Subtronic versus Inon

I'm mulling over a big change, moving away from my wonderful but weighty Subtronic flashguns to the slight but sensational Inons. It's hard to weigh up the pros and cons of each system, so I'm looking for some opinions to sway my decision. I've got this far....

Subtronic

For: Unfloodable; sturdy; wide angle of coverage; excellent quality of light; very quick recycle; sharks like 'em; easy to recharge; really good synch cables, no-nonsense settings

Against: Heavy and big; costly to repair/replace; no representative in my country (UK); silly torch setting on New alpha means you have to turn the torch on every time you switch the strobe on

Inon

For: Small and light; good value; excellent dealer in my country; reasonably quick recycle; nice quality of light; easily accessible battery compartment

Against: Coverage not as wide as the Subs; another silly torch setting that I found hard to control; odd manual settings (probably just something to get used to); a bit plasticky; sharks not that bothered...

So as you can see, I'm in a quandry. What do you think I should do?

Hi Simon,

Have you sat back and read your own thread?

As an unbiased reader with no experience with either the Subtronic or Inon compact style strobes,

I do have the Inon Z-22 ringflash, the words that you use to describe each of the strobes, seems

to me, to answer your own questions...IMHO.

From reading the thread, I believe that you are more than happy with your Subtronic strobes and

the only thing pissing you off is the weight? Instead of throwing really good money at the new

Inons, why don't you try out some of the newer style strobe arm and port floatation/bouyancy

accessories? It might shed new light on your rig(pun intended) and save you quite a few dollars

in the meantime...

Just the jumbled thoughts of an unbalanced individual whose skin is getting very dry...

Damn doctors...

Bruce...

It is not really a fair comparison but I have the Subtronic Novas and the Inon D2000ws. I really love the color I get with the Novas in WA or Macro vs. the Inons. To my eye it is "richer" and maybe more "blue". But I still tend to go with the Inons when shooting Macro just for the ease of use in tight situations but I tow both pairs everywhere we go.

Bruce,

The weight of the Subtronics is only topside, lugging them around, not underwater. I have the same quandry.

Love my Subtronics for their light and power (not planning to get rid of them for WA) but buying some Inons when baggage limits are an issue and my main focus is macro.

Bruce,

The weight of the Subtronics is only topside, lugging them around, not underwater. I have the same quandry.

Love my Subtronics for their light and power (not planning to get rid of them for WA) but buying some Inons when baggage limits are an issue and my main focus is macro.

Hey Loftus,

I know your pain Brudda...

I love my YS120's from S&S...

I only shoot macro...

Hooroo,

Bruce...

Hi Simon,

You are welcome to borrow my Inon's (Z240s) to try them (when I am not using them). I think that is the only way to convince yourself they are right for you.

If you shot a lot of macro then I would say the Inon's are ideal. But considering your passion for big creatures and wrecks it is hard to beat the Subtronics.

Alex

Hi Simon,

 

You are welcome to borrow my Inon's (Z240s) to try them (when I am not using them). I think that is the only way to convince yourself they are right for you.

 

If you shot a lot of macro then I would say the Inon's are ideal. But considering your passion for big creatures and wrecks it is hard to beat the Subtronics.

 

Alex

Hi Simon,

If you borrow Alex's Inons, you might want to check that they still have all the knobs on them...

'Gaping hole' thread.

Just in case...

Bruce...

Simon

You mentioned 'quality' of light in your post. My personal preference is for the smooth, soft, wide beam produced by the Subtronic style units. As far as I am concerned this means that they produce the results I want and as such I much prefer to use this style of flash unit - that said, I travel with old SB105s 'cos of weight and airline idiocy when it comes to inbuilt batteries and the ability to destroy gear (apparently the latest way is to pile a mountain of other gear on top of it to save baggage handlers the bother of throwing it around).

Why not add Inons for travel and keep the Subtronics for UK diving?

Thanks for the advice, guys... and thanks in particular to Alex for a very kind offer. It's absolutely true to say that I am an enthusiastic Subtronic user, but two recent issues have given me pause for thought. I recently spent some time shore diving in Gran Canaria, and the process of carrying my heavy rig over the slippery rocks was quite a palaver.

I don't notice the extra weight when I'm in the water, but at all other times it can be a bit of a pain, especially airport check-ins. In the next month I'm looking at a trip with loads of little internal flights, and I know they're going to try and clobber me for weight (although I'm a past master at wheedling check-in clerks - just ask Hamish!) at every opportunity. So I'm toying with the idea of keeping the Subs and investing in the Inons for occasional use (cheers Paul).

So - more outlay and more kit cluttering the house. My wife will be delighted!

I'm going to be careful to keep using the Subs to keep the internal ni-cad batteries working – I know a guy who had three Megs and allowed them all to die due to lack of use.

Any more opinions/insights v welcome.

SimonR

Simon

Another setup with Inons is to use 3 Inons for WA with diffusers, the 3rd one in the center. I've seen this work well for WA. 3 Inons is still more compact and lighter than 2 subtronics.

Alternatively, check out the S&S 250s. They are pretty sweet and a bit lighter than the Subtronics.

Hi Simon,

One other thing to consider with the Inon's is that whilst small, I find them quite negative underwater (I have the older Z220's - maybe they've corrected this in later models), as opposed to the Subs, which are completely neutral.

However I do love the fact that the Inon's use AA batteries, as I need to carry them anyway.

My personal experience is that the Inon's are perfect for close up work - more so than the Subs, for the obvious size reasons - and like the Subtronics they offer multiple power output settings. However I've just never been as comfortable using them for wide angle as the Subtronics, which are pretty hard to beat when it comes to recycling times / power output /coverage /light quality.

Incidentally I believe Seacam are bringing out new strobes that seem to offer the best of all worlds - small, pretty close to neutrally buoyant, fast recycle times, iTTL support, removable batteries, wide coverage, multiple manual power settings. Not sure if you would need S6 connectors on your housing though - Paul would be better to answer that one.

Steve

The Backscatter strobe test shows that the Inon strobes are not very negative underwater as some say. Two Z-240's is about the same weight underwater as a YS-250 or an Ike DS-125. I use YS adapters rather than ball mounts to save weight and improve bouyancy with the Inons.

Why not add Inons for travel and keep the Subtronics for UK diving?

Curiously I do it the other way round. Subtronics for long haul and Inons for UK!

Alex

Hi Alex,

What temp. are your Subtonics and under what conditions do you prefer them?

I'm interested in opinions on the big strobes, for macro in temperate water, and

comparing them to the Inons which I believe have a 'bluer' lighting???

Thanks,

Respect,

Bruce...