Ikelite DS 51 V DS 160

Hey guys,

Currently have a canon 450D in ikelite housing and use Tokina 10-10mm fish eye for wide angle and canon 60mm for macro and I have a Ikelite DS 51 Substrobe.

Obiously I have read that the DS160 is more powerful but I was wondering 'how' is is better?

What improvments would I expect to see with lighting?

If I was to get the 160, could I use the DS51 also?

Are 2 strobes better then 1 ?

Look forwards to hearing any suggestions

DS 160 Better: Recycle time, wider angle of coverage, # of flashes, spotting light, rechargeable battery, robustness.

DS160 Worse: Size, weight.

Hey guys,

Currently have a canon 450D in ikelite housing and use Tokina 10-10mm fish eye for wide angle and canon 60mm for macro and I have a Ikelite DS 51 Substrobe.

 

Obiously I have read that the DS160 is more powerful but I was wondering 'how' is is better?

 

What improvments would I expect to see with lighting?

If I was to get the 160, could I use the DS51 also?

Are 2 strobes better then 1 ?

 

Look forwards to hearing any suggestions

You will struggle to light a wide angle lens such as the Tokina with a a DS51. You would also struggle to light it with a single DS160 for many shots BTW.

There is a minor colour temperature difference between the DS51 and DS125/160 but in practice I have used them together many times without noticing.

For a few years I used a DS51 as a backup strobe and suffice to say it got a lot of use.

As previous poster pointed out the other issue is weight - they do weigh a lot and with airlines becoming more antsy re weights that also killed them for me.

Are two better than one - difficult call - some shots are simply better with one, often macro where you can light from a side or angle and add depth to a shot that will not come about with the often more flat light rendering you get with two strobes.

I might pick with the previous post a bit in that both have (or can have) rechargeable battery and the DS51 proved far more robust than any DS125/DS160 that I owned.

Paul C

Shooting the Tokina 10-17mm you need powerful strobes with wide spread. This is where the Ds160 has about 3 times the power (Watt/sec) than the DS51 and have a much wider spread (more so with diffuser). This is what you need when shooting with the Tokina 10-17mm.

I recommend you get two DS160's or even two DS125's (older less powerful version of the DS160, also you can pick them up cheaper used). Two of these strobes out wide have great coverage fo a lens such as the Tokina 10-17. Also since you have an Ikelite housing you will get Ikelite's TTL which is great especially for macro.

Two big powerful strobes are more versatile as you have the coverage for wide angle and the power to light up big subjects and if you need less power you can simply turn them down. You simply cant turn up the power on smaller less powerful strobes when they are already on maxium.

As for robust. I have owned several ds125/ds160 battery packs and never had any issues with them. But they do cost more than rechargeable AA's which you can buy anywhere these days. If Ikelite made a batter pack so you can put rechargeable AA's I think they might be on a real winner. They are heavy so you need to take that into account when travelling.

Regards Mark

Spend the money and get the 160s now....otherwise you will end up spending more money in the long run. Trust me, I made this mistake with Ikelite strobes and many other components of underwater photography. If I had just put out the money at the beginning I would not have ended up trying to upgrade everything when I realized I cut corners....

Hey guys,

Currently have a canon 450D in ikelite housing and use Tokina 10-10mm fish eye for wide angle and canon 60mm for macro and I have a Ikelite DS 51 Substrobe.

 

Obiously I have read that the DS160 is more powerful but I was wondering 'how' is is better?

 

What improvments would I expect to see with lighting?

If I was to get the 160, could I use the DS51 also?

Are 2 strobes better then 1 ?

 

Look forwards to hearing any suggestions

I use the DS160 and DS50 together with an Ikelite D300 Housing.

Not hard to use them together but depending on the situation.

I have found that shooting portrait allows me to turn the camera to allow the light from the largest strobe to illuminate the darkest portion of my photo area.

Especially wide angle reef shoots with a large coral overhang

Hope this helps

Tony Flaris

I have two DS51 sitting around waiting to get sold. Now, if you can't afford a more powerful strobe, then buy a DS51. If you can afford a DS160 or even a used DS125 you will be rewarded for spending the extra money.

1) Yes, two is better than one, although people have been known to get very good a using a single powerful strobe. It's harder and takes more skill.

2) Yes, you can mix and match the two Ikelites.

I repeat, if you can afford the more powerful strobe, get it. There is a big difference between the two.