Ike vs Inon

After getting advise from everybody from Dr. Mustard to Ryan at Reef and way too much reading and way too many opinions it's either DS125's or Z-240's.

I'm leaning towards the Inons for two main reasons; weight (on land) & size and the ability to use AA's if nothing is charged up. (ok thats 3 reasons) Not that I'm wealthy or anything but $ is not an issue. I've heard great things about the color temp of the Ikes, but nothing negative about the temp of the Inons so I figure all things are relatively equal in that they put out a burst of light for digital cameras under water when the button is pushed. I'm upgrading from a D70 to a D200 in a Subal and getting rid of two 20+ year old old monster Ike 100a's. Even though they float, they carry a lot of inertia and are very heavy on land. With two twelve inch arms on each side the whole thing is getting very ungainly to move around and carry, not to mention the added weight of the D200/ND20 setup over the D70/ND70 setup. I'm even thinking of doing the unthinkable and going to two 8" arms on each side.

Happy (or unhappy) Ike or Inon owners, please HELP ME! What am I missing that would STOP me from buying the Inons?

Andy

Im a happy Ikelite customer, but ive just bought an Inon strobe too, Which i grade as a sin second only to using something from Canon!

The new DS125 NiCad batteries last forever, and their smart charger is pretty awesome. I'm very happy with my Ikelite equipment.

Simon

Im a happy Ikelite customer, but ive just bought an Inon strobe too, Which i grade as a sin second only to using something from Canon!

 

The new DS125 NiCad batteries last forever, and their smart charger is pretty awesome. I'm very happy with my Ikelite equipment.

 

Simon

So.....what made you buy the Inon (Z240?) ? Have you used it? And how do you like it? Better than the Ikes? Very heavy on land?

So.....what made you buy the Inon (Z240?) ? Have you used it? And how do you like it? Better than the Ikes? Very heavy on land?

I have Ikelite DS125 (x2) and SS200 (x2), i just sold two Sea and Sea YS-120's to fund an Inon Z22 Ring Flash. I think i have a strobe fetish!

I absolutely love my DS-125's the only gripe i've had was their batteries, but i was on the old ones, the new ones they are now supplying will kick ass.

The Z240 is a great stobe (i think) but i've never used one, all those knobs and buttons scare me!

I'm not sure if this would sway your decision, but if you fit a Heinrich Wiekamps <sp> converter to your D200 housing, you can get ttl with the INON, but not with the DS125 according to Heinrichs website:

The following products work well with the Nikon D200

OEM converter for Nikon i-TTL

 

This strobe can be used:

Hartenberger 250 HS TTL Digital

Inon D 2000W

Inon Z 240

Sea & Sea YS-30 II TTL Duo

Sea & Sea YS-60 TTL mod. Mike-Dive Speed-version of YS60 from www.mike-dive.de

Subtronic Maxi TTL

Subtronic Midi TTL

Subtronic Mini TTL '05 works with Nikon D100

Subtronic Nova

I would give the edge to the Inons.

I have two Ikelite DS compatible Sunstrobe 200s and am using them with an Aquatica AD2x housing.

They are great strobes but the only way you are going to get iTTL with any strobe made by Ikelite is to purchase their housing also. Ikelite has built their iTTL circuitry into the housing and not the strobes.

Ikelite did announce an iTTL/eTTL cord for non-Ikelite housings but that was several months ago and they have not been very forthcoming about any planned dates for the debut of the new sync cords. Without that cord, any Ikelite flash will have severe iTTL exposure compatibility issues with anything other than an Ikelite housing.

While I’m happy shooting with manual exposure control of the flash and my Aquatica housing, being able to employ iTTL when deemed necessary would be a hugely welcomed option.

Considering the weight, size, and power requirements of both brands of strobes, I would put my money on the Inons right now (and I may just do that shortly, with a HeinrichsWeikamp converter of course!).

I have 2xInon D2000w and the Heinrichs Converter. I find the TTL feature to be sometimes frustrating. I have trouble with exposure when focusing on a very dark subject or in "low" light situations, the shots come out almost black. Some times it seams to pause before firing. In fact I don't use it at all for Macro shots. About the only time I use it is with my 17-55 lens in "bright light" current situations. Maybe it is operator error but I have yet to dive with anyone who has one to compare experiences. FYI have Nikon D200 in an Aquatica Housing.

