YS250 vs Seacam/Subtronic

Hi!

I´m a bit curious what the major differences are between a Sea&Sea YS 250 pro and Seacam 250 or Subtronic Mega Color? Why are they about $1000 more expensive than the YS 250? I know it´s possible to change kelvin, but this can easily be done in Photoshop. I will buy new strobes in the near future, so it should be nice to know why I should spend the extra $.

Best Regards

Marco

>>> I´m a bit curious what the major differences are between a Sea&Sea YS 250 pro and Seacam 250 or Subtronic Mega Color?

Hi Marco! Here's a great little webpage that lets you compare strobes side by side.

http://www.digitaldiver.net/strobes.php

>>> I know it´s possible to change kelvin, but this can easily be done in Photoshop

Photoshop is pretty cool, but I don't think it can alter the color cast of your strobes after the fact!

>>> I´m a bit curious what the major differences are between a Sea&Sea YS 250 pro and Seacam 250 or Subtronic Mega Color?

 

Hi Marco! Here's a great little webpage that lets you compare strobes side by side.

 

http://www.digitaldiver.net/strobes.php

 

>>> I know it´s possible to change kelvin, but this can easily be done in Photoshop

 

Photoshop is pretty cool, but I don't think it can alter the color cast of your strobes after the fact!

Hi Jeremypayne

I´m familiar with the strobe comparison page.

Thanks for your answer anyway.

/Marco

I´m a bit curious what the major differences are between a Sea&Sea YS 250 pro and Seacam 250 or Subtronic Mega Color? Why are they about $1000 more expensive than the YS 250? I know it´s possible to change kelvin, but this can easily be done in Photoshop. I will buy new strobes in the near future, so it should be nice to know why I should spend the extra $.

I have used the YS250 strobes and thought they were very nice. I tried them with a TTL converter and the exposures were very accurate. I felt the quality of light was nice too. I tried them for wide angle (non-fisheye) and fish photography.

The actually belonged to WP member Davichin - he got them as replacements for his unreliable Subtronics. However, after trying them for wide angle, he went back to the Subtronics for the superior quality of light (wide soft lighting) they offer. I think that he now always uses the Sea & Sea 250s for all his macro and switches to his Subtronics for all his fisheye wide angle.

(David - do correct me if I'm wrong).

Alex

I have used the YS250 strobes and thought they were very nice. I tried them with a TTL converter and the exposures were very accurate. I felt the quality of light was nice too. I tried them for wide angle (non-fisheye) and fish photography.

 

The actually belonged to WP member Davichin - he got them as replacements for his unreliable Subtronics. However, after trying them for wide angle, he went back to the Subtronics for the superior quality of light (wide soft lighting) they offer. I think that he now always uses the Sea & Sea 250s for all his macro and switches to his Subtronics for all his fisheye wide angle.

 

(David - do correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Alex

Thank you for your answer Alex. Maybe I should take a look at the new subtronic Nova. I already got one Subtronic Mega color, and I know the light and power is great, but it´s getting a bit old, so that´s why I´m trying to find something new.

/Marco

Cool. I'd wait and see what David says when he sees this thread. As an owner of both he will be ideally placed to tell you what each is like as an ownership proposition.

Alex

I´m a bit curious what the major differences are between a Sea&Sea YS 250 pro and Seacam 250 or Subtronic Mega Color?

I've used both the Mega Colour and the Seacam Seaflash 250. Both give a similar light which is produced by the large horseshoe shaped tubes used. Personally I liked both but the Seaflash 250 had TTL which I found very accurate on my Canons when used on macro - which I did a lot as I like the ability to illuminate large amounts of background with the wide beam. If you like the Mega Colour light 'quality' then the Seaflash will suit too, although you may consider the new 150 instead (removable battery pack). I have no experience of the Sea & Sea so I have no opinion on their flash I'm afraid.

Err...I've had the experience.

I would say that the quality of the light from the big amber-coated tubes of the Subtronic Alphas I have is much nicer than that obtained from a small flashtube that is almost a point source. I found that the light from the YS was a little colder like the colder colour tube option of the Mega Color. I changed to little Inons for reasons of airline check-in convenience but always use them with the diffusers provided. I would go back to the Subtronics in a heart-beat if the 'king airlines would let me!

I have used the YS250 strobes and thought they were very nice. I tried them with a TTL converter and the exposures were very accurate. I felt the quality of light was nice too. I tried them for wide angle (non-fisheye) and fish photography.

 

The actually belonged to WP member Davichin - he got them as replacements for his unreliable Subtronics. However, after trying them for wide angle, he went back to the Subtronics for the superior quality of light (wide soft lighting) they offer. I think that he now always uses the Sea & Sea 250s for all his macro and switches to his Subtronics for all his fisheye wide angle.

 

(David - do correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Alex

I could not have said it better

I just took the time to perform a fast side by side of the two strobes: Nova vs YS250 vs YS250 with provided diffuser. D300 and tokina 10-17 @ 10mm all at ISO 200, 1/250, f 16 and manual WB at 5000 ºK. The strobe was always placed right on top of the housing:

Nova:

YS250: Sorry for being out of focus but it was in complete darkness but you will see the difference...

YS250 with diffuser:

So, to me, the Nova is more powerful, has more coverage and warmer (nicer to me) colour. Now Marco P, is it 1000$ better? that is a question that, in the end, only you can answer to yourself (do you dive a lot, do you have that amount of money to spend in this hobby...).

