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 Tuesday at 05:42 AM5 days 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 Tuesday at 04:22 PM5 days 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.

Thanks for the inputs so far.

Leaning towards the Eckos but have another question would the new Atom flash be too much overkill for my setup or would it be good insurance if I felt like I wanted to advance beyond a compact system (not sure if I want to yet but I may)

1 hour ago, Smstelzel said:

Thanks for the inputs so far.

Leaning towards the Eckos but have another question would the new Atom flash be too much overkill for my setup or would it be good insurance if I felt like I wanted to advance beyond a compact system (not sure if I want to yet but I may)

That’s good thinking. Strobes and their accompanying arms and clamps are some of the few long-term investments in u/w camera gear that can transfer from one system to another. Definitely worth planning ahead.

23 hours ago, Smstelzel said:

Thanks for the inputs so far.

Leaning towards the Eckos but have another question would the new Atom flash be too much overkill for my setup or would it be good insurance if I felt like I wanted to advance beyond a compact system (not sure if I want to yet but I may)

That should be a good set up. The Atom strobes might be overkill for a TG but they should work fine since they do have the RC control and they would be plenty of power for any system you move up to for all but this most demanding wide angle stuff, maybe even then.

I have been studying these, they do not have a standard mimic type TTL thus will not work in TTL with either my Sony or Canon, but I shoot mostly manual anyways and the size, power and price are good. I am just worried about reliability being new on the market.

16 minutes ago, TimG said:

That’s good thinking. Strobes and their accompanying arms and clamps are some of the few long-term investments in u/w camera gear that can transfer from one system to another. Definitely worth planning ahead.

1 hour ago, Nemrod said:

That should be a good set up. The Atom strobes might be overkill for a TG but they should work fine since they do have the RC control and they would be plenty of power for any system you move up to for all but this most demanding wide angle stuff, maybe even then.

I have been studying these, they do not have a standard mimic type TTL thus will not work in TTL with either my Sony or Canon, but I shoot mostly manual anyways and the size, power and price are good. I am just worried about reliability being new on the market.

Thanks for the inputs definitely considering between Ecko and Atom now. Just gotta see what the budget allows for.

50 minutes ago, Smstelzel said:

Thanks for the inputs definitely considering between Ecko and Atom now. Just gotta see what the budget allows for.

I have not yet tried either the Atom or Ecko strobes, but I did read the manuals and product pages. A few observations:

Ecko:

• AA powered (pro for battery availability, con for battery life)

• No spotting light so no Snoot option (big CON)

• Optical fiber only, broad TTL features

• Cold temp at 5700k, no warming diffuser available (big CON)

Atom:

• 18650 Lithium battery ( pro for battery life, con for some who still prefer AA)

• Has a spotting light (1000 lumen) and a Snoot option

• Optical Fiber only, RC TTL

• Even Colder temp at 6500k, but 5500k and 4500k diffusers are available

My take is that the Atom does cost about $250 more but is a far more capable strobe.

Hi @Smstelzel

Thanks for a great post.

I always used INONs with all kinds of makes and models of compact cameras in over 15 years of shooting.

Can I share a secret? I always used them in TTL mode and never changed this unless I was shooting in an environment which was dark/very bright or black and white subjects.

I loved my INON strobe as I could capture both close-up and wide-angle images on the same dive. Even just one strobe was powerful enough to light a wide-angle scene using a 140 degree fisheye lens.

I've attached some images which I hope will help.

Good luck with the decision making!

@Maria Munn those are great images. Which strobes from Inon did you use?