I have 2xInon D2000w and the Heinrichs Converter. I find the TTL feature to be sometimes frustrating. I have trouble with exposure when focusing on a very dark subject or in "low" light situations, the shots come out almost black. Some times it seams to pause before firing. In fact I don't use it at all for Macro shots. About the only time I use it is with my 17-55 lens in "bright light" current situations. Maybe it is operator error but I have yet to dive with anyone who has one to compare experiences. FYI have Nikon D200 in an Aquatica Housing.

I have a D70 with an Aquatica housing and twin DS125's. When Ryan at Reef Photo added a Heinrichs converter to my housing he sent my older DS125 back to Ikelite to upgrade the circuitry so it would work TTL with the converter. The newer one did not need any upgrade to work TTL. The moral of the story is everything now works TTL so somebody is off base about saying the DS125's don't work TTL with the converter.

Andy

I have a D70 with an Aquatica housing and twin DS125's. When Ryan at Reef Photo added a Heinrichs converter to my housing he sent my older DS125 back to Ikelite to upgrade the circuitry so it would work TTL with the converter. The newer one did not need any upgrade to work TTL. The moral of the story is everything now works TTL so somebody is off base about saying the DS125's don't work TTL with the converter.

Andy

Hi Andy,

For some reason on the heinrichs website it doesn't list Ike strobes as being compatible with his bits and the D200. It works great with the D70 but not the D200 (apparently). I don't fancy buying one to find out. Does anyone know if this statement is accurate?

Hi Andy,

 

For some reason on the heinrichs website it doesn't list Ike strobes as being compatible with his bits and the D200. It works great with the D70 but not the D200 (apparently). I don't fancy buying one to find out. Does anyone know if this statement is accurate?

That's why I love these forums.

It seems like the whole TTL thing is a toss up for either. I guess that means that I'm still leaning towards the Inons because of weight, size and AA's. The biggest thing I seem to be giving up is the ability to use the DS125s as a dive light on night dives. Yes??

Or maybe I should just keep using my Substrobe 100s for another year and buy an Inon ringflash!

I must admit that I bought those old Ikes before my 23 year old son was born and they have never ever leaked or failed to fire when they were supposed to, and I do like their customer service.

AAARRRGGGHHH! Maybe I'll get the DS125's or slash my wrists and put me out of my anal misery!

The Inon z240 strobes have the modeling light built in, so it should come down to size and handling, power and guide numbers, angle of coverage, which battery style you want to contend with, and temperature. You could go either way and not make a wrong decision. Though from the compact and size comment, you could pack almost two Inon z240 strobe heads in the same area of a single Ikelite DS125 and charger. Or....Another crazy idea, go with one of each

I'll stay out of the strobe debate, but:

They are great strobes but the only way you are going to get iTTL with any strobe made by Ikelite is to purchase their housing also. Ikelite has built their iTTL circuitry into the housing and not the strobes.

 

Ikelite did announce an iTTL/eTTL cord for non-Ikelite housings but that was several months ago and they have not been very forthcoming about any planned dates for the debut of the new sync cords. Without that cord, any Ikelite flash will have severe iTTL exposure compatibility issues with anything other than an Ikelite housing.

We've installed dozens of heinrichs converters for happy Ikelite TTL strobe users. I've even got a few customers running ikelite strobes off of a Sea & Sea converter, contrary to Sea & Sea's advice

Re: the Ikelite cord plans, those are being wrapped up now. We have preproduction units in our store, and they were on display at BTS so I'm comfortable discussing this more. The converter is a round plug w/ a Nikonos pigtail to the housing. An Ikelite cord is plugged into the back. There is a built in switch, w/ TTL & Manual positions, but no Flash EV.

MSRP $350

Ryan, Do we yet know what cameras this new Ikelite TTL cord is compatible with?

Ryan, Do we yet know what cameras this new Ikelite TTL cord is compatible with?

At this point Nikon only, I have more evaluating to do but so far it looks good w/ D2x, D200, D80, D70.

Ryan, that's great news! But Nikon only????? The Ikelite TTL converter built into their Caonon housings works great so I don't get it.

Hopefully the Canon converter will be next in line. I would buy one immediately.

Cheers

James

PS: are you going to be at Seaspace this weekend?

Nikon only decision was made based on the number of properly wired 5pin Nikonos connectors available on other housings and the availability of all parts at ikelite.

A version w/ an S6 socket was discussed, but doesn't have as much demand, and would require sourcing third party connectors that aren't even universally supported...

Yes, I'll be at Seaspace. Right by the front door... See you there?

