Scarcity of Z330 strobes (still)?

I haven't seen a lot of posts discussing the contued shortage of availability of Z330 strobes (specifically for sale in the US).

I continue to wait (somewhat impatiently) after being on the wait list at two different dealers. I'm trying to discern what's really going on:

1. Are people just happy with the older z240s (or whatever else people are shooting with, like those few that were able to get the Retras during their limited availability)?
2. Has everyone (that needed new strobes) moved to the Sea & Sea YS-D2J's?

3. Are people just not buying new strobes?

4. Someone has figured out how to mine alt-coins with strobes and all the Z-330s (and Retras) are mining crypto in some deep, dark, datacenter in China?

Seriously - an I the only one somewhat frustrated in the lack of high quality (travel-friendly) strobe choices available right now?

I know of a couple of places (outside the US) that have advertised the strobes in stock - I'm close to pulling the trigger on paying the premium to get them sourced internationally if this doesn't resolve in the next couple of months.

Just looking for others to commiserate with...

One reply to your Z330 Lament:

After being unable to get my Z240's repaired for a reasonable sum, for the past year I strobe with two Ses&Sea YS-D2J's purchased via Hong Kong and am happy w the results.

When I window shop, I see the Inon Z330's advertised for a competitive price by ReefPhoto in Florida, and by DiverVision and Fun-In, both in Taiwan.

If unable to buy in the US, then I would certainly consider Taiwan as their prices are competitive and their service is impeccable.

Hong Kong dealers are slightly more expensive at times, but they too provide excellent service.

As for me, would I buy Ses&Sea YS-D2J strobes again? Yes.

Good luck, and let us know how you fare.

As a follow up to this thread, a fellow diver at the Anilao resort where I am now just purchased two new Inon Z330's, one does not strobe.

Time to ask: Is something wrong in the small world of strobe manufacturing? Bad flash tubes, defective circuits, cases that leak, factories moved from one country to another, entire makes suddenly pulled from the market with no explanation or worse: a lot of sanctimonious alibis... On and on the problem strobes hit us underwater photographers. We pay thru the nose for mediocre or worse strobes, as Wetpixel documents.

I wish Nikon or Canon made UW strobes, as they know how to deliver quality at a reasonable price.

Hi,
bought one for my girl friend,
she is using only a single strobe,
so she wanted it a bit stronger than her old Z240....
Worked well the hole trip.

I was using a pair of Z240s, fine as well, as long as the Led trigger worked......

Regards,
Wolfgang

I purchased my INON Z330's from Backscatter last May 2018,keeping my Z240's for backup or second camera set up.

A fellow diver in Anilao, two weeks ago, April 2019, had two brand new Inon Z330 strobes, one worked, one did not.

Inon is still having strobe quality control problems.

A follow on from my original ;post - after waiting for months in the US, I decided to buy a pair of Z-330's in Singapore on the way to Anilao. I bought them through DiveSea, a small but very cool underwater imaging store in Singapore. If you have a few extra hours in Singapore I highly recommend stopping by...

Strobes worked well all week. Definitely appreciated the additional power and faster recycle times vs. my older Z-240s. They are also have much better ergonomics than the Z-240s.

I was in Anilao in April as well - several other divers were shooting with Z-330s - didn't here about any problems with them, but might have happened before/after I was there.

Also worth mentioning - DiveSea has stopped recommending the YS-D2J's - because they are seeing quality issues even with Japan-sourced ones.

In answer to the original post, and a comment on the more recent one, I am told that the Z330s are shipping but the major U.S. retailers all have waiting lists and are filling those so there are none available to those not on lists. They may be more available outside of the U.S. From what I have seen/heard, those who have purchased them are happy with them. The Retra strobes were supposed to be out in May-June, but their website now says August-September. I have put off doing any upgrade from my Z240s for quite a while, waiting to see what happens with Retra. Luckily I really have no complaints about the 240s.

I wish Retra all the best, but I am moving on and will get a couple 330s when I get the chance.

I brought my Inon Z330's April last year from Alex at Nauticam UK.

I am very lucky to be diving everyday with them and they work great, no issues.

Good luck on getting them.

Im in Australia, I also got frustrated waiting for Z330s to become available after selling my Z240s, I didn't realise at the time that there was a hold up in production of these strobes otherwise I wouldn't have sold them.

I ended up buying mine from Hideki at UWdigitalcamera.com in Japan

Cost was about ¥70000 and I had them within a few days of ordering and have had no problems with them, I use fibre optic cable.

This was in July last year so maybe there is still a delay in manufacture ?

Im just posting this in case you haven't tried getting them from Japan, I understand your frustration.

Hidekis email
nautile.tt@cyana.jp

Hope this helps

Im in Australia, I also got frustrated waiting for Z330s to become available after selling my Z240s, I didn't realise at the time that there was a hold up in production of these strobes otherwise I wouldn't have sold them.

I ended up buying mine from Hideki at UWdigitalcamera.com in Japan

Cost was about ¥70000 and I had them within a few days of ordering and have had no problems with them, I use fibre optic cable.

This was in July last year so maybe there is still a delay in manufacture ?

Im just posting this in case you haven't tried getting them from Japan, I understand your frustration.

 

Hidekis email

nautile.tt@cyana.jp

 

Hope this helps

 

I've dealt with Hidecki before and he is great to deal with, if he has stock it will arrive very quickly. One downside is the manuals are in Japanese, though this may not be a big downside as the English version is not that easy to follow.

A fellow diver in Anilao, two weeks ago, April 2019, had two brand new Inon Z330 strobes, one worked, one did not.

Inon is still having strobe quality control problems.

Stuff breaks. "The space shuttle blew up ...twice."

Best not to bring brand new gear on a trip, if you can manage it. I must have 900 dives on my Z220s. I've even flooded them twice but they keep on flashin'.

As a general FYI for those in search of them in North America:

I successfully ordered a Z330 from Onderwaterhuis.nl in the spring (about the time of the last post in this thread) and have just received a second unit from them (have not retrieved it from the post office yet).

In both cases they had stock and orders shipped within 1 day and other than the 2-3 weeks of travel time (most of it sitting in customs) they arrived without issue.

Cost, including shipping, here in Canada was competitive with any US options (make sure to check out to get the non-VAT price from them - it is much lower).

It does seem to be a bit of a geographic thing...

I use Onderwatehuis a lot. They’re very good, really helpful and I’d recommend them.

We're still shooting our 5 Z 240's.

No problems!

Hey, if your Z-240’s or what ever you are shooting with are working fine, than there isn’t much to worry about.

But, if you are at a point where you need to get new strobes, there’s plenty to worry about. Like, which ones do I get and will they be the right ones?

Of course, once you have finely made your choice and placed your order, that worry is soon replaced with the new worry of will they get here in time for my net big trip or will they arrive too late?

And so it goes.