Singapore prices for lens/strobe

Hi divers,

I recently flooded my C4000Z (it is miraculously still half-working) and my PT-010 housing has the metallic thingy acting as a callback for the zoom mechanism broken on one side as well, it prevents it from getting back in idle position when zooming in which is incredibly annoying (you have other thing to care about uw than fighting with equipment). :angryfire:

I'm right now in Koh Tao, Thailand (btw you can see pictures from Koh Tao on my blog, see below) and I'm heading to Singapore soon after a stop via the Perhentian islands in Malaysia.

I'm totally off budget, and the flooding is quite bad news for me. However I insured it via DEPP so if it is totally out of order, I hope that they will be nice to me and give me a new one (I'm dreaming of a C5050/PT-015 though... )

I don't believe in Santa Claus anymore but I may hang around in Singapore and look for WAL lens, Macro lens and a strobe (probably a YS90DX as the DS125 is way too expensive for me) and will see if I can afford it or not as I start to be frustrated with the limitations of my gear.

So if a nice diver from Singapore is reading this, that would be very nice from him to give me some address of shops to look around for UW photography equipment.

Thanks a lot.

Can't help as I'm in Texas, but I really enjoyed your website..........what an adventure!

Keep the photos coming........hope you get the 5050 and strobe soon

Karl

Thanks for the kind comments Karl, I really like yours as well and I'm jealous of how much light you have

If Ikelite is reading this post, I will gladly consider any generous sponsoring offer. A book on how to use a strobe would probably be nice first, though .

Seriously I cannot count how much divers asked me for the details of the setup to consider the same as it was pretty inexpensive. It amuses me of how much people are shocked when they see it is a digital camera inside the housing.

Actually Olympus itself should probably thank me for all the advertising in dive centers I have been diving with

Cheers,

Hi Bearaway

Singapore Olympus is having a promo for the C5050. It's $1299 for the cam, with freebies WAL, Tele, adaptor ring, tripod and camera bag thrown in. People are getting it for $1170, including tax. The housing PT-015 is $280. Think the promo is till Sep 15.

A good place to get is Cathay Photo at Peninsular Plaza. Goto their website http://www.cathayphoto.com.sg/ they have an e-quote facility. Do use it. It's prob the best price u get and armed with that , go down to the shop to buy your stuff at that price. In Singapore, there is a 4% GST (tax) which you could calim back upon exiting the country. Do check with the shop how you go about doing that. That's another 4% off for u. You could use the equote to check prices for C4000Z as well.

For Sea&Sea, head for Adelphi, just opposite Peninsular Plaza. The authorised dealer is there and the YS90DX is $850

Another peice of good news is the Olympus service center is just further down the road from Peninsular, towards the river. Juz in case u need some repairs. they have also brought is a pressure chamber for the customers to test the housing for leaks.

All prices in SGD. Exchange rate of USD/SGD is 1.75 (as a guide)

Feel free to ask more if req . I am heading to Perhentian too on 25-29 Sep. Check out www.coralskydiver.com

Cheers

Eric

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your detailed email with all information, that's great !

As it is I'm also poised to dive with Coral Sky Divers in the Perenthian. Erika has been extremely cool via email and she gave me loads of information and advices to get to her place so I told her I could not think not stopping by. B)

It was a total contrast with Koh Tao, as I requested information to about 10 dive centers and only one dared to reply. After diving there I can say that fun divers are not very welcome in most dive centers as they are more like a mass production line of OW in 2/3 days. I have seen people finishing their AOW without even getting 10 dives logged, this is absolutely ridiculous.

If you guys are going to Koh Tao, I can recommend a small dive shop called New Way. Small boat, small groups, big fun, no time-limit and you are the first boat on the sites as you leave at 7AM sharp while other leave around 8AM+ and you are then diving with about 300 divers on the sites ! Check out my weblog to see the traffic jam !

Avoid like the plague big 5* dive centers like Ban's Diving Resort, Buddha View, etc...

Thanks again for the info.

Cheers,

Stephane

Hi Stephane

No problem. Afterall you hv come to the right website for info

As for students rushing through their courses, sometimes I wonder if this could be due to them being backpackers and wanted to get the most out of everything. Comparing btw an AOW course and leisure dives, the incremental increase makes it more value for money to go for the former perhaps....

I'm sure you would love the Perhentians. This time of the year is always great for whaleshark sightings. Good luck. You may love this place so much that u may extend your stay till the season end.

