I put a snoot on my YS-01. I love it, but struggle because the focus light on the YS-01 is so weak it does not penetrate the snoot. So I'm left guessing where to shoot.
The problem is, I want it all. 1) A decent strobe upgraded from the YS-01 that I can shoot with a snoot without the guessing of where the light will land. It needs to have a focus light that can penetrate the snoot. I'd love something more powerful to add to my photography equipment.
2) The ability to take the snoot on/off so I can use the strobe as a strobe (The FlipSnoots are pretty cool for this) 3) Affordable (Affordable is defined as <$700 ideally)
Is it a pipe dream? And I know many of you are going to say Backscatter Mini Flash with Snoot, but I can't find the specs on it? I don't think it's any more powerful than my YS-01 so I struggle to drop the coin for upgrading to something with a focus light. I'd rather go all in on something that will upgrade both my strobe and snoot experience. Most of the time my focus is on not snooting, so I'd rather upgrade the strobe with the option to snoot (not the upgrade the snoot with the option to strobe)
If there's something that is >$700 tell me about it so I can decide which kid to sell off. (It's a joke...maybe)
I hear the Retra strobe is da bomb for a lot of $$$. My eyes have been looking at the inon z330 or Ikelite DS160, but I'm not sure of the snoot ability or focus light situation.
TIA
I am at exactly the same situation. Backscatter mini strobe I think is about 1 stop less light than the YS-01 and also less wide angle coverage so really not suitable as a do it all strobe (I wish it was). I think the 10Bar Snoot with center laser might be good, but it does not seem compatible with the YS-01. It is compatible with the Inon Z330 so if you're willing to upgrade that might be the way to go.
Thanks hyp. I'll have to look into the 10 bar. The backscatter does seem fun but I don't want to sacrifice strobe power just because I want to occasionally snoot. Hum....
I think the best way to look at the backscatter MF-1 is a dedicated macro/snooting flash and you use something else for wide angle. If you want one flash the retra combo or the Z330 plus the 10bar with laser are worth considering.
I was just looking at the 10Bar. Looks like it has an external focus beam? Is the focus light on the Z330 not strong enough to see with a snoot on it? Thanks for your help!
5 minutes ago, DevilEyeDog said:
I was just looking at the 10Bar. Looks like it has an external focus beam? Is the focus light on the Z330 not strong enough to see with a snoot on it? Thanks for your help!
It's not the strength, it's the fact that the Z-330 modeling light is mounted on the side, offset from the main lamps. This means that if you use it to aim the snoot, it will not shine in the same spot that the strobe will illuminate when you fire it.
1 hour ago, DevilEyeDog said:
I was just looking at the 10Bar. Looks like it has an external focus beam? Is the focus light on the Z330 not strong enough to see with a snoot on it? Thanks for your help!
The new version has an internal laser aligned with the axis of the snoot - that's the one you want - an external laser still has parallax issues. And yes the offset focus light is going to be an issue with alignment it doesn't sine where the flash hits.
9 hours ago, Barmaglot said:
It's not the strength, it's the fact that the Z-330 modeling light is mounted on the side, offset from the main lamps. This means that if you use it to aim the snoot, it will not shine in the same spot that the strobe will illuminate when you fire it.
Thanks! That's what I'm dealing with now. JUst guessing and hoping to get it right.
7 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:
The new version has an internal laser aligned with the axis of the snoot - that's the one you want - an external laser still has parallax issues. And yes the offset focus light is going to be an issue with alignment it doesn't sine where the flash hits.
Thanks! Good to know. I'll definitely look into it!