Great! I'll be there Saturday. Looking fwd to seeing y'all again.

Cheers

James

Re: the Ikelite cord plans, those are being wrapped up now. We have preproduction units in our store, and they were on display at BTS so I'm comfortable discussing this more. The converter is a round plug w/ a Nikonos pigtail to the housing. An Ikelite cord is plugged into the back. There is a built in switch, w/ TTL & Manual positions, but no Flash EV.

Pay Dirt!!

They are great strobes but the only way you are going to get iTTL with any strobe made by Ikelite is to purchase their housing also. Ikelite has built their iTTL circuitry into the housing and not the strobes.

 

Ikelite did announce an iTTL/eTTL cord for non-Ikelite housings but that was several months ago and they have not been very forthcoming about any planned dates for the debut of the new sync cords. Without that cord, any Ikelite flash will have severe iTTL exposure compatibility issues with anything other than an Ikelite housing.

Yes, it is a fairly provocative statement to make, but when you go fishing for information, you have to use the right bait.

I had tried hints in other threads about iTTL issues and didn’t get a bite, so I decided to word my reply with something more provocative in an effort to get a reply from anyone with information on the Ikelite iTTL cord.

Calls and emails to the company about progress and indeed if they were still pursuing the concept of the iTTL cord only resulted in vague references to the manual exposure controller or the slave flash controller.

These guys could probably show the people in Washington, and for that matter up here in Ottawa, a thing or two about keeping national secrets.

I miss the days when we could count on The Addled Shopkeeper to keep us in the loop about new products being developed at Ikelite.

And finally, my apologies to ramaroodle for hijacking the thread, even though we have now discovered one more approach to underwater flash exposure management.

And now the questions:

How does Ikelite envision the cables being used in a typical housing setup? One iTTL cable per strobe, or only one iTTL cable per housing setup with an Y-adapter? Slave strobe use?

Can you adjust strobe power levels with the camera body controls, or only at the strobe head?

What will the cord length of the production version of the iTTL cord be and which existing cords will they be compatible with?

Can you use any of the older SunStrobe models (100, 200, 300, 400 series) and have iTTL exposure management with the new digital cameras?

Will there be a version for Canon camera users?

and

When will they be available? (Hopefully soon…..)

Thanks

How does Ikelite envision the cables being used in a typical housing setup? One iTTL cable per strobe, or only one iTTL cable per housing setup with an Y-adapter? Slave strobe use?

2 TTL Adapters will lock up the camera, so you'll need to use Ikelite #4103.52 Dual Sync Cable from the converter to your 2 strobes.

Can you adjust strobe power levels with the camera body controls, or only at the strobe head?

If your housing accesses Flash EV, yes.

What will the cord length of the production version of the iTTL cord be and which existing cords will they be compatible with?

The cord I was supplied with is 6" long, but test diver feedback may influence this. To connect the adapter to the strobe, either 4103.51 or 4103.52.

Can you use any of the older SunStrobe models (100, 200, 300, 400 series) and have iTTL exposure management with the new digital cameras?

No.

Will there be a version for Canon camera users?

No Plans.

When will they be available? (Hopefully soon…..)

Not yet known, get on a list somewhere.

RC

Well, since I started this post I want to thank EVERYBODY for their input. I just sent Ryan more money than my wife would be happy about.

I bought the Ikelites, mainly because of two statements.

1. Someone who I respect and uses both told me "it is purely based on quality of light. If I could afford $4000 Hartenberger 625 or Subtronic Nova I'd go that route, but Ikelite strobes are budget alternative. The Inon's have too cold of a color, and their light falloff is too harsh."

2. Ryan says he has dozens of happy customers using the Ike TTL converter. I know TTL isn't a pressing issue and I've gotten good results without it, but like someone emailed today, "I'm not a ttl convert, but I'm also not someone who only manages a couple of trips a year. I think if I were in the average person's position I would have a TTL solution, as it would be more accurate than I would. But that is definitely influenced by personal preference." Besides, as it has happened in the past that first or second shot that sometimes ends up being the best composition is sometimes wasted getting the settings right.

Also, the dedicated batteries and charger are improved over the originals. I already have Ike cables and my old 100a's which gives me backup strobes and redundant cables without any additional cost and very little hassle. Plus two bright lights for night diving which means only haveing to carry a small spare light on the off chance that both strobes fail on the same dive.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Andy

oh no.... you should have got INON

only joking, enjoy!