I was already alerted to your blog before this thread Keep the journal and photos flowing. It's amazing what u can do with juz the internal flash. I own a C3040 and I gotten myself an Ikelite DS-50 becos of the limitations of the built-in strobe.

I may have an ikelite tray and arms system to sell should you decide to go with Ikelite. The DS -50 is $650 I think, and u need a senor for it at $100+. Just slightly cheaper than the DX90 Sea&Sea. I have tried using the DX90 w/o the optic fiber with my C3040 and it does work. The slave is able to detect the internal flash firing. I use aluminium foil to cover the front of the diffuser on the housing to mask the direct flash.

Regards

Eric

Eric,

I might indeed be interested by tray/arms, actually I'm quite unsure of what to get. I was reading Ikelite site and they say that the DS50 is slightly superior to the YS90DX.

I was thinking about something yesterday however. If I'm not a complete idiot, the macro or WAL lens will mask part of the internal flash so this would be a total nonsense to get a lens without a strobe first, can you confirm this ?

So ideally I should first jump into a DS50 + TTL sensor ($650) + tray/arm ($75). Is it thistray/arm

B&H Photo Video is selling a package ds50/arm/ttl sensor for $527.95, that's looks quite good.

Can we get Ikelite gear in Singapore as well ?

stephane

I have both and i like the Sea&SEa DX90 for the finish. Also i flooded the Ikelite DS50 becos I find it extremely difficult to sit the o-ring in the battery compartment cap. But Ikelite provided a free repair so top marks to them for customer service. I can't say much for the technical comparision but I would say both strobes serve me well.

The DS-50 gives u TTL with the Olympus via the sensor. There is now a manual controller sensor which allows u to control the light output on the strobe. For the DX90, the adjustment knob is on the camera. The slave sensor is also built in, allowing the DX90 to fire together with a trigger light. Because the DX90 has a light intensity adjusment knob, you don't really need TTL. If overexpose, just tune it down and take another shot. The wonders of instant review. Only problem with this is that if there are other photographers around, their strobes may trigger your DX90 But of course, u can use a optical fibre to fire the DX90 as well.

Btw, the prices i quoted you are in SGD. The is a distributor here for Ikelite, but I am not sure if they carry stock. Sea&Sea definitely no problem.

the arms i have for possible sale is here ( http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/substrobe_dig50.html. ) Tray is the same as the pic you provided. I may also let go of the senor.

In case anyone think that I am suggesting Sea&Sea to be superior to Ikelite, let's just say I am keeping the DS50 and hoping to get a SS100, 200 or DS125 to go with my DSLR setup. I will connect them via a syn cord rather than using the slave senor. Hence the sale of the arms, tray and senor. All said, I think Ikelite provides better value for money.

Eric

Stephane

Maybe we can meet up when you are in Singapore. I will bring the DS-50 and DX90 for u to try to decide which one suits u better. How about that?

I was thinking about something yesterday however. If I'm not a complete idiot, the macro or WAL lens will mask part of the internal flash so this would be a total nonsense to get a lens without a strobe first, can you confirm this ?

I dun have any attachment lens at the moment but I think the macro lens shud be fine but the WAL will get in the way. Maybe others can help.

Eric,

Thanks for sharing your info about the YS90DX and DS50. If there is a good risk of flooding the DS50, I indeed would prefer to get the YS90DX, but then again Ikelite seems to have a hell of a customer service, so no decision taken yet.

Maintenance is a hell of a problem when travelling budget and not diving liveaboard, conditions are far different and I would say that my Olympus gear served me quite well in this rough environment.

That said I would be delighted to have a drink in Singapore so that you can brief me on all this strobe stuff and tips and tricks shopping there.

Cheers,

Stephane

DS-50 "O" ring is glued into place on the battery door and the strobe has certainly supplied mostly trouble free service for over twenty years if tightened adequately. We must concur the YS90dx is probably much better looking, but we win all other comparisons like recycle time, flash intensity, number of flashes per set of batteries, et al............

DS-50 "O" ring is glued into place on the battery door and the strobe has certainly supplied mostly trouble free service for over twenty years if tightened adequately.   We must concur the YS90dx is probably much better looking, but we win all other comparisons like recycle time, flash intensity, number of flashes per set of batteries, et al............

then it must be my own fault that i took out the O-ring on the battery door for "safekeeping" since I don't dive that regularly

Ike, if the O-ring is glued into place, how do I grease it? just apply a liitle on the exposed surface and spread the grease? Also how often should I replace my O-ring and how do I DIY the gluing of O-ring upon replacement?

