Hi all. Looking at getting into strobes for my TG-5 (currently using BS 4300 video lights which are ok but scare the fish). Mostly focused on Macro and Fish Portraits but not opppsed to some wide angle in the future

Currently looking at:

Ikelite Ecko Fiber: $500 ea, supports RC TTL, neutral in water

YS-D3 Duo: Divervision has for $500 ea, supports RC TTL, slightly larger, reliability a bit more all over the map

Inon S220: $400 ea, no RC support, small for travel

Thoughts? I am interested in the RC TTL because it seems to be a “better” automated decision maker, I am not super smart in how to do settings but willing to learn as I progress.

Hard to go past the little S220 INON, very compact and powerful enough. The TG-6 at max zoom if f6.3 at most anything beyond that is an ND filter and gets to f18 - mostly useful to pressures ambient light if you want a black background, but apart from that doesn't need a lot of strobe power as you are mostly in very close for macro work.

I, too, vote for the Inon S220 seems a good choice for its size and power. Also, consider the Backscatter MF-2 or 3. They shoot TTL with Olympus and definitely good for fish portraits and certainly macro. You can press them into action with wider lenses but that’s not ideal.

The Inon S220 strobes (75w/s, GN22) are considerably stronger than the Ikelite Echo strobes (50 w/s, GN15). However, the Echos will support the Olympus RC for TTL control and several of my dive buddies use the RC control to their advantage with the YS-D3 Duo, even stronger (GN33?) and the TG cameras.

I have a set of the Inon S220 strobes and I can see that they are stronger than the Ikelite DS50 (now Echo with the added optical functions) and nearly as strong as the YS-D3 with the diffuser installed. And they are reliable and cost effective, so RC be darned, I would go with the S220 strobes. I pair mine with a NA-6400 and a NA-R50 systems.

The Echos are good little strobes and while I know I just said I prefer the S220, if RC is an important function to the OP and if they are for certain verified functional with the TG RC then I can see that be a good combo. I think two of them would pair well with a TG, especially for macro and fish pics.

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by Nemrod

Thanks for the responses. I don’t know how important RCT TTL is to me as I don’t have much frame of reference as to how much better it is than normal TTL (slave?) but had heard it was better.

I appreciate the explanation on strengths as I was having difficulty finding the comparisons on my own.

While I shot a pair of Ikelite Ecko Fiber strobes with my APS-C Canon R100 system the RC capability built in and light weight of the Ecko Fiber make it a good possible choice.

https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/article/shooting-ikelite-ecko-fiber-strobes-roatan-honduras/

Just a thought :)

David Haas

3 hours ago, Smstelzel said:

Thanks for the responses. I don’t know how important RCT TTL is to me as I don’t have much frame of reference as to how much better it is than normal TTL (slave?) but had heard it was better.

I appreciate the explanation on strengths as I was having difficulty finding the comparisons on my own.

My several dive buddies who shoot with the TG find the RC useful (Backscatter MF-2) and from my observing their photos I think they are getting very good results. What I am not sure about is that the results are really any better than with standard mimic TTL. But they like it and are sold on it. And best I can tell the Echo strobes do support the RC-TTL.

One of my regular buddies uses a Backscatter MF-2 in RC mode to slave an older YS-D2 non RC strobe. And it works! His rig is not shielded so the YS strobe fires on mine backlighting my subject, at times useful, other times (most times) quite annoying 😁.

This wide angle photo (of me) taken with the Ikelite Echo strobes, Ikelite housed R100, TTL (D.Haas), clearly they suffice!

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Nemrod

2 hours ago, dhaas said:

While I shot a pair of Ikelite Ecko Fiber strobes with my APS-C Canon R100 system the RC capability built in and light weight of the Ecko Fiber make it a good possible choice.

https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/article/shooting-ikelite-ecko-fiber-strobes-roatan-honduras/

Just a thought :)

David Haas

Thanks, I have read your article before. That’s what put the Eckos on my radar.

18 minutes ago, Nemrod said:

My several dive buddies who shoot with the TG find the RC useful (Backscatter MF-2) and from my observing their photos I think they are getting very good results. What I am not sure about is that the results are really any better than with standard mimic TTL. But they like it and are sold on it. And best I can tell the Echo strobes do support the RC-TTL.

One of my regular buddies uses a Backscatter MF-2 in RC mode to slave an older YS-D2 non RC strobe. And it works! His rig is not shielded so the YS strobe fires on mine backlighting my subject, at times useful, other times (most times) quite annoying 😁.

This wide angle photo (of me) taken with the Ikelite Echo strobes, Ikelite housed R100, TTL (D.Haas), clearly they suffice!

Thanks for the response. Definitely selling the Eckos with that photo and the Roatan pics.