Buying strobes for first time

Friend of mine are in New York 15 april. I need him to buy Sea&Sea 250 Strobe with 4"-11"-11" or 15" Aquatica arms, cords and everything else I need to make it work. I am going to buy 1 strobe to begin with, second will come later. What about the cord, do I buy double cord or single and then later double..?

Can I buy everything I need in Bhphoto ( I am sure they don´t have experts there like here, i could be wrong though ) or do you recomend another shop.

Buoyancy floats, how much would you guess.

My equipment so far are Aquatica house with D200 and 10.5mm nikkor and 20mm Sigma.

Greetings from Iceland

Gisli A Gudm

flickr.com/photos/gassa

Hi Gisli,

I can't help you much on the TLC arms. I use the ULCS version but as to your cord question. I would recommend you get the single cord now and wait to get the double Y cord when you get the second strobe. You will need to carry the single with you anyway as a backup in the unlikely event that one of your strobes would fail in the future. On my S&S rig if I'm using the TTL converter I need two singles or the Y cord if I'm shooting manual.

Might want to have him check that the length of the S&S cord, if that is what your planning to get, will work well with very long arms. Might be a tad short for the 15"'s. I use 5" and 8" combo myself and that's about all the cord wants to do.

Bouyancy will be determined by the dome you're using. With my rig and the big 9" dome it's pretty neutral. Macro lens and port is much heavier. You really need to balance the system differently with each setup. If you let us know what ports your using one of the Aquatica guys might be able to help you there.

B&H should be able to fix you right up. By the way, You have a lot of faith to give your friend $2000 or so and turn him loose in New York City. Hope he gets back to Iceland OK.

Good Luck!

Steve

Thanks Steve.

I use 8" dome and flat port. Forgot to tell. Do you think I can send BHphoto e-mail and ask them to set this up, with out forgetting something.

Well, I will be surprized if my friend don´t come back, he works as a fireman in small town located in the north, I can´t remember any fire in recent years:-)

What do you think about these Aquatica arms, any cons??

Cheers

Gisli A. Gudm

flickr.com/photos/gassa

I need him to buy Sea&Sea 250 Strobe with 4"-11"-11" or 15" Aquatica arms, cords and everything else I need to make it work. Gisli A Gudm

 

flickr.com/photos/gassa

Am I right in thinking that you are going for a 3 section arm with a 4 inch and 2 11 or 15 inch sections?

If so, can I ask why you need such large arms?

I have S&S single and y cables with arms consisting of a 5 and 8 inch section and the cables are fairly well stretched with those. Remember that a Y cable in particular can be rather prone to breaking if stretched.

Daniel

If so, can I ask why you need such large arms?

 

 

Daniel

I am fan of wide angle, and i can bend it to make it smaller. I use 20mm Sigma and i can´t wait to see the results with this setup.

Cheers

Gisli A. Gudm

flickr.com/photos/gassa

Could I suggest that you have a look at Martin Edges book. The art, according to this book anyway, is not to use these huge arms but rather than to use shorter arms and tilt the strobes outward so that you only use the edge of the beam to light the subject. Personally, I would go for shorter arms. THese will be unwealdy. Search for threads on arm length and you'll find very few people use this sort of length any more. For the price of a 250 and these arms you could get a pair of Inons on shorter arms and better results (at least by virtue of having two strobes rather than one).

B&H should be able to fix you right up. By the way, You have a lot of faith to give your friend $2000 or so and turn him loose in New York City. Hope he gets back to Iceland OK.

 

Good Luck!

Steve

"Asking only workman's wages I come lookin' for a job,

But I get no offers,

Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue.

I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome,

I took some comfort there.

La, la, la, la, la, la, la."

Paul Simon, The Boxer

Gisli,

I would stay with the YS-250"s just because of your sometimes green water I saw on your site. That and I'm partial , I Love mine. The power will come in handy. I would agree on the shorter arms though. Something to think about.

Deep 6 you were reading my mind.

Have fun,

Steve

If you dive travel often I think you will find that the 250's are too large & too heavy. You're basically buying 1 f stop & faster recycle time. If you need those capabilities than go 250. If not maybe 110's.