As for the attributes of Ikelite strobes, u forgot to add more value for money

Eric,

 

Thanks for sharing your info about the YS90DX and DS50. If there is a good risk of flooding the DS50, I indeed would prefer to get the YS90DX, but then again Ikelite seems to have a hell of a customer service, so no decision taken yet.

 

Maintenance is a hell of a problem when travelling budget and not diving liveaboard, conditions are far different and I would say that my Olympus gear served me quite well in this rough environment.

 

That said I would be delighted to have a drink in Singapore so that you can brief me on all this strobe stuff and tips and tricks shopping there.

 

Cheers,

 

Stephane

I must say most flooding are owner-inflicted though

Yep, let's arrange for a meeting up. When u are about to leave Perhentian, drop me a PM or email. Perhaps you may stay till 26 Sep and I will meet u at Coral Sky!!!

Re: kthan removing the battery door "O" ring: Try gluing it in place on the door with rubber cement like sold for paper or purchase a replacement door. You should be able to install with a few minutes of patient work.............

Tks Ike. Rubber cement I think I can ask around some hardware stores but I do not fully understand the statement "rubber cement like sold for paper". Could you kindly elaborate? Also am I right to just thinnly grease the exposed O-ring since the other half sits in the grrove.

Cheers

Eric

FWIW I received a reply stating details about the YS90DX in Singapore, I converted the prices in US$:

1. YS-90DX Promotional Flash Package complete with DX base stay, DX flexi arm with arm extension and fibre optic cable - S$ 1095 (US$ 627)

2. Macro lens adaptor for PT-010 - S$ 120 (US$ 69)

3. Macro lens 3T - S$ 180 (US$ 103)

4. 0.56X super wide conversion lens for PT-010 - S$ 520 (US$298)

 

Note: The YS-90DX Promotional package comes complete with tray, arm and fibre optic cable ready to be used and this is now for sales at promotional price.

 

Our address and office hours as follows:-

 

Sea & Sea Underwater Camera Equipment

1 Coleman Street, # 02-13 The Adelphi

Singapore 179803

Tel : 6337-6334

Email : seansea@pacific.net.sg

Web site : seanseacamera.com

Office hours :- Monday to Saturday ( 10.30am - 6.30pm )

                     Close on Sunday and Public Holidays

I'm leaving tomorrow for the Perhentian islands, will take the night train from Chumphon, so I should be there by saturday.

Eric,

 

Thanks for sharing your info about the YS90DX and DS50. If there is a good risk of flooding the DS50, I indeed would prefer to get the YS90DX, but then again Ikelite seems to have a hell of a customer service, so no decision taken yet.

 

Maintenance is a hell of a problem when travelling budget and not diving liveaboard, conditions are far different and I would say that my Olympus gear served me quite well in this rough environment.

 

That said I would be delighted to have a drink in Singapore so that you can brief me on all this strobe stuff and tips and tricks shopping there.

 

Cheers,

 

Stephane

In my opinion the Ikelite Ds50 is a far more robust package than the Sea & Sea. The Ikelite should be as good as impossible to flood (provided you don't mess around with the 'O' ring attached to the battery cover door, The 'O' ring does not need greased as it is in flat compression, unlike Sea & sea). I have the old Ikelite MV strobes, must be 10 years old. Still going strong. They have been droped, knocked, and generally abused.... I also have Sea & Sea strobes and although they look far "sexier" I have concearn on the flimsy battery covers with their 90Deg turn and click, I just know that one day there is going to be problems. Also remember that the Ikelite strobe comes with a remote sensor which allows you to set the power levels of the strobe. The sensor being remote means you can mount this on the arm system in a convienient place. This allows you to adjust power levels without taking your eyes off your LCD/viewfinder or the subject. Try that with the Sea & Sea!

Btw, the prices i quoted you are in SGD. The is a distributor here for Ikelite, but I am not sure if they carry stock. Sea&Sea definitely no problem.

You can check out Ikelite products as well as Epoque WA & Macro lens for the polycarbonate housings and Ultralight arms systems at Blue Wave Sports in Singapore. Details as follows:-

Blue Wave Sports

30 Merchant Road

Riverside Point #02-29.

Singapore, 058282

Tel : 65572702

Fax : 65572703

email : info@asiandive.com

Thanks for all the info guys, it will help me tremendously in Singapore.

I could not dream of better feedback, you all rock !

Stephane