Sony a6400 camera settings

[J.Sola]

I never see the preflash unless I look for it. It is one of the downsides of Sony cameras. In fact, as much as I like my camera, I would probably just buy a Canon GX7III or the AOI Oly rig or a Nauticam with the Oly OM before considering any Sony camera. I do not know if the FF Sony cameras have a preflash cancel or a fully manual flash selection as do Oly, Canon, Nikon. But the A series Sony cameras alway fire a preflash even in manual mode.

If the ST100 strobes cannot be set for a preflash then they will not work with a Sony camera. No way, no how. Any modern strobe from Inon (S220) or YS, S&S, Backscatter, Retra, whoever, will be able to configure for a preflash (except for Ikelite stuff possibly).

I have been using Inon D2000 strobes but just bought a set of Inon S220 for their smaller form factor and slight power increase.

Thanks for yours comments….
How is your opinion of INON S220?

 

[J.Sola]

This sounds like they reworked the electronics since I bought my pair back in 2018. The ones I had didn't respond to any knob changes, while yours look like they're working in manual power mode, and they fire on pre-flash with the set power level, which empties the capacitor, and leaves little to nothing for the main pulse. Since there is no way to cancel the pre-flash on the Sony a6400 camera, you need to either find a way to get the ST-100 to ignore the pre-flash, or change strobes. As I recall, it has two magnet switches - one for turning the modeling light on and off, and the other for pre-flash cancellation. Mine rusted and stopped working after about a year, but if yours still work, you might want to try to play with those.


What's your budget? I like my Retra Pros very much, but I got them via preorder at a significant discount; the current price of $1780 for a Retra Flash Pro Max + booster is quite difficult to justify. The SeaFrogs SF-01 has decent reviews, is well-priced, and apparently has a pre-flash ignore mode, but I haven't used it myself so I can't comment. The new Backscatter HF-1 seems to be quite good, and the launch price of $899 is still available - it'll probably go up to something like $1100-1200 once the promotion runs out.

My budget is less….
I wouldn’t like spend so much because I’m diving not more than 50 times per year

 

[Barmaglot]

Thanks for yours comments….
How is your opinion of INON S220?

Too weak to serve as a wide-angle solution for an APS-C camera.

Mine are working as yours with Olympus TG6 and Canon G7X….

Did you use manual mode on the triggering camera flash and adjust power via strobe knob? If yes, then your strobes are working in manual mode, not TTL.

You can get a strobe trigger such as an s-TURTLE to output a single triggering pulse; this should let you keep using the ST-100s and cost considerably less than a new pair of strobes.

But I was checking for Z330 and they are not available anymore….
From same brand there is S220… Do you know if can work as Z330?

Z-330s have been discontinued but you can find them used every now and then. S-220 is considerably weaker.

 

[Nemrod]

Thanks for yours comments….
How is your opinion of INON S220?

I like them a lot. Just got them and had them in the pool for a shoot. Worked great. A little stronger overall than my previous D2000 strobes but much smaller. Recycle time is good but not steller. More than good enough and as fast as most.

I do not agree that the (a pair of) S220 is too weak. Not ideal but it can work with some inherent compromises that I have already been accustomed to with my D2000 strobes. They produce a very wide, smooth light output. If you like to do CFWA and deal with sunballs or shallow with white sand, yeah, it is going to be a challenge.. Not a good photo especially, not been through my recent Bonaire photos yet but here is a quick grab, D2000 strobes (now 18 years old??), jpegs from camera, no post processing of RAW:



Red Sea:





I am not a pro, do not pretend to be, do not publish, do not enter contests, simply into amusing myself.

The demise of the Z330 and the D series due to the chip shortage and apparently some component is NLA. It is my understanding from reliable sources that Inon has a couple of new strobes including a pro level strobe similar to the Z330 on the way. Late this year, probably next year.

That Backscatter HF strobes looks good but one of them cost what a set of S220s would cost. More power and more modes, more $ and bigger and it just depends upon your wants and needs. I would buy a set but waiting to see what Inon comes out with. On the other hand, I am so tired of hauling giant junk around, sometimes making do with what I alresdy got is good enough for me. The only reaon I have the new S220 strobes is that one of my D2000 strobes has been dropped one time too many and is really upset with me. I have it off for repair and if they cannot fix then I will give it a go.

 

[BFRedrocks]

Thanks for info….
But I was checking for Z330 and they are not available anymore….
From same brand there is S220… Do you know if can work as Z330?

That's too bad that Inon stopped making strobes other than the S220. I can't say for sure that the S220 would work, although it looks like a similar connection as the Z330, just in a smaller and less powerful package. YMMV

 

[Nemrod]

That's too bad that Inon stopped making strobes other than the S220. I can't say for sure that the S220 would work, although it looks like a similar connection as the Z330, just in a smaller and less powerful package. YMMV

The Inon strobes all use the same optical connection and work exactly the same way. The Z240 and Z330 did have the option of wired sync cables if you like old tech. That would be manual strobe control only, no TTL with wired connection.

I am not trying to over sell the S220, they are nice strobes and are adequate with compromise for CFWA but as Barm says, they really are lacking power for some CFWA and over powering ambient light situations. Us poor folks sometimes just have to make do with what we can afford.

 

[Nemrod]

That's too bad that Inon stopped making strobes other than the S220. I can't say for sure that the S220 would work, although it looks like a similar connection as the Z330, just in a smaller and less powerful package. YMMV

Inon has new strobes in development. A new pro level strobe similar to the Z330 may release late this year or early next. The Z330 apparently used components that became impossible to get during the continuing Chip-demic, Pan-demic, Post-demic or whatever kind of demic gets blamed for things being hard or difficult to obtain these days.