I have the TLC/Aquatica arms. Been using them for about 15 years, they will last forever and see no reason to get any other arm system. I now use 4" & 6" pieces, even for wide angle, for the same reasons as other posters. I just happen to have 2 15" inch ones with dovetail bases that I'd like to "recycle." I found that the 15" ones get in the way when doing vertical shots. 1 is brand new, been wet only once, and the other has been around the block. If you still really want them after reading all these postings, I'll let them go cheap; they are just taking up space in my arm bin.

Jim's right, the YS250 is 2.25 lbs (1 kg) heavier than the 110alpha and more expensive. I found the recycle time to be the major advantage, based on the way I shoot. My son shot the 110's and loved them until we swapped rigs one day. Now he owns the 250. Jim is also right about the power, I don't think I've ever used them both at full power so the major advantage for me is the recycle time. I also like the light from the big round tube versus the 3 little triangle pattern straight ones. I haven't shot the new 110 alphas, they may recycle faster with NiMH batteries. I would take issue with Jim on his statement that they are too big and too heavy, I think they are "just right". Glad we're all different, It would be a pretty boring Wetpixel if we all agreed on everything.

Good Luck,

Steve

Hello Gisli,

Yes you can call B&H and they could probably set this up for you ahead of time. TLC are great arms. Here's a great strobe comparison site for size, recycle times etc. I prefer my Inons for size and weight issues, but some folks who have forgotten more than I'll ever know say they're a bit under powered for WA work.Strobe finder

Glad we're all different, It would be a pretty boring Wetpixel if we all agreed on everything.

Good Luck,

Steve

Yes indeed! Follow ce4jesus' link for comparison. There isn't much difference between the recycle time for the new S&sS 110a, 250, and the Z240. I think the 10.5 FE (180 deg.) will require two strobes. I have used one strobe with the 20 mm (Full frame) and the Nikonos 15. The light fall off from the center to the edges for the strobe begs for a second strobe. I don't know how the proprietary 250 battery will compare to the NiMH "AA" in the 110a & Z240 in the very cold water. I only use "AA" for all my batteries. If Gisli doesn't travel by air, then the weight difference may not matter.

What I don't understand form the chart is how can the 110a with 2 "AA" and about the same power have 38% more flashes than the Z240 with 4 "AA"?

Regards,

Bob

Slightly less power and slightly slower recharge time but yes, 38% with half the battery power seems a bit much...maybe I'll ask that question on their forum . For what its worth, I've gotten over 400 shots from my Inons shooting macro f13-f22. As a matter of fact, my camera battery dies before the strobes.

I think the "2 AA" is a typo. The 110a is just an upgraded 110. Still 4 AA's.

Thanks folks.

I don´t need to think about weight.

I have now offer from reefphoto about 8"with 12" which I am thinking about. If I will be unhappy with it i can always add more.

Do you think I should add strong Focuslight, is the built in focuslight strong enough.

Very price though..my wife is going to...

Cheers everybody

Gisli A. Gudm

flickr.com/photos/gassa

Good focus lights for macro will keep your lens from "hunting" for a focus lock. There are some cheaper versions from Fantasea that are adequate for most work.

Good focus lights for macro will keep your lens from "hunting" for a focus lock. There are some cheaper versions from Fantasea that are adequate for most work.

I have the newly released LED 360 from Fantasea. Plenty bright and about $80 USD (was $54 ). I'll likely filter the brightness back for night diving. I haven't tried it in the pool yet and also can not speak to its reliability. Since you are working with ReefPhoto, Ryan will have good recomendations for you.

http://www.fantasea.com/s.nl/it.A/id.378/....mp;category=496

Do you fill your regulator's first stage and youself with Stoli before dives? Brr, Best of luck.

Bob

I was thinking about moving up in the world and buying a strobe for my Panasonic TZ 15 / TZ 5

I have had a good good suggestion which will probably see me changing my choice from an Intova lower priced strobe to an Inon D2000. And I will obviously need an arm, base plate and optic cable.

I was interested in what people think about the Inon D2000 and what sort of arm, base plate I could get cheaply and perhaps upgrade those down the track, but get the better strobe now.

Thanks,

newbie underwater photographer.