Inon S2000 for wide angle

Hi, I'm thinking of getting a strobe for my E-PL6. For the time being, I'm bias towards Inon S2000 mostly due to it's size.

However, my friend kept telling me to get something strong like Sea&Sea YS-D2 and after that, I can forget about upgrading it in future. He guaranteed that I will regret and upgrade in near future if I get the S2000.

The only concern I have with the S2000 is the wide angle.

Any wide angle shot with S2000 single or dual strobe??

I'm open to suggestion. Thanks.

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I agree with your friend, except I would argue you need a pair of good strobes, not one

I am just starting to play around with WA, after years of shooting 95% macro. I have a pair of S2000 strobes and took the following photos at 7mm on a m4/3 system. They're not very good photos but they give an idea of the limits of those strobes. Both shots were within a meter of the main subject and it is easy to see where the light starts to fall off, even though they were each on two 8" arms spread as wide as they would go.

I am aiming for more close focus wide angle compositions so will keep trying with this combination, but would say that they are not well suited to true wide angle. And one strobe would certainly not do the job for wide angle at all.

I agree with your friend, except I would argue you need a pair of good strobes, not one

 

I am just starting to play around with WA, after years of shooting 95% macro. I have a pair of S2000 strobes and took the following photos at 7mm on a m4/3 system. They're not very good photos but they give an idea of the limits of those strobes. Both shots were within a meter of the main subject and it is easy to see where the light starts to fall off, even though they were each on two 8" arms spread as wide as they would go.

 

 

 

 

I am aiming for more close focus wide angle compositions so will keep trying with this combination, but would say that they are not well suited to true wide angle. And one strobe would certainly not do the job for wide angle at all.

Thanks for the sample. U shot those with dual S2000???

Was it on TTL or is there anyway to increase the strobe power. Or it has already maximized the strobes capability.

Thanks for your input.

Think about strobes for WA. The S2000 has a GN of about 20 and the YSD2 has a GN of 32. This sounds like a lot but in reality it is only one stop or so. NO strobes can light up a reef or a whale shark and any strobe can give you good CFWA stuff. WA photos are really about natural light and getting your composition correct.

For the s2000 with a GN of 20 (in air) or say 7 in water this means that

GN = Distance (meters) * f stop

so 7 = distance (meters) * 11 (for f/11) so we can light up something about 2 feet (0.63 meters) or so away

with the D2 and a water GN of 11 we can light up the same thing one meter away at f/11

so the D2 is only good for an additional foot of distance.

Hope this helps

Bill

They were shot using sTTL. I don't have a wide angle brain yet and am still figuring out a lot of stuff so have not yet switched to manual.

I use an Olympus EM10 in a Nauticam housing, WWL-1 WA lens and a single Inon S2000.

If you go through the two SmugMug folders I've linked to below, you can see the results this gives in a variety of situations. (Not great shots, still getting used to the rig).

https://bobdob.smugmug.com/Diving/Red-Sea-March-2016/

https://bobdob.smugmug.com/Diving/Red-Sea-July-2016/

(strobe not used with the Hammerheads in the second link)

I have been thinking about an Inon Z240, or Sea&Sea YS-D2 mainly because they are larger, therefore making it easier to change the settings on the strobe. In warm water, the S2000 isn't too bad, but in UK waters with gloves, it's a pain.

I'm also not that too bothered about the GN, more the angle of beam. The S2000, without diffuser, it's a beam angle of 100 degrees, and GN of 20. With 0.5 diffuser, gives an angle of 110 degrees and GN of 17

The YS-D2 without diffuser gives it's a beam angle of 80 degrees, and GN of 32, with Diffuser 100, beam angle of 100 degrees, and GN of 24, with Diffuser 120, beam angle of 120 degrees, and GN of 20.

For WA, I'd be wanting to use the Diffuser 120 on the YS-D2, and as you can see, on paper, there isn't much difference between the two once the diffusers are attached.

Overall, I'm very happy with the S2000. It's small and light, which is good for travelling. The recycle time is very good, especially with enloop batteries. My only gripe is size of the switches.

Thanks buddy... appreciate it.

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Good point about diffusers. If I was going to try a single strobe for WA, a dome diffuser would be high on my list. They're made by Ikelite, LightDome, and others. Here's one:

http://www.lightdome.works/

There was a WetPixel post on this tech here:

http://http://wetpixel.com/articles/review-cm-custom-strobe-diffusers

Thanks for all the comments.

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Every dive trip I go on, there's always a few people with far better skills than me to learn from. I too started focused on macro and am trying to learn WA. One bit I learned last year which has helped me getting started

1. Put strobes on full power manual and leave it there. Most of the time you want as much power as you can get. sTTL is basically useless for WA.

2. Use aperture to control the exposure of the foreground lit by the strobes

3. Meter and use shutter speed to control control the exposure of the background

After setting ISO, I find this to be much easier on my brain having to only two settings to mess up. Still doing too much trial an error and by the time I finally get a feel for the right aperture setting the dive is over.

They were shot using sTTL. I don't have a wide angle brain yet and am still figuring out a lot of stuff so have not yet switched to manual.

Every dive trip I go on, there's always a few people with far better skills than me to learn from. I too started focused on macro and am trying to learn WA. One bit I learned last year which has helped me getting started

1. Put strobes on full power manual and leave it there. Most of the time you want as much power as you can get. sTTL is basically useless for WA.

2. Use aperture to control the exposure of the foreground lit by the strobes

3. Meter and use shutter speed to control control the exposure of the background

 

After setting ISO, I find this to be much easier on my brain having to only two settings to mess up. Still doing too much trial an error and by the time I finally get a feel for the right aperture setting the dive is over.

 

Please share some picture if possible. Thanks.

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