Sunpak G-Flash Underwater Strobe

[Aggie Diver]

I wanted to get some dialog going on this strobe. I know Sea Yoda has it and he seems to have good results with it.

Anyone else have any experiences with it? Seems like with a Synch Chord it would be a good, economic little option for those with a digital cam. and looking to pick up a strobe for a decent price.

I'm thinking about picking this up before a (tentatively scheduled) trip to Belize this May.

I don't really want to get into spending $600 for a strobe as at the end of the year I plan to take the video plunge, but there's some shots I just can't get with my Olympus internal strobe.

 

[vkalia]

I have this strobe and for what I paid for it, am quite happy with the few times I used it (my S70 clamshell started misbehaving 1 day after I got the blasted housing and strobe....grrrrr).

The S70 triggers it pretty reliably, and it has a lot of power - I usually have it powered down quite substantially while shooting - and the recharge time is a lot faster than the specs. I wouldnt bother with a sync cord, as its sensor works fairly well as is. For the money, I cannot complain.

Here's a photo taken with this flash along with an S70 in its Canon housing.

 

[vkalia]

Here's a few more shots as well. Not too much variety, sorry - they were all shot in about 10-15 min, before the housing fogged up. The lionfish shot, while not exactly a keeper, shows reasonably good and uniform illumination (I keep the diffuser on at all times).

I didnt get to test corner light fall-off - however, I dont think there will be too much at 28mm, with the diffuser in place. Now, with the WA adapter, that's a different story....

Vandit

 

[SeaYoda]

Due to weather conditions and work schedule, I haven't been able to get in the water with the strobe as much as I'd like to. I don't have experience with other strobes so I guess I don't know what I'm missing . So far, I'm very happy with this one. The light output is great compared to the internal flash. Being able to direct the light is nice too, even though I now get pictures with less backscatter and more in focus particles . Recycle time has not bothered me yet, I'm not that fast of a shooter plus I shoot RAW.

There are some definite things that could use improvement. The battery door is awkward at best - the screw down type would be much better. If care is taken to close the door, I don't see it being something that would stop me from buying the strobe again. The power adjust knob has a continuous flow, no stops. I have a hard time in a dark cavern knowing just where I'm at. I'll come up with something to get over that hurdle as I use the strobe more.

I bought the optical cord because of a very shallow dive that I took the strobe on without the cord. Sometimes it would fire and sometimes not. I cover the internal flash now to lower backscatter. I know with the cord that the strobe will see the internal going off so it will trigger.

I added some length to my loc-line arm and a focus light - I can't wait to try them out with the manatees and springs in mid Feb.. Here's a picture of the new additions:

 

[jpomerantz]

Nice setup....what did you use to anchor the focusing light?

 

[SeaYoda]

Thanks.

I attached a regular hose clamp to a base loc-line segment and threaded it through the Q40 light handle. The base segment attaches to a double female segment. The other end of the double female attaches to a Y segment that goes to the handle and strobe.

 

[herman]

In case anyone is interested in where to get Locline, here is a link to a site where you can purchase it. I have purchased it from them before and they were very quick with the order.
http://www.modularhose.com/

 

[jpomerantz]

Yeah...they are very responsive, fast and CHEAP!. The biggest challenge I have is figuring how to attach it to an Ikelite or ULCS handle. Right now I use the Sea and Sea DX stay as the arms they use are LocLite.

 

[arenny]

If anyone is interested in purchasing the Sunpak, I found it at www.helixphoto.com for cheap, $180 something. I looked everywhere else and they were out of stock. The stores that had the flash wanted over $200 for it. I can't wait to try it and if anyone has more examples of pictures and setups, please post them!

 

[f3nikon]

Here's a few more shots as well. Not too much variety, sorry - they were all shot in about 10-15 min, before the housing fogged up. The lionfish shot, while not exactly a keeper, shows reasonably good and uniform illumination (I keep the diffuser on at all times).

I didnt get to test corner light fall-off - however, I dont think there will be too much at 28mm, with the diffuser in place. Now, with the WA adapter, that's a different story....

Vandit

Great pictures are you sure you did not use a $600 strobe (not including the arms) and not the less than $200 Sun Pak G-flash with the arm and tray included and has been around for the past ten years?

I am not really allowed to comment on this strobe or any other piece of equipment unless I own the exact same item, irrelevant of the fact that I own about a dozen U/W strobes and countless numbers of portable flashes and studio equipment.

Marine life seems to be drawn to more expensive $600 strobes I heard instances of fish actually coming up to divers and start posing for a picture, but only with $600 strobes!

And the fact that only the light from a $600 strobe can yield perfect exposures each and every time, heck I hear that a $600 strobe can also COMPOSE and FOCUS the picture for you! Unthinkable in a less than $200 strobe!

Only with a $600 strobe (or more) can you achieve a shadow less, even lighting from a single strobe! Light always travels in a straight path unless it is reflected off an object the $600 strobe defies the laws of physics and actually bends the light by placing magic reflectors around the subject!

You see you would need three Sun Pak G-flash (less than $200) strobes to equal one $600 strobe, hey maybe that’s the way they came up with that price!

One thing that I could never figure out is that my $50 TTL, auto, manual LAND strobe has the same if not more features than the $600 strobe ($150 U/W sync cord not included that’s another story) yet they have a vast discrepancy in price? I attribute this to the super duper space age PLASTIC used on the $600 strobe or the space age photon generator used only in $600 (or more) strobes.

Again great pictures from a less than $200 strobe, I guess you just got lucky.