Which Strobe?

[Qualude]

Hi,

I am a first time poster on this message board and am wanting to get into underwater photography a bit more.

Now I have a camera Nikonos V and am wanting to get a strobe light for it, only one at this stage.

I would just like to know what would you recommend to buy.

I was looking at the Sea & Sea YS60 which is about AU$1200.


Cheers, Thanks in advance.

 

[Dee]

We're glad you found us!

The YS60 strobe should be OK but I'd also be looking at the YS90DX. It's one of, if not the only, strobe that can be used with both film and digital cameras. In case you decide to upgrade to digital, you'll already have an exellent strobe to use.

ReyeR is from your general location and I'm sure he can help you with sources. He'll also be able to tell you about the Ikelite strobes.

 

[ReyeR]

G'day, I must confess I know very little about the Nikonos V. A quick scan on the Internet shows that it's a relatively simple camera and has a large accessory support base. Looks like Ikelite supports and works very closely with the the Nikonos V.

In case you decide to upgrade to digital, you'll already have an exellent strobe to use

Dee has an excellent point here. Ikelite has conventional strobes that work with the Nikonos V but will not work with cameras that have pre-flash (like the Olympus digital cameras C4040 and C5050):
http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/nikonos.html and
http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/nikonos_pkg2.html

However they also have the newer DS-50 and DS-125 which work with both film and digital (pre-flash) cameras:
http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/substrobe_dig50.html
http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/ss_dig125.html

I can vouch for the DS-125 as an excellent strobe.

I good person and shop to see in Sydney for conventional film camera advice is Kevin Deacon at Dive 2000, Neutral Bay. He's a really nice and helpful guy. Just take your camera along. He's also a Sea and Sea dealer and also keeps Ultralight arms. Cape Byron Imports are the distributors for Ikelite but they weren't much help to me - I finally ended up ordering my DS-125 from the US.

 

[dbh]

My suggestion would be the Ikelite DS-125. It is more powerful and has wider coverage than the YS-90. Since you are going with just one, it will help light your WA shots. It probably won't light up a Nikonos 15mm, but should work pretty well with the 20mm. As a bonus, The 125 has a modeling light (YS90 does not).

HTH,
Dave

 

[fdog]

eBay yourself an Ikelite SubStrobe 300, 225, or 200. All have the light output to keep up with shallow water diving, and will sync easily with the Nikonos 5. These also give TTL with the Nikonos 5. I'd be amazed if you couldn't pick up one of these, with a tray and arm(s) for about US$ 300. There's a 300 on eBay right now for about that.

They might be a bit bigger, but still have horsepower and coverage that's tough to beat.

You can also attempt to find a Nikon 105 or 104, but these seem to be rarer, and more expensive generally. These also are TTL.

An Ikelite DS-125 is a great strobe, but you're paying for features that you simply won't be using with the Nikonos. Unless the upwards mobility of using it with a housed digicam is important.

All the best, James

 

[ReyeR]

Hey guys, this is a really old thread.... :06:

 

[fdog]

Oops...

All the best, James