Inon Z240 vs. Ikelite DS-161 for Ike housing

Hello,

Sorry my first post is such a boring one, but I could really use some help on this. I have a 7D in an Ike housing and use it to shoot my field research in streams. Most of the time I am shooting in less than 2 ft. of water, usually in awkward positions where I can only hold the housing with one hand. I shoot a mix of macro and wide angle. I am trying to figure out what to get for my fist strobe.

The Inon Z240 seems like a good option for it's smaller size and weight. I can't figure out whether it's going to be a pain to trigger the Inon from my Ike housing, or whether I'll miss autoflash if I have to lose that. I always use manual when shooting speedlites topside, but I hater tinkering with settings when I'm in the water...

The other option seems to be a DS-161. Seems this setup would probably perform better, but be a bit more of a pain to hold onto as I crawl around streams.

Since I've never used a strobe on an underwater housing, or even seen one in real life, this decision is a bit daunting. I'd really appreciate any general advice on choosing between these two strobes, as well advice on what arms to get with them.

Thanks a lot for any help.

If your Ikelite housing allow the internal 7D strobe to fire you can drive the Z240 as optical triggered slave strobe,

resolving the hypothetical problem of water and electricity and the INON sTTL is working very well.

If your housing don't allow the internal strobe to fire you have to use the Z240 connected electrically using the Nikonos protocol,

and you need to shoot in manual 8what in your situation may be too complicated).

The Ikelite DS160/161 is a excellent, powerful (more powerful then the Z240) strobe, but much more bulkier and heavier than the Z240.

I use a DS125 on a Ikelite D90 housing and it works perfectly, and especially the built-in EV controller makes

photographing under complicated situations more easy.

For your specific needs i think that a Ikelite DS160/161 may be the better choice as it works very good with the Canon e-TTL

Regarding the Arms, normally i suggest ball joint arms like ULCS, Ikelite, Inon due their far bigger possibilities to position the stobe.

In your case flexarms may be the better choice as the can be bent with one hand instead of loosening and tightening the clamps in awkward positions.

In case of flexarms make sure that they can hold the weight of the DS161/161 strobe!

Chris

If your Ikelite housing allow the internal 7D strobe to fire you can drive the Z240 as optical triggered slave strobe,

resolving the hypothetical problem of water and electricity and the INON sTTL is working very well.

If your housing don't allow the internal strobe to fire you have to use the Z240 connected electrically using the Nikonos protocol,

and you need to shoot in manual 8what in your situation may be too complicated).

The Ikelite DS160/161 is a excellent, powerful (more powerful then the Z240) strobe, but much more bulkier and heavier than the Z240.

I use a DS125 on a Ikelite D90 housing and it works perfectly, and especially the built-in EV controller makes

photographing under complicated situations more easy.

 

For your specific needs i think that a Ikelite DS160/161 may be the better choice as it works very good with the Canon e-TTL

 

Regarding the Arms, normally i suggest ball joint arms like ULCS, Ikelite, Inon due their far bigger possibilities to position the stobe.

In your case flexarms may be the better choice as the can be bent with one hand instead of loosening and tightening the clamps in awkward positions.

In case of flexarms make sure that they can hold the weight of the DS161/161 strobe!

 

Chris

Thanks a lot for the information Chris. Could you tell me when the EV controller is necessary with the Ikelite--I've found this a little confusing. My understanding is that I would not need the EV controller to use a DS-161 with my setup.

Jonny_A,

i may used the wrong wort, i was talking of the exposure control knobs and LED's on the lower backplate of your Ikelite housing.

This comes handy when you have to correct the exposure because the e-TTL is getting confused (especially on WA shots) and is

under- or overexposing. With a turn of the dial (on my D90 housing) or pressing the 2 buttons on your 7D housing you can

adjust the exposure - or better strobe power - without changing settings on the camera.

Chris

Jonny_A,

i may used the wrong wort, i was talking of the exposure control knobs and LED's on the lower backplate of your Ikelite housing.

This comes handy when you have to correct the exposure because the e-TTL is getting confused (especially on WA shots) and is

under- or overexposing. With a turn of the dial (on my D90 housing) or pressing the 2 buttons on your 7D housing you can

adjust the exposure - or better strobe power - without changing settings on the camera.

 

Chris

Thanks Chris. I think I'll take the plunge and get the Ikelite. If they're too bulky I can always sell them--I'm eager to get anything right now because young-of-the-year salmon are emerging and there's lots of opportunities to photograph other fish eating them--but I can't freeze action with only ambient light.

In 2 feet of water, do you need a strobe at all? I would think not!

In 2 feet of water, do you need a strobe at all? I would think not!

I shoot in coastal Alaska where sunny days are rare. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze action, even in really shallow water. Portraits are fine, but I want to capture behavior and I am lucky to get 1/250 at ISO 1600. I'd also just like a strobe for creative control over lighting--in my topside photography, I don't use speedlites only when it's dark.