New Inon Z330

Hi Adam,
thanks a lot.
I have tested the strobes with differnt cables, the Sea & Sea old ones, grey plugs, have been the best.
Inon was good, nauticam i have not had by now, the D&D are better than noname, but not as good as the others....

My problem is the style the Hugyfot "windows" are made.
They have been designed for pop up flashes from the Dslr, but my D500 has none....
So i have tried different led triggers, but still not happy....

Regards,
Wolfgang

It sounds like the issue here is the LED trigger rather than the strobes. I would suggest contacting Pavel at UW Technics and seeing if he has a circuit board that would allow you to trigger the strobes via an LED bulkhead. I have used this with several different housings and it is very reliable.

He is here on Wetpixel (http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showuser=53244)

Adam

Hi Adam,
i have Turtle and Aquatica,
the triggering works, the light output through the "barrier" of the Hugyfot optic connectors is the problem.....
Still working on that.

The Nauticam connectors are screwed in, or? Like Nikonos bulkheads. Do you know what thread they use?
Maybe i can change them complete...

Regards,
Wolfgang

The UW Technics LED bulkheads are M14 and screw into an available port in the housing like a Nikonos bulkhead.

The circuit will need to be attached inside the housing.

Using this combination would allow you to avoid using the Hugyfot window.

I would contact Pavel and ask for his input. He knows everything about strobes and how to trigger them!

Hi Adam,
that sounds like a way.
Have found out today that Hugyfot has changed the window for the D850 housing....
Mailed them, we will see if the new ones will fit....
Regards,
Wolfgang

Hi Wolfgang, I have the same housing as you with a UW Technics board. On receipt my D1 would fire perfectly but I couldnt get my D2 to fire. I finally sent the housing back to Hugyfot who changed a few bits includung I think the plugs that the opticals fit into, I also upgraded the fibre to S&S 50128 and have not had an issue since.

Hi Wolfgang,

Hugyfot now supplies housings with TTL trigger and new type optical bulkheads, which are purposed for LEDs usage. Optical TTL works fine there. Just ask Hugyfot to send you a pair of new bulkheads and TTL trigger. You can easy install them by yourself.

Also pay attention to your optical cables. YS-D2 strobe has very low input sensitivity. For reliable TTL with YS-D2 better use only 613 core fiber optical cables: Nauticam #26216, Sea&Sea #50128 or #50133, Howshot 613L.

Hi Pavel,
will ship the housing to Hugyfot and let them change it ;-))

Or is it really stupid simple?

I was writing them nearly a year ago, that the type of optical connector makes no sense....

Have tried a lot of things, and now the Inon z240 work ( mostly )...
But only manual.

Had one of the new S&S cables, but lost it during a dive, where i tried different cables....
Realised it to late...

So changing makes sense.

Will be on a trip in february, then i can tell you afterwards more. Hopefully ;-))

Thanks,
Wolfgang

will ship the housing to Hugyfot and let them change it

It will be the simplest way. Send the housing to Hugyfot, they will replace necessary parts.

Is on the way ;-))

I have had quite a few questions about heating issues with the Z330.

 

Inon have added a metal heat sync that is exposed to the water.

 

I have been testing battery durations and have been firing the Z330 continuously for around 230-250 flashes at high power. The strobes have been immersed in room temperature water (around 15°C). The strobes have been cool to the touch throughout.

 

I should point out that I have been doing the same with the Retra Flash recently, and they have not been heating up either...

I'm very keen to hear more about overheating as it's a big problem with the Inon Z240s in tropical temperatures when you're doing full dumps repetitively (I'm shooting in caves so trying to light a very big space).

Adam: Are you able to do the continuous firing tests in 25 degrees C and 30 degrees C? 15 degree water is what I experience in Australia's Tank Cave. In Mexico the caves are 25-27 degrees C and that's a hot spot for cave diving photography.

Curious if those bulging front lenses will affect the buoyancy compared to a 240.

I haven't done any scientific testing in terms of buoyancy, but if there is any difference, it is negligible.

I have been shooting with a Z240 on one side and a Z330 on the other and it has no effect.

The Z330s are now with Alex Mustard and will be heading to the Caribbean at the end of the week.

Adam

Hi Adam,

have you carried out the comparison with the RETRA prior to handing them over to Alex?

Will you be posting your findings or will there be an overall review once they have been used in The Caribbean?

Thanks

Barry

I'm getting few enquiries via PM about the timing of the release of the review.

I will be taking all the strobes to the Red Sea next week and testing them (thanks to Emperor Divers).

I would expect that the review will be completed shortly thereafter.

All the best

Adam

Maybe information can be interesting for users, -

Z330 has been tested with Nauticam #26308, UW Technics #11031-II and #11052 TTL-Converters. TTL lighting is accurate. TTL-profile is the same as Z240.

So, Z-330 compatibility is confirmed by tests.

Is there already a manual available? Love to read before buying ;-)

Anyone happen to have a PDF manual for the Z330 they can email me? I can't seem to find one online. joe [at] joe belanger dot com

Much appreciated.

INON don't seem to provide manuals online, I went looking for a Z-240 manual some time back and it seems they only provide English language manuals through the dealer network. The manuals are not a lot of help in any case, rather difficult to follow. The reef photo guide explains the functionality quite well.

Just a report back on the potential overheating issue with the Z330.

I'm running some tests of Eneloop Pro vs Ikea Ladda batteries.

To do so, I put the Z330s in a bucket of water at 28°C (82°F), and fired them as quickly as possible at full power.

The frequency was down to how quickly the strobes recycled.

The tests have so far involved over 600 full strobe dumps in quick succession (per strobe)

No issues with temperature yet...

Adam