not and an Inon strobe does not work on iTTL or TTL with digital so you have to factor in the total cost.

Plus the A35 at $150 is from Ikelite!

 

[f3nikon]

And this is why you cannot suppress the truth.

No Spin Zone please, nothing technical here just facts would you agree with this example?

Ok let make this even Simpler:

The camera’s functions are focus on the image, measure the light levels, adjust for the correct light levels, record the image, store the image, provide automatic flash control level if need.

And the strobe’s function???…Fire a controlled flash level period!!!

So which of the two boxes are more complex????

Or the Nikon SB-800 strobe...will fire a preflash and control the flash output very well, it retails for $250 with a much more complex electronics than any $500 to $700 U/W on the market. You mean to tell me that the plastic U/W case will cost 250 to 450 dollars???

Sarcasm cannot silence the facts..

 

[Kim]

Ummm...I'm still confused......

Those strobes you linked to are nowhere near $20......

I still feel ripped off....

 

[alcina]

Can we let this one die?

Dive & shoot more...talk less...

 

[f3nikon]

Ummm...I'm still confused......

Those strobes you linked to are nowhere near $20......

I still feel ripped off....

OIC it’s the… try to down play the greedy profiteering stigma, by bringing it to the other extreme, of non-profit charity sarcasm.

I just want to help out poor souls like this fella:

“I think you will be pleasently surprised with the DS-125. It is on my list to replace my non-i
TTL SS200. One huge advantage to the Ikelite iTTL implementation is that the strobe is capable of producing light in what appears to be 1/3 stop increments, and iTTL controls that type of fine tuning. With my SS200 for example I can only adjust the strobe in full stop increments."

The DS-125 does not fire a preflash so it will not work with iTTL as well, unlike the Nikon SB-800 a true iTTL flash.

 

[f3nikon]

Can we let this one die?

Dive & shoot more...talk less...

I believe the greedy ones would love to have this die out but I promise to present that part list.

 

[Wolverine]

But its more fun to shoot off the mouth/keyboard here..

Interesting thread but seriously, it is not possible to make a strobe for $20. Electronics is one thing, but water proofing to 150' is a totally different thing altogether. We can argue about how much the components cost till the cows come home but hey, that can be said about almost ALL electronic products. Ever wondered why a Nikon SB800 cost almost US$300? So if a surface strobe costs US$300, which should a underwater one cost less?

In any case, because of the small size of demand, there is no mass production of these strobes which also increases the cost. Not to mention the man-hour cost, the intellectual rights cost etc etc...

At the end of the day, if you don't think its worth to pay US$500 for an Inon, don't.

 

[f3nikon]

Keep in mind the first post:

"I would like to mate it with a strobe without breaking the bank. Any recommendations? Like with the camera, I am looking for 'adequate' performance, not spectacular."
"Thanks to any that reply!"

 

[Mike Veitch]

The top ones?

Beam width your two examples are around 60, inon or ike 125 are 100
Power inon no info, can't find info on your 2 examples but less than 50w/sec, ike 125 110w/s
recharge time 1.8 secs for inon, 5 for the 35, 7 for the bonica, 1 for ike 125
exposure control 13 for inon, 1 for 35, 1 for bonica, 4 for the 125

I would go into GN but those all get calculated differently so i dont believe anyone on that....

One other thing, i see all of these strobes in a real world environment all the time and see the results, put simply... you don't...

if you want to buy a small strobe thats fine... but you won't get the coverage or the power of a larger strobe.. ie, you won't get the colour and pop in your shots and will get frustrated why you can't light up a sea fan or a fish 3 feet away but if all you are interested in is nudibranches, then no big diff . For people more serious about their photography they will eventually gravitate to a more full featured strobe especially when wide angle comes to mind

But of your two examples, yes i would go to the Ike over the bonica, better product.

we both know the power and capabilities of your two examples can't hold a candle to the Inon 2000 in real world situations, so stop being argumentative just for fun... makes you look a child...