Ikelite DS230 Tests - A powerful but slow strobe

[DreiFish]

Standard tests, compared with the Sea & Sea YS-D3, Supe D-PRO, and Marelux Apollo 3

 

 

 

 

 

Maximum flash power for continuous shooting:

 

And here is the beam pattern, from left to right, top to bottom: DS230, Apollo 3, Supe D-Pro, YS-D3 with Flat Diffuser

 

Observations

• It's immediately obvious that the DS230 has the brightest, widest, and most even beam. It's 1/3 stop brighter in the center than the Apollo 3, 2/3 stops brighter than the YS-D3 with flat diffuser, and 1 and 1/3 stop brighter than the Supe D-Pro. 
• The color temperature is also the warmest of the strobes. 
• The main limitation is that at full power the flash duration is long, 1/100 of a second. So if you shoot at a faster shutter speed, you won't get to capture the full flash. You can only shoot 1/200s at GN 25 and 1/350s at GN22. Still, at those power levels, it competes well in power with the other 3 strobes.
• The strobe is also limited for high speed shooting. I was able to get it to fire at 3fps at GN11, which bests the YS-D3 and matches the Apollo 3. Only the D-PRO is 1/3 stop brighter when shooting at 3fps.
• The issue is that you can't shoot faster than 3fps. At 6fps, every other shot the flash doesn't fire at all. Same at 12fps. So the recycling times are a limitation.
• Overall, it's a very capable strobe for typical wide angle use, but not a top recommendation for fast action or sunburst, where the flash duration means that it's no better at outcompeting ambient light at higher shutter speeds than the rest of the pack.
• Where this strobe really would excel in my view is for off-camera use (carried or attached to a model) for creative lighting inside a cave or wreck. There, there's no ambient light to worry about, so the long flash duration isn't an issue. You can always shoot at 1/100s. Nor do you typically need fast flash recycling times in this scenario.
• It's a poor choice for macro because of the size and length, but also because at minimum power it's still quite bright
• Because of the long flash duration, HSS would've really not had any benefit on this strobe.

Edited June 21 by DreiFish