i find my ds160s too large in heavy current

i find that diving my aquatica rig with my ds 160s great in regular conditions. however when the current gets heavy i find their to be an awfull lot of drag and the strobes get blown out of position constantly. i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to a smaller strobe that still packs a big enough punch for those heavy days. also maybe shorter arms would help. how short can i go and still shoot wa effectively

thanks a lot

The most powerful little strobe is probably the Inon Z240. You won't need as long an arm because they aren't as wide as the DS160. And they take AA batteries which is a boon. They are sorta plasticky use and trash 'em feel to it. There isn't much of a maintenance kit to replace o-rings etc that one would get with an aluminum strobe.

That's the biggest issue I have with them. If anything goes wrong, fixing it means replacing the entire internal module which is around 70-80% of a new Inon strobe. That said, they are very reliable but just not as tough. I've had the front plastic lens crack a few times now and this goes from the Z220, Z240 and D2000, but I did abuse them through hundreds of surf jumps in boats etc. For liveaboard/resort diving, I think they are nice and compact.

I'm going to try the AA NiZn batteries in them next week once I get my 250's back so I have a backup in case the Z240s blow up. The NiZn on my 580EX recycles in 1/2 the time NiMH do.

thanks a lot. i was wondering if i would need a different set of sync cords to attatch to my aquatica housing than i use with my ikelites. thanks

Unless you have Ikelite ports( do they even have those?) in your housing, you'll need the regular S&S N5-N5 cables. I've never been a real fan of the S&S cables. They are plasticky and single o-ringed. But that's the only ones that the Inon use ... or you can use the optical triggers.

Yes, you can get an Aquatica housing w/ Ikelite bulkheads. But if you switch to Inon strobes you'll still have to change cords as the strobe connector ends are different.

Honestly, the Inons are smaller overall but have a bigger x-sectional area. That's what creates drag in current, so you might actually feel more drag when using Inons, not less :-/

Cheers

James

Yes, you can get an Aquatica housing w/ Ikelite bulkheads. But if you switch to Inon strobes you'll still have to change cords as the strobe connector ends are different.

 

Honestly, the Inons are smaller overall but have a bigger x-sectional area. That's what creates drag in current, so you might actually feel more drag when using Inons, not less :-/

 

Cheers

James

thats a very interesting point. do you have any particular suggestions. or do i just have to get used to diving current with my rig?