Strobe advice

[bvanant]

I agree that the S2000 is a great strobe, I have three of them, but I am pretty sure that you can't use them as the main strobe with an Ike system, electrical sync only I am afraid.
Bill

 

[jl5619718]

I have a Canon DSLR in an Ikelite housing and have upgraded to the DS160 strobes. Due to budget constraints I had used the DS50's for a few years but learned they didn't give me the flexibility I wanted. Even when in TTL, the 50's just don't give me the control I wanted over the flash power.

Give me a couple of years and I'll probably post I dumped the 160's for the 200's. It's addictive.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Give me a couple of years and I'll probably post I dumped the 160's for the 200's. It's addictive.

I ponied up for the Ike SS200 Photo Case as my first strobe purchase, 9 years ago. It has worked great with 3 different cameras; Nikonus V, Oly 5050, Canon S70. still using the first one I purchased, with my 4th or 5th 5050 body!

 

[slowhands]

...I have the canon rebel xsi (450D), the ikelite housing and ports. I'm now in need of a good strobe system and am lost to say the least.
I'm looking for advice on what to use ...

As soon as you bought your Ikelite housing (which does not allow the strobe to open), you committed yourself to a wired strobe cable, not fiber optic cable, to control the strobe. Next time around, look at your strobe options beforehand. This is because strobes can be used for many generations of camera, and can cost as much as your camera and housing. They are a long term investment, while cameras go obsolete every six months.

You do have some options:
1. Get the Ikelite DS-51 with Ikelite TTL cable and have fully automatic control of the strobe (as you described). This strobe is underpowered and has no optical fiber interface nor modeling light, so it's somewhat limited to macro photos and Ikelite housings. It's relaible and probably your cheapest option, but you may outgrow it soon.

2. Get a more expensive expensive Sea & Sea YS-110a with a special Ikelite cable that connects Ikelite to Nikonos style strobes (this gives manual strobe control only). The YS-110a is much brighter and has a modeling light, a very nice feature. You could also consider the Inon D2000 which is less expensive and uses the Ikelite Nikonos style cable too.

In many cases manual control is fine, because you can manually set the strobe about right and adjust it after reviewing the image if needed. A lot of people prefer manual camera operation and manual strobe operation, because the automatic systems don't always work so well under water.

Both of these strobes (YS-110a and D2000) should last for several generations of camera. Cameras are getting more sensitive image sensors every year, so with good performance at higher ISOs you may not need the even bigger strobes to do a great job.

 

[donhealy]

All the threads here are very interesting and well informed. I have an Olympus E620 with an Ikelite housing. I bought one DS160 last year and the set-up performed quite well. I couldn't help myself and bought a DS 161 this year. My wife has no idea how much this has all cost and doesn't really want to know. If I told her, then she would be out buying a new car to compensate.

The earlier comment about buy the best you can afford is a wise observation. Strobes will last a long time and will maintain their usefulness for at least the next several generations of DSLR's

You have an Ikelite housing which likely cost $1200. I believe its best to keep the system integrated and buy either the DS 160 for $800 or the DS 161 for $900. IF you buy the 161 then you can use it as a video light as well. These strobes do quite well with TTL, have good angle coverage and in manual mode are easy to adjust using Ikelite's housing adjustment panel.

 

[Denny Crane]

Love my D2000 Type 3, used with a Canon SD790 and now with a G10. Fiber optic cable broke, but the new Type 4 has a swivel at the point where mine broke, due to stress. Bought it from www.divervision.com at a good price. The suggestions on this site may be influenced by personal experience. To put my opinion in perspective, all of my diving is in the Caribbean, with good visibility, though it worked well in darker, sheltered areas underwater. I also took the Inon down to 135' in the Blue Hole, and it performed well there. It will illuminate a lobster in a hole very nicely.

 

[Sharkbait2005]

So would 2-DS51's be the way to go? Would that setup give me better light coverage than say one DS160? I have a friend who uses 2-YS110's. Again would that be the way to go? How do the 110's compare to the DS51's? I have a Canon G11, 99% freshwater diving, so mirky.

 

[HerraduraDivers]

Sharkbait2005,
two strobes are better than one (except for money and transportation reasons) ...
As your Ikelitehousing allows the internal strobe to fire, a optical slave strobe like the Inon D2000 or S2000 may be one way to go.
But as you have a electrical connection bulkhead enabling full e-TTL, one/two of the excellent Ikelite strobes would be perfect.
As you dive in murky waters you may be limited to macro and wide angle macro where two Ds-51 have enough power.
If "your" waters is only murky with no/not a lot of suspension more powerful strobes can help to illuminate more distand objects.
For this reason consider that the DS125 or DS-160 have 2/3 times more power (power is never enough) and the DS-161 has a built in 15 watt LED videolight what can be used as dive light as well.

I personally would buy first one DS-161 or wait for the right offer to buy 2 used DS-125/160.

Chris

 

[phillybob]

Sharkbait2005,
...As your Ikelitehousing allows the internal strobe to fire, a optical slave strobe like the Inon D2000 or S2000 may be one way to go...

Or an Ikelite with the manual controller. I actually have one of each. An Ike DS-50 w/ controller and an UltraMax w/ fiber optic cable. Works fine.

 

[Shayne]

Try the intova strobe iss 2000 it reasonable price and works well.