Inon Z-330 ready light comes on early

I think you have some expectations of what certain specifications are that are not what manufacturers mean

 

When I read Inon Z330 specifications it says recycle time Approx. 1.8 seconds minimum ["eneloop" batteries]

Reading Sea and Sea specifications the language is different [Recycle time (full)*2] A: 2.5 sec. Ni-MH: 1.9 sec.

On Ikelite DS-160 it mentions 1.5 second recycle time at full power

 

My interpretation of those specifications is that once you output a full power flash this is the minimum amount of time you need to wait to fire again but there is no specifications anywhere to say that it will do so at full power.

 

So what is happening here is that you are expecting the strobe to give a ready signal when full charge is reached but this is not what is happening the ready lamp in all cases comes as soon as the strobe can fire and output whatever it can.

They write: Recycle Time (*5) (*7) -> Approx. 1.8 seconds minimum ["eneloop" batteries] -> (*5) Measured with FULL strobe output at 30-second intervals with both Focus Light and Advanced Cancel Circuit OFF, at 25ºC/77ºF with test batteries giving 5 minutes cooling period every 50 flashes. Source: http://www.inon.jp/products/strobe/z330/spec.html

It's very misleading that they write "minimum" in there without specifying what it actually means. How the hell are we supposed to compare specifications with other strobes if they just write their own rules?!

If you look at some example xenon tubes you see how much variation there is between tubes and you can also see that some will fire at over 50% some can fire at 18% of full power.

 

Example circular 100J tube trigger between 250-500 Volts min power 25% (-2 stops)

circular 200J tube trigger between 300-700 Volts min power 18% (more than -2)

linear 50J tube trigger between 280-360 Volts min power 60% (less than 1 stop)

linear 100J tube trigger between 300-450 Volts min power 44% (more than 1 stop)

linear 200J tune trigger between 330-450 Volts min power 53% (less than 1 stop)

 

So what I believe is happening here is that a combination of different design and different bulbs is producing more difference between the ready light and full power

 

Technically all strobes are 'ready' but the power they can produce varies maybe what would be useful would be not just to have a ready light but also an (almost) full light but frankly I won't be looking at the strobe to fire nor I want the strobe to only fire when it reaches 98% so what is key is to know how long does it take to cycle between full to full without this becoming the ready signal

I learned that my Z-330 is giving much less power when it indicates the ready light when I was just testing something and my pictures were differently lit. Maybe in the real world I would not notice because my lag time would be longer. But since then I have made several tests comparing the Z-330 with other strobes and the result is that it indicates the ready light much earlier. By the way, I could trigger some strobes even before their ready light was turned on.

I believe 99% of photographers (I am not one of them any more) believe that recycle time means: full power to full power recycle time.

Now we have seen that this is not the case and I think that many people wold look at their purchase differently if Inon actually specified what they write in their "specs". It's not a total deal breaker for me but I know a lot of photographers who would spend the extra dollar to get a faster recycle time or maybe spend less if they knew what their recycle time actually is.

I understand your frustration but if you think about it why would Inon fire the strobe every 30 seconds if it was ready to fire at full power in two seconds?

Even more interesting those strobes that fire when they are not ‘ready’ probably those are looking at a certain % charge and are more in line with your requirements I would like to know which ones do that please?

If you look at photoflashes typically you have recycle time minimum maximum. I have a GN 42 unit and the specs are 0.1-3 seconds. When I put it on self shoot at 2 seconds intervals regularly misses the 3rd flash!

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Maybe I'm just daft, but what are people shooting at full power? If it's W/A and fast moving subjects at a slight distance - or a large reef scene - maybe, or (as mentioned previously mentioned) cave diving and trying to light up as much of the space as possible, but much of what I shoot is at 1/2 power (or less) to 3/4 power.

I recently spent a week in Anilao shooting a D500, 60mm/105mm, and two Z-330's. I think I might have shot 5 shots (total) on full power (and 2 of those I was just experimenting with the light to see how much coverage it really had).

The one place I deeply appreciated have larger/more powerful strobes was Cocos, and even there recycle time wasn't an issue (except for that whale shark....

Some of this discussion feels a little hypothetical - what are people actually shooting at full power repeatedly with needed fast recycle times?

I understand your frustration but if you think about it why would Inon fire the strobe every 30 seconds if it was ready to fire at full power in two seconds?

Even more interesting those strobes that fire when they are not ‘ready’ probably those are looking at a certain % charge and are more in line with your requirements I would like to know which ones do that please?

If you look at photoflashes typically you have recycle time minimum maximum. I have a GN 42 unit and the specs are 0.1-3 seconds. When I put it on self shoot at 2 seconds intervals regularly misses the 3rd flash!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I understand your frustration but if you think about it why would Inon fire the strobe every 30 seconds if it was ready to fire at full power in two seconds?

Even more interesting those strobes that fire when they are not ‘ready’ probably those are looking at a certain % charge and are more in line with your requirements I would like to know which ones do that please?

If you look at photoflashes typically you have recycle time minimum maximum. I have a GN 42 unit and the specs are 0.1-3 seconds. When I put it on self shoot at 2 seconds intervals regularly misses the 3rd flash!

I haven't tested this on every strobe that I tested but I know that Retra will trigger before they actually indicate their ready light. They say this is a feature in case you are shooting an action scene and in a burst of shots you will get light on more of them although there will of course be less light.

Maybe I'm just daft, but what are people shooting at full power? If it's W/A and fast moving subjects at a slight distance - or a large reef scene - maybe, or (as mentioned previously mentioned) cave diving and trying to light up as much of the space as possible, but much of what I shoot is at 1/2 power (or less) to 3/4 power.

 

I recently spent a week in Anilao shooting a D500, 60mm/105mm, and two Z-330's. I think I might have shot 5 shots (total) on full power (and 2 of those I was just experimenting with the light to see how much coverage it really had).

 

The one place I deeply appreciated have larger/more powerful strobes was Cocos, and even there recycle time wasn't an issue (except for that whale shark... .

 

Some of this discussion feels a little hypothetical - what are people actually shooting at full power repeatedly with needed fast recycle times?

Nothing hypothetical here, just technical. We all believed that when manufacturers specified their recycle time it was for a full power discharge but it turns out it's for about 75% power and that with the Z-330 it's for much less than that, only about 25%. This much difference is not good if you want to make a choice as a buying customer.