Inon z240 as remote slave?

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can confirm whether a z240 can be used as a remote off camera strobe. In the past I've used an Ike DS-125 with manual controller, which I've rigged off camera and triggered remotely as a slave in caves and deep wrecks. Firing range might be up to 10m for example in a pitch black cave (worst case), most likely 5m I'd guess. Similar on deep wrecks but more ambient light.

I'm also concerned about the slave sensor placement on the Inon. ie. with the Ike manual controller you have a cable to move the sensor about, but would the Inon allow that? I think it has a sensor on the body by can this be extended with a optic fibre cable. This would be desirable in a cave scenario if I was following a diver who was holding the strobe in front of him (ie no line of site to the strbe head).

thanks, damien

Hi Damien,

I have used a Z220 as a remote slave a few times, and have found it's sensor to be very sensitive. In fact, it is better than some strobes equipped with Weikamp RSU's.

In actual fact, the problem with slaves isn't darkness, but rather too much ambient light. Darkness is your friend! They all trigger by recording a diference between ambient IR and the sudden spike in IR caused by your trigger flash. In high ambient light, this spike is smaller, and the sensor may not be able to sense this. In caves or deep dark wrecks, almost all slaves will work well, and I would expect the Z240 (if it is like the Z220) to be very sensitive.

In a cave environment, I don't think the fact that the Inon's sensor is shielded by your buddy's body will make much difference. The trigger flash's output should still be plenty to set this off. I would watch for external light sources-bright primary or video lights for example though. Light doesn't always travel on line of sight! In brighter ambient light conditions this would become a bigger problem. I'm no expert on fibre optics, but I don't think a Fibre extension will work in this instance, as the trigger flash's ouput would not be bright or concentrated enough to be picked by the fibre by the time it has travlled through the water column.

As I say, I've no experience of the Z240 in this application, there may well be others who have done so....

All the best

Adam