New Inon D2000W Strobes

Ryan I like metal to :-)

I am to far away now to buy a INON Strobe. Cold light and not a round bulb. I need something between 125 or 250 wat with ca 4000 kelvin and a soft wide beam...

I have see some Hartenbergers that i love. I will go with just one strobe, for now..

I was thinking that Ike dont make anymore the DS200 strobes....

btw .. the Krylon® Color Touch™ 11 oz Aluminum color is working for UW?

Maybe i get one to paint my housing in canouflage coloers :-)

lambis

Ryan I like metal to :-)

 

I am to far away now to buy a INON Strobe. Cold light and not a round bulb. I need something between 125 or 250 wat with ca 4000 kelvin and a soft wide beam...

 

I have see some Hartenbergers that i love. I will go with just one strobe, for now..

 

I was thinking that Ike dont make anymore the  DS200 strobes....

 

btw .. the Krylon® Color Touch™ 11 oz Aluminum color is working for UW?

Maybe i get one to paint my housing in canouflage coloers :-)

 

lambis

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Lambis, you can talk to Ikelite. I was told that they are going to start producing DS200 (not SS200) probably in January as they are waiting for a few parts.

It is 4700K but I think shooting in RAW, you can adjust the color temperature pretty easily with Nikon Capture/ACR so it is not a big deal and it won't break your bank either. You can get in the line behind me for it

Regarding the focusing light (which I assume is what you mean by "BEAM (hotspot)", I wouldn't want to put too much trust in my Japanese on something like this, but I THINK the Inon D2000W focusing light has a special circuit hat turns it off when the camera shutter is depressed.  That may not work if all the wires the strobe expects to see aren't hooked up through the hotshoe connection, however.

 

Also, INON supplies red gels that can be stuck on over the focusing light.  Presumably the intent is to minimize disruption and/or alarm that focusing lights can cause in light sensitive late night marine wildlife - apparently a lot of fishes etc. can't see red wavelengths very well.  I imagine that this would also reduce the hotspot, but would presumably also introduce a red cast if the shut-off circuitry I've described didn't actually work.

 

Frogfish

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The focus light does go off when the strobe is fired off, similar to the D2000 and the D180 and different from the Z220. I think it is linked to the firing of the strobe rather than any circuitry, so don't see the hotshoe connection as an issue. I have both the D2000 and the D180. Excellent strobes.

Timothy

Well I've been playing with the D2000W for the last month in various locations and conditions (thanks to Ryan's efficiency and good ol'Amex). My kanji is no better than Frogfish's so I won't pretend to know what the hell it says.

Bear in mind this is my first strobe purchase in 9 years. I just shoot and use the tools I have. I've only used it in optical mode.

First of, Alex Mustard's review of the D2000 is a good look on the STTL mode. The D2000n throws in 5 pin Nikonos Syncs. Basically in STTL mode, the preflash system does work. However the strobe settings can be a bit counterintuitive. In STTL mode, the EV controls show A-B-C, going from +/a(left) to -/c(right) in a clockwise direction. That mode is shown in a small sticker on top of the dial. Like Alex said STTL works as does the low STTL mode which in my experimentation seems to be a lower power mode. A manual would have been nice but that's in january.

Here comes the counter intuitive part, in auto mode, to control EV, the dial goes from 1-8 from clockwise. Basically to dial in more power, you turn clockwise, exactly the opposite of STTL mode. Yes STTL mode is colored yellow, Auto green and Manual white but underwater I had to think of which was which (ok it's a peeve that'll go away with practice).

STTL in my experience works well for WA scenes. I found with normal STTL mode, fish pictures or tighter pics came slightly overexposed, so I either used the low STTL mode at -/c or Manual.

The light (with red patch) does help with AF but even with 2 strobes I'd still put a main light source on the top of the housing for night dives. I used the focus light constantly and the batteries (quite used AA 2500maH) went through about 120 shots. I'd estimate the focus light was on about 25-30 minutes during that dive. The batteries still had juice so that's pretty decent esp since the camera started yelling for a battery change.

I read Ryan's statement about av/tv mode and not having the magnet. I did use Tv and manual mode to practice for fast moving subjects (like baitballs) and I haven't removed the magnet. Till now I have only an inkling of what the magnet does. So long as I have manual control, I'm happy.

The strobes were tested with the Canon S70(optical) by me and my friend used a D70 in a subal which I played with. And I can confirm what Frogfish and Timothy says about the focus light turning off when firing. The target laser doesn't work with the S70. Pics should be forthcoming.

My 01 cents

I've noticed there aren't any vendors of the Inon stuff. Are you suppose to buy everything direct through the website?

for starters, Wetpixel sponsor Reef Photo is an Inon dealer. Ryan is a great guy and can not only set you up, his advice pre and post sale is priceless!

I've dealt with Ryan and found him to be efficient and reliable. Due to the complication of trying to be the first guy with D2000W and on a deadline for a flight, he managed to deliver the strobes and accessories on time. Had a little problem with his accounts dept which was promptly dealt with.