Buying a new strobe

Hey all!

my gear is: Fantasea FA6500 (FML Flat Port 34) + Sony 6300 + Sony 16-50mm + FA-3 Led Trigger + ULCS tray, arms and clamps.

Currently my strobe is Inon D-2000s (single).

I'm thinking about changing it and I have a few options:

• 2x AOI UCS-q1 + snoot
• 2x Backscatter MF-1 + snoot
• 1 Inon Z330 II

I shoot mostly macro (using Fantasea UCL-09f) and sometime wide angel.

these are my options mostly because of money and reviews I've read and because I want strobe with aim light.

if you think there are more strobes I should consider please let me know and I'd like to hear thoughts and impressions on the strobes I wrote here.

thank you all!

I have a setup that is somewhat similar to yours (Sony A6300, SeaFrogs housing, UWT trigger) - I shoot it with a pair of Retra Pros and I'm very happy with them, but I understand that it's outside your budget (especially considering those damnable import fees; the customs really did a number on me when I got my pair!).

If you're doing mostly macro, then I would say go for the MF-1 pair. They're compact, and the design, with the long stem, makes fine aiming (as is needed for snoot photography) more convenient. I haven't seen the AOI Q1 in action, but the specs are extremely unimpressive. Z-330s are good strobes, but for shooting wide-angle, you'd really want a pair, and for macro, two MF-1s + snoot is better than a single Z-330.

Another 'budget' strobe that you might want to take a look at is SeaFrogs SF-01 - it's got good power and is reasonably priced. The features list isn't the greatest, but for wide-angle photography, two of those will do a better job than a single Z-330 at the same price. I had SeaFrogs' previous strobe model, the ST-100 Pro, and was reasonably happy with them until I upgraded to the Retras and sold them on. Also, buying from China (Aliexpress, etc) will most likely avoid customs fees even though the package is above $75 value; they generally don't bother checking this stuff.

19 hours ago, Barmaglot said:

Another 'budget' strobe that you might want to take a look at is SeaFrogs SF-01 - it's got good power and is reasonably priced. The features list isn't the greatest, but for wide-angle photography, two of those will do a better job than a single Z-330 at the same price. I had SeaFrogs' previous strobe model, the ST-100 Pro, and was reasonably happy with them until I upgraded to the Retras and sold them on. Also, buying from China (Aliexpress, etc) will most likely avoid customs fees even though the package is above $75 value; they generally don't bother checking this stuff.

I remember reading here a big dis on that strobe, it had a lot of malfunctions.

Is it really stronger than the MF-1?

What about 2x used z-240 or 2x used d-180?

You think those will be good or should I go for newer models?

Thanks!

Just now, sarthur1 said:

I remember reading here a big dis on that strobe, it had a lot of malfunctions.

The main issue with ST-100 Pro was that when triggering optically, it was limited to TTL operation - the controls had no effect. Within this limitation, my pair worked for several years without hiccups. SF-01 is a new model, and from the reports that I've seen, it works fine in manual mode (in fact, it does not have TTL at all), and I haven't seen any reports about them dying.

2 minutes ago, sarthur1 said:

Is it really stronger than the MF-1?

Considerably so.

3 minutes ago, sarthur1 said:

What about 2x used z-240 or 2x used d-180?

D-180 is really old by now, and fairly weak to begin with. Used Z-240 is a solid choice, if you can find them.

9 minutes ago, Barmaglot said:

D-180 is really old by now, and fairly weak to begin with. Used Z-240 is a solid choice, if you can find them.

 

I meant the d-200 sorry

10 minutes ago, Barmaglot said:

The main issue with ST-100 Pro was that when triggering optically, it was limited to TTL operation - the controls had no effect. Within this limitation, my pair worked for several years without hiccups. SF-01 is a new model, and from the reports that I've seen, it works fine in manual mode (in fact, it does not have TTL at all), and I haven't seen any reports about them dying.

And does it have snoot and diffusers?

I use olympus em5 mk3 Q1x2 to shoot
Q1I highly recommend

For your reference

Just now, sarthur1 said:

I meant the d-200 sorry

Also not very powerful - usable, but marginal.

