Ikelite DS 125 or 160?

Hi all,

Im going to be purchasing a strobe this week and not sure what to go for. At first I was looking no further than the DS51 - great price and seems to meet the specs for what I want, however I dont want to have to fork out for another strobe when my requirements change so started looking at DS125. Now correct me if I am wrong but it seems the DS125 is being phased out for the DS160. Is this correct? The price of a DS125 is a few hundred bananas cheaper than the DS160 though - i the DS 160 worth the bit extra or shall I go for the DS125?

Cheers

Lee

Lee

I have a DS125 and a 50(altered for TTL). Get a 125. If they are cheap at present it is because they are being superceded by 160. If you confine your strobe use to macro then the power of the 50 is fine, the 125 will also be good but also useful at 1-2metres for fill in colour, but owing to the very good properties of water in absorbing light if you start to do wide angle then power becomes an issue. The only other advantage is the automatic switch off of the modeling light, only really an advantage on night dives.

Your call

Tim Digger

Hi Lee!

I purchased the DS-160 and I'm quite happy with it.

But if You are leaning towards DS-125, then You could consider getting one used. Folks are changeing to 160's or 200's and 125 are given away with really good prices

Scubamoose

Hi Lee!

I purchased the DS-160 and I'm quite happy with it.

But if You are leaning towards DS-125, then You could consider getting one used. Folks are changeing to 160's or 200's and 125 are given away with really good prices

 

Scubamoose

Did you previously have DS-125's? Have you gone to the DS-160 from DS-125's? If so, can you compare the two models? What difference other than the additional settings of the DS-160 do you find advantageous over the DS-125?

Thank you.

Did you previously have DS-125's? Have you gone to the DS-160 from DS-125's? If so, can you compare the two models? What difference other than the additional settings of the DS-160 do you find advantageous over the DS-125?

Unfortunately I didn't had the 125 previously, so I can't comment the differences between 125 and 160 from personal experience.

I went straight to the DS-160 cause a friend photographer suggested it to be a better solution.

A bit more powerful and 9 dif. power settings are better than 3 when shooting manual...

Cheers

Scubamoose

DS 160 is a much improved strobe. If you can afford the difference, buy it.

LED focus light.

More power.

Still recharges lightening fast.

Thanks Guys - DS160 is is

Neither. Go with something else. Service is good, quality isn't. You will spend more on shipping and insuring for repairs than what the strobes are worth.

Joe

Joe,

Read your piece on Ikelite. My experience couldn't have been more different. By far I've found that Ikelite strobes have given me the best reliability.

I've owned Nikonos and Sea & Sea strobes which have given me far more trouble than any Ikelite strobe.

I leave for Cocos on 6 Jan. There is no strobe on the market that I would trust more than my DS 160 strobes.

Joe,

 

Read your piece on Ikelite. My experience couldn't have been more different. By far I've found that Ikelite strobes have given me the best reliability.

 

I've owned Nikonos and Sea & Sea strobes which have given me far more trouble than any Ikelite strobe.

 

I leave for Cocos on 6 Jan. There is no strobe on the market that I would trust more than my DS 160 strobes.

Hi Dave,

Hope you have a ball on your trip. All I can say is that my bad experiences with Ike products don't end with strobe problems. I have had MANY cord problems, housing problems, battery pack problems, dive light problems, all of which are due to poor quality. I attribute this to a subpar quality system at Ikelite. I may be the black sheep with Ike products but I stand by my statements. I have bailed out several big time photographers in my dive days, all of which were using Ike strobes that failed during expensive dive trips. Luckily, on these occasions I had several backup units that I loaned them to get them through the trip. In one case I flew home and one particular pro kept my strobe to use until he got home. He gave it back to me "exploded", whereby something electrical decided to pop and blow. Of course he fixed it for me, but the point is that I have seen many Ike strobe failures other than mine that simply aren't posted here. Another time more recently was at Lembeh. There was a big time pro photographer there who was sitting for a few days without a camera. Why? Both of his Ikelite strobes blew up. He was waiting for more to be shipped to him from the states because he was there for six weeks and only into week two. When I got there I talked with him and discovered he was using compatible strobes with my set up. I bailed him out and loaned him two spares. He was back shooting and didn't have to wait another 3-5 days for his strobes to show up. The point is that most failures I see are Ike products and not Sea & Sea or other manufacturers.

Like I said, their service is second to none, but I feel that service is a replacement for quality and that ain't how to conduct good business.

Have a great trip. Can't wait to see your shots.

Joe

I read this thread tonite waiting for the new year count down ...

I really don't want to bad mouth Ikelite because I use all Iketlite equipments, housing & strobes for a long long time. But I just came back from Galapagos and Key Largo and I must say I encountered multiple issues with my set up multiple times. When I was swearing up and down during it happen, I can't help but just swearing I am having equipment problems again ... & again & again. It could be user error but if it's user error why it isn't more easily spotted ... etc. Anyway, problems I had include

1, zoom gear doesn't work, it was tested and work on dive deck but when it was water, it won't turn and I was stuck.

2, strobe (DS-125) power dry in no time. I have a habbit of recharing battery after each dive or 2 dives immediately during surface interval and then reinstall right before the next dive. There were multiple experience when I went back in water the next dive, the strobe won't fire after a couple of shots. Or the middle lights indicator went flashing. Then after recharding it again, it became ok again. It happened several times and I remember it also happen similarly last year in Kumodo, I just don't know what the issue was. When it works, it's great, when it doesn't, I have no clue. It usually ok after another longer recharge.

3, Strobe won't fire, this year in Galapagos, I experience strobe won't fire in iTTL but as soon as switch (both housing and strobe switch) to Manual, it fire. Another no clue why it behaves like such.

4, Some of the switch on the housing no longer reach the camera, like the EV +/- control, the shutter's rubber often fall out without obvious notice.

5, This is not a problem but rather a fundamental design issue. The bulk head connector is right next to the white balance and ISO switch. ISO switch is something I do try to use in water and it's hell to try to press the ISO button and change the value while diving. I pretty much gave up using it and instead use 2 button above to go back to "Menu" button and change the ISO setting from the MENU setting.

6, I don't like the 8" dome port's dome shade, I can't tighten it down so it won't spin, when it spin out out of it's proper location, it vignette. It happen easily in heavy current dive and I wouldn't notice because my focus was on diving and saftey not the dome shade.

7, I don't like their port made of plastic, I am willing to pay a little more for glass, plastic port sucks.

8, Syn cord failure. On every live aboard trip, I bought extra back up sync cord and I had to use it.

I can go on for more .... I like Ikelite because of it's $/value but I don't like many things else and it's going to be hell to switch over to Nexus or Subal since I have no $$.

Anyway, it's my terms to count down now, happy new year, happy 2009, happy shooting !

Cheers

Dominic

Hi guys,

I ordered the DS160 - I hope I dont get any issues as described above! I will let you know if I do.

Thanks for all advice and happy new year.

Hi guys,

 

I ordered the DS160 - I hope I dont get any issues as described above! I will let you know if I do.

 

Thanks for all advice and happy new year.

Probably not !

It's really just hiccup every now and then and other personal perference, in generall it works very well or at least it self heal most of the time too ! :-)