Now, talking about macro, I find very reliable the 250s and their converter so all in all they are a very good pair of strobes with advantages like fast recycling time or removable battery pack but I wish S&S would have gone one step further (and I am sure they have the ability) to create a digital YS350 or better...

I could not have said it better

 

I just took the time to perform a fast side by side of the two strobes: Nova vs YS250 vs YS250 with provided diffuser. D300 and tokina 10-17 @ 10mm all at ISO 200, 1/250, f 16 and manual WB at 5000 ºK. The strobe was always placed right on top of the housing:

 

Nova:

 

 

YS250: Sorry for being out of focus but it was in complete darkness but you will see the difference...

 

 

YS250 with diffuser:

 

 

So, to me, the Nova is more powerful, has more coverage and warmer (nicer to me) colour. Now Marco P, is it 1000$ better? that is a question that, in the end, only you can answer to yourself (do you dive a lot, do you have that amount of money to spend in this hobby...).

 

Now, talking about macro, I find very reliable the 250s and their converter so all in all they are a very good pair of strobes with advantages like fast recycling time or removable battery pack but I wish S&S would have gone one step further (and I am sure they have the ability) to create a digital YS350 or better...

Thanks to all for your answers. The money is not a problem just want to know what the differences are. I´ve never had the opportunity to try the YS250, so thanks a lot David for your samples. I have used small strobes (DS-51) for a few years and just got tired of not getting the right exposure when using canon 100mm with kenko 2x extension tube. When I got the Subtronic Mega color I understood why there are powerful strobes. I don´t travel much, so I think I could go for the Nova.

/Marco

Thanks David for the info. Wouldn't it warm up the YS250's to process them at their 5600 degree temp (5200 with diffusers). Seems like it would help the blues. Am I thinking about this correctly?

Steve

Thanks David for the info. Wouldn't it warm up the YS250's to process them at their 5600 degree temp (5200 with diffusers). Seems like it would help the blues. Am I thinking about this correctly?

Steve

I used a fixed 5000 ºK (I could have used any temp) in order to be able to compare both strobe lights.

About the blues,

The WB setting will affect all the image.

The "blue part" of the image is not affected/hit by the strobe light and one will almost always get richer blues by lowering the temp (4500 ºK delivering better blues than 5500 ºK) whatever strobe is used.

The problem is that lowering the temp below the strobe temp (ie lowering to 4500 and using 5500 strobes) will deliver the above mentioned richer blues but the part of the image luminated by the strobes will have a blue/cold cast. That is why using 4500 strobes is "better" (personal but commonly shared OPINION) because one will get nice blues and a correct colour for the part of image lit by the strobe.

Hope it helps!

I used a fixed 5000 ºK (I could have used any temp) in order to be able to compare both strobe lights.

 

About the blues,

Thanks David, that helps, but I was trying to ask a different question. When you compare strobes is it important to white balance each one at it's designed temperature? When I look at the images you posted for the Nova and the YS250, the S&S looks more blue or cooler on my screen. If we would WB the 250 image to it's temp of 5600 then it would seem that the strobes would compare more favorably. I'm thinking the "blues" or gray areas of the walls would be white. I couldn't find the design temp of the Subtronic on their website.

Thanks for the help, still learning.

Steve

Steve, you are right. If David had wanted to take a good picture of the curtains in his house then he would have have white balanced close to the colour temperature of each strobe. But instead he was trying to demonstrate the difference colour temps of light of the different strobes - so chose to shoot on a fixed white balance for all - for comparative purposes.

If each was white balanced correctly then, yes, the colours of the different shots above would look the same. In other words 4600-4800K for the Subtronics and 5400-5600K for the Sea & Seas. Such settings would give you correct looking foregrounds as long as you were close to your subject. (((If you were not close these camera white balance settings would be higher))).

If you are shooting strobe only shots (i.e. macro or pictures of curtains in a dark room, as above) then you will not see any appreciable difference in the colour that results from the different strobes - as long is each is white balanced correctly.

The consequences only rear their head when you shoot balanced light. Because the white balance settings required to make your strobe lit foregrounds appear correct - will alter how you camera records the blue. A white balance of 5500K will record a muddier blue than at 4800K. Have a look at this example image below, same file processed at different WB settings (sorry it is a bit big):

The advantages of a warm strobe are that it allows you to shoot on lower Kelvin value white balances. This will help record richer blues in your photos.

You can also filter cool strobes to achieve the same result. Here are some shots I took while diving with David, to compare the blues I get with and without filters on my Inon (5500K) strobes. The foregrounds should look the same, the difference should be in the blues:

Hope that this has cleared, rather than muddied the waters,

Alex

For the record, I have Novas for about a year now and I am very pleased with them. For travel with restrictions / macro I use Inons.

WOW, the flash of comprehension! Thanks guys, Alex, I finally get it. Sorry to be so slow, I know you've explained this a bunch of times, but the light bulb finally went on.

"A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study"

Whoo hooo, I've got to go diving,

Steve

I had a pair of the old S&S 250Pros and liked them until they got fried at a resort having generator problems. Picked up a pair of the Novas and love them. But must admit had to send one in for repair after about 6months of use. Took Subtronic about +3months to get it back to me. As others have said it is the color of the light that I like. A couple of examples, D200, Tokina 10-17, Aquatica

9.5mega dome.

Thank you all for your help in making my decision. I will go for the Nova. I have always loved the light from the Mega color so I don´t think I will get disappointed. I don´t travel much, so the extra weight doesn´t matter.

Best Regards

Marco

PS. Nice light on your pictures "NWDiver", that´s what I´m looking for. DS