Recommendations for a "less expensive" strobe

[clgsamson]

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.

I still paid, Tim. I'm not smart like him...

 

[f3nikon]

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.

$20 is manufacturing cost not the retail cost, 5X or even 10X but 30X profit??? Actually no the average surface strobe with same similar electronics are about $50! The Nikon SB-800 is more complex! So now we have a 450 to 650 (US) dollar case!

 

[f3nikon]

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...

I believe you stated the capabilities of the strobe when you compared beam width and flash power, did you not say there was a quality difference? And for the price of one Inon I could buy 3 of the "cheaper" strobes to cut down on the dark shadows and I can bet that the beam coverage from the three "cheaper" strobes will have a much wider coverage than one Inon strobe.

 

[Kim]

So now we have a 450 to 650 (US) dollar case!

Actually yes.....

Check it out - the price of U/W cases for still cameras...video cameras etc...is ALWAYS more than the cost of what is inside at the high end of the market! I can buy an amazingly good camera for a fraction of the price of guaranteeing that it won't flood....(if I can follow the manufacturers instructions..)

U/W cases are expensive.

 

[Wolverine]

f3nikon,

what strobes are you using?

 

[f3nikon]

Actually yes.....

Check it out - the price of U/W cases for still cameras...video cameras etc...is ALWAYS more than the cost of what is inside at the high end of the market! I can buy an amazingly good camera for a fraction of the price of guaranteeing that it won't flood....(if I can follow the manufacturers instructions..)

U/W cases are expensive.

Olympus U/W camera cases for their compacts are about $150 or less and the camera cases have more buttons stainless latches etc.

 

[Kim]

Olympus U/W camera cases for their compacts are about $150 or less and the camera cases have more buttons stainless latches etc.

LOL...I said "high end"!

Most people accept that such a case will flood eventually - that's what insurance is for.
Of course - I don't imagine that DSLR owners house them in $150 dollar cases! (do Olympus even make cheap cases for their DSLR cameras yet?)
Try finding a cheap video camera housing!

The fact of the matter is...a bullet-proof U/W housing is generally expensive.

 

[f3nikon]

I still paid, Tim. I'm not smart like him...

Oh come on... now we're going for the "cheap" shots?

 

[f3nikon]

LOL...I said "high end"!

Most people accept that such a case will flood eventually - that's what insurance is for.
Of course - I don't imagine that DSLR owners house them in $150 dollar cases! (do Olympus even make cheap cases for their DSLR cameras yet?)
Try finding a cheap video camera housing!

Hold on there...the AQ strobe at $100 and the DS-50 $400 both from ikelite both have the same U/W case.

 

[kapula]

Hey Kim!
You can allways get one of those plastic bag thingies for your dslr. It's only around 250$ Forgot the manufacturer but you'll sure find it with a bit of googling

Seriously: u/w photography is such a marginal market that marginals are HUGE! There's not enough competition to cut down prices and as market is so small marginals need to be high so that manufacturers can bring some bread to their table. It's just plain and simple law of economics.Sure I'd like to get all those strobes and housings for half the price but then again why should manufacturers do them if it wasn't a business? If I was to make a product and I could sell it for 2 or 1 buck I don't think there'd be too many question which I'd choose.

This conversation has turned pretty ugly btw. Maybe we should get some virtual boxing gloves here