Nikon D70, ike housing and ??? strobes

Hi guys,

I am a newbie to underwater photo (but an old suface photographer). I have been doing a lot of research and wanted some input on which strobes to pick for my underwater rig. I have a Nikon d70 and an ikelite housing for it, and I plan to shoot both macro (Nikon 60mm) and wide (Nikon 16mm fisheye) with it. The main questions that I have are:

1. Which to pick Inon Z220s or Ike DS-125s? I have read the ongoing discussions on the forum about these and they seem very comparable. But even James (which I think uses ds125s with his S2pro) said at some point that maybe for the D70 2 inons were enough... So any suggestions would be welcomed.

2. Should I go for 1 or 2 strobes? The main problem here would be $$. I don't know if I can afford 2 strobes plus arms (manual controllers in the case of ikes, etc.) And I know there are some proponents for single strobe shooting out there, but I have seen examples of (what seem to me) dark exposures with single strobe too.

3. What extras has experience taught you you should buy for your strobes in order to make them light better? (i.e. extension arms, diffusers, etc.)

Thanks for any help guys! A newbie with lots of questions but lots of excitement for shooting underwater appreciates it.

-David

P.S. I am making a diving trip to Roatan on August and I would like to have a rig (even if a starting one) owned and tested by then.

Read this thread. It's about as much info as you can get on Inon vs Ikelite. The DS-125s have slightly more power than the Inon's, but at the cost of a larger strobe and proprietary batteries. I personally chose the Ikelites.

Why not go for 1 strobe to start, then add a second down the road? You're probably looking at $1000 or more for a DS-125 or Inon when you factor in arms, sync cord, maybe manual controller.

Inon 220 intensity and coverage is equal to the DS-50. There are 1/3 of one f/stop differences with DS-50 slightly brighter in center, 220 is slightly brighter at 45 degrees. We never claimed ninety degree coverage, but might as well like everyone else. Inon 180 is half the power of their 220.

There is no equivalent to the DS-125. No other strobe provides the same intensity and recycle time after 100 flashes as it does on the first. The other strobes are designed to operate on primary cell batteries and intensity will be about one stop less when their ready light first signals. Read about the differences on the following URL:

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/ds125lite.html

Thanks Tom and Ike,

I was already leaning the DS-125 way, but your advice makes me more assured. Anyone wants to chime in for the Inon 220's?

By the way Tom, how heavy (negative) is your whole set-up underwater? The DS-125's (with arms and all) seem to add a lot of weight to the housing, don't they? Do you use anything to try to offset the weight?

Thanks again,

David.

Thanks Tom and Ike,  

I was already leaning the DS-125 way, but your advice makes me more assured.  Anyone wants to chime in for the Inon 220's?

 

Thanks again,  

David.

I have not done careful power and beam measurements, but I use 2 Z220 with my DRebel and 15mm FE lens shooting at ISO 100 and never felt underpowered or noticed problems with the coverage. See the pic on my recent Thailand posts.

The advantages of the Z220 are:

1. About 1/3 the size of the DS-125.

2. uses AA batteries, around 150 shots at full dump.

3. Easy stobe filter adapters

Strobe filter adapters would be nice....maybe Ike could work on that

Karl

When Ikelite deciphers iTTL and offers retrofits for existing houisings, my crystal ball says it will only work with Ikelite strobes.

This is yet another benefit in addition to the many listed above.

I was able to attach filters to DS-125 strobes using a hand drill and two pieces of shock cord that stretch around the battery pack. I suspect a more professional looking piece could be engineered for a few more cents at the local hardware store. I'd post a picture, but these filters left with a customer and are enjoying 80+ deg. water right now in the Coral Sea.

I suspect this is because I didn't use Cokin filters, but I wasn't thrilled with the way the Cokin P holders held my mystery green filters on my last trip. I had to add a set screw to the whole mess...

I shoot Nikon 10.5 lens with 2 Inon Z-220 for WA and Nikon D70.

Normally in swedish murky waters i try to shoot around f5.6 to f11 and balance light and background. Normally I shoot the flashes (on manual)

- 4 or -5 steps.

What I like about the Z-220 is the size and that the strobes can more or less shoot continuasly as on -3 to -5 settings the camera will never catch up with the flash recycle time. We have of course also got the laser and search light to shut down with the shutter release.

I have not tried the ike 125 strobe. But small is nice especially when traveling alot

The D70 is an ISO 200 camera, so your strobes will only need to be 1/2 as powerful as those used by 10D, 300D, S2 etc shooters. Basic things that are nice to have are a very wide beam, easy to mount diffusers, partial power settings, light weight, and fast recycle time.

Check out the different strobes and find one or a pair that are right for you.

Cheers

James

By the way Tom, how heavy (negative) is your whole set-up underwater? The DS-125's (with arms and all) seem to add a lot of weight to the housing, don't they? Do you use anything to try to offset the weight?

David,

Depending on which port I use on my S&S housing, the bouyancy varies, although it's always negative. With the small dome port it's probably 1-2 lbs negative, slightly less with my NX Zoom Port (although the zoom port causes the housing to want to flip port up). It's not that bad underwater, it's just a bit tiresome carrying the housing from my room to the boat (mental note, only dive on liveaboards ).

Hope this helps.

Tom

Thanks everyone! Your input was very informative and really helped my decision. I have decided to go with a pair of DS-125s due to their even coverage, diffussion, and power. The only bad thing would be that they are a little heavy and bulky, but you cant' get everything. I might buy just one first and then add the other one. :wink:

Now I just need to practice, practice, practice!

Thanks again to all,

David.