Athena has announce a cool new ring flash this week which uses branded Sea & Sea flash heads as the power source. The ring flash can be connected to a modified Sea & Sea YS-01 or YS 110a via a five pin Nikonos type sync cord. The YS-110a flash head has two Nikonos ports so that more than one strobe can be used.
I have been using the discontinued Athena ring-flash model for several years now and have been getting great results with it. The upside of this new design is the ability to disconnect the ring flash from the sending unit for ease of packing. The potential for use of TTL with wired or fiber optic cords and a much more powerful four battery (old unit had two) sending unit.
Looks like the ring flash and YS-01 sending unit will retail in the US for under $1200.00.
Athena has announce a cool new ring flash this week which uses branded Sea & Sea flash heads as the power source. The ring flash can be connected to a modified Sea & Sea YS-01 or YS 110a via a five pin Nikonos type sync cord. The YS-110a flash head has two Nikonos ports so that more than one strobe can be used.
I have been using the discontinued Athena ring-flash model for several years now and have been getting great results with it. The upside of this new design is the ability to disconnect the ring flash from the sending unit for ease of packing. The potential for use of TTL with wired or fiber optic cords and a much more powerful four battery (old unit had two) sending unit.
Looks like the ring flash and YS-01 sending unit will retail in the US for under $1200.00.
Any idea who will be selling them in the U.S. I would guess Reef but does anyone know?
Bill
Wow that is VERY cool - thanks for posting Phil.
Cheers
James
We have several units on order, but no confirmed ship date.
Are they also the 67mm ID flashhead? How do you mount it on a Seacam port for instance? :-)
Cheers
James
We have several units on order, but no confirmed ship date.
Any idea about the price?
Are they also the 67mm ID flashhead? How do you mount it on a Seacam port for instance?
The ring assembly is the same, with a threaded 67 id. We have built adapters for Seacam, etc in the past. The ring flash sits in front of the port, and you use a focal length long enough to shoot through the center (100mm or longer).
I thought this looked great when I saw it yesterday. However a friend and board member pointed out a potential safety flaw. He explained there's a lot of stored up energy/power going thru the sync cable from the strobe to the ring flash and if there was a break or a nick in that cable that there might be enough power to knock the diver unconscious.
Just something to think about…..
Mark
I thought this looked great when I saw it yesterday. However a friend and board member pointed out a potential safety flaw. He explained there's a lot of stored up energy/power going thru the sync cable from the strobe to the ring flash and if there was a break or a nick in that cable that there might be enough power to knock the diver unconscious.
Just something to think about…..
Mark
Isn't that the case for any strobe if there is a small leak? My guess is that it would seem very unlikely to pose such a threat, especially in a wetsuit but I will ask the guys who make our defibrillators if they think this is a problem.
Bill
I thought this looked great when I saw it yesterday. However a friend and board member pointed out a potential safety flaw. He explained there's a lot of stored up energy/power going thru the sync cable from the strobe to the ring flash and if there was a break or a nick in that cable that there might be enough power to knock the diver unconscious.
Just something to think about…..
Mark
I work with some high voltages in my day job. Part of my safety equipment is a jacket with metal fibers woven into it that electrically connects both my wrists, and is wired to my shoes. The idea of this is that any electric shock will bypass my heart and go through the jacket instead. The one time I actually needed it, eight years ago, I got a shock of a few thousand volts from one hand to the other. Because of the jacket, I suffered no injuries except for a little redness on my wrists that faded in a couple of hours.
I would imagine that surrounding oneself with a conductive fluid (such as saltwater) would have the same protective effect. Most of the electricity from any shock would go through the water, and not much would penetrate the skin of the diver.