1 minute ago, sarthur1 said:

And does it have snoot and diffusers?

SF-01? I believe it ships with a basic diffuser, but I'm not aware of any company making snoots for it - that's why I refer to it as somewhat feature-deficient. You might be able to adapt something yourself, but even if you do, the usage experience is likely to be sub-par, as its modeling light is offset from the center, and when fired, the strobe will illuminate a different spot from the one indicated by the aiming LED. MF-01 has two modeling LEDs, one on either side of the flash bulb, so each one's offset is canceled out by the other. Retra strobes have the modeling light in the center of the circular ring flash, so that's not an issue either, but SF-01 really isn't the best choice for snooting. I've seen some people mount two regular strobes out on arms, and an MF-1 with snoot up on a cold shoe, with a flex arm for aiming.

14 minutes ago, cueea1988 said:

I use olympus em5 mk3 Q1x2 to shoot Q1I highly recommend

Would you mind posting some wide-angle shots taken with them? Lighting up a two-centimeter nudibranch is one thing; doing it to a two-meter sea fan is quite another, so I'm curious as to how they would manage something like this:

On 12/26/2021 at 8:54 PM, sarthur1 said:

Hey all!

my gear is: Fantasea FA6500 (FML Flat Port 34) + Sony 6300 + Sony 16-50mm + FA-3 Led Trigger + ULCS tray, arms and clamps.

Currently my strobe is Inon D-2000s (single).

I'm thinking about changing it and I have a few options:

• 2x AOI UCS-q1 + snoot
• 2x Backscatter MF-1 + snoot
• 1 Inon Z330 II

I shoot mostly macro (using Fantasea UCL-09f) and sometime wide angel.

these are my options mostly because of money and reviews I've read and because I want strobe with aim light.

if you think there are more strobes I should consider please let me know and I'd like to hear thoughts and impressions on the strobes I wrote here.

 

thank you all!

 

If snooting is really your thing you really want to get a strobe with an on axis aiming light - currently that's the MF-1 the retras and ikelite d series strobes.  Other wise you'll waste precious UW time adjusting and missing the target.  I understand the Sea&Sea  strobe has an accessory snoot with a prism to account for its off axis light.   10 bar offer a snoot with a laser pointer which promises good aiming - though I have seen reports on here that subjects (and nearby non-subjects) chase the laser like a cat does -though it's said the beam diameter is adjustable so you might be OK there.  They have a model to fit your D-2000 - it's $200 which seems expensive but it's cheaper than another strobe.  If you get that you could start snooting while waiting for a good deal on S/hand strobes.

I think someone (Adam?) reported snoots worked well on the Inon Z330 too.

2 minutes ago, TimG said:

I think someone (Adam?) reported snoots worked well on the Inon Z330 too.

which snoot?

2 hours ago, sarthur1 said:

which snoot?

Retra LSD I think

On 12/27/2021 at 10:52 PM, TimG said:

I think someone (Adam?) reported snoots worked well on the Inon Z330 too.

I think they work well, but the off centre aiming light makes aiming a frustrating exercise.  As I recall the INON don't need as much strobe power to work with the Retra LSD due to the tube position.  The geometry of the retra circular flash tube means it gets less light down the snoot, but the linear tubes on the INON funnel much more light down the snoot.

55 minutes ago, ChrisRoss said:

The geometry of the retra circular flash tube means it gets less light down the snoot,

Yep, I do find that I need to turn up the volume on the Retra strobes when using a snoot - especially with a mask with a small hole. But this is totally manageable. 

The combination is very good though for aiming. Certainly WAY better than I found with an Inon Z240/LSD combination. 

6 hours ago, TimG said:

Yep, I do find that I need to turn up the volume on the Retra strobes when using a snoot - especially with a mask with a small hole. But this is totally manageable. 

The combination is very good though for aiming. Certainly WAY better than I found with an Inon Z240/LSD combination. 

The Z330 would be  the same as Z-240 as it has the same flash tube layout.  The new diffuser on the latest Z330 would change things a little bit will still have the off centre aiming light even if it is behind the diffuser it is still going to have parallelex error in aiming.