Subtronic Alpha opinions wanted

My SB-102 is dead (sadly during a really good dive at a Manta feeding station in Raja Ampat Papua!!)

So i need to change strobes. I was in a mind to get a couple of DS125, however having just been into Ocean Optics in London i have taken a shine to the Subtronic Alpha. Has anyone used these and could maybe give me a opinion? which strobes would be best.

Presuming of course that they can be used on a Ike housing.

I've never used them but was in a photo class where a student was using a pair. He had great trouble getting exposures correct but he was shooting film and I didn't read anything into it.

The Alphas appear to be very nicely made. I believe they are more negative than the higher end model, though, which claim to be neutral. Stephen Frink sells the Seacam-branded version of those.

You might also consider the Hartenbergers. I do have some experience with those.

I've been using the Subtronic Pro for about 3 years and have found it a fantastic unit.

I think Alex Mustard uses twin Subtronic Alphas, he's probably your best bet for any info.

I use a pair of subtronic alphas! They are the best guns i have had.

They are very powerful. And I have never had any TTL problems with either just one or both wired into my F100 housing. I use TTL for every film shot I take my subtronics & don't have a problem with exposures. There are many examples of shots taken with my subtronics alphas in thegalleries on my website. I also use them in manual only with my d100.

What I really like about them is they are strong and reliable. An hour charge on 110v or 240v in the evening and they last all day. And I take a lot of pictures (in the hope of fluking a good one). Their light is a bit warmer than my previous strobes - which is nice. Plus there are no batteries to cart around. plus the only O-ring to worry about is the flash-synch cord plug. I also like the metal finish. Looks much cooler than yellow or orange plastic on the diveboat!

Dislikes: the alphas are heavy in the water. It is hard to fit diffusers to their domed glass ports (I use white plastic bags or white cloth). They are also heavy in the luggage - can be a problem for SE Asia travel.

I usually shoot them as a pair, but in 2003 I started to shoot them quite a lot on their own. Very nice as a single strobe. But not really wide enough to cover a fisheye! The image below was taken with D100 + 10.5mm FE and you can see the circle of light that the single subtronic lit.

Alex

Thanks Alex, a very helpfull repy. I must admit that the weight of the units (about 2kg each) does concern me a bit as all my diving is done in SE Asia.

I presume that buying bouyancy arms should help with the weight underwater.

I asked the guys at Ocean Optics yesterday about using a diffuser with the Subtronic and they just said it doesn't need one.

Anyone here want to put forward a case for the DS125?

Buoyant arms will help quite a bit UW. And for travel it is worth considering that subtronics do not require any additional batteries - which saves again.

I disagree with Ocean Optics on the diffuser front. Their argument is that the beam angle of the subtronics is already wider that most other strobes with their diffusers fitted - so subtronics don't need diffusers. However diffusers are not only widen beam angle but they also are used to change the quality of the light - often to soften it - which I think can be beneficial for certain subjects.

I love my Subtronics - and fully reccommend them, but as a user rather than a dealer I think it is most helpful to pass on both the negatives and positives.

Alex