I currently have one Z330 strobe and planning on buying a second strobe. I note that the Z330 type 2 is out.
Wanted to get advice if I should either:
Option 1 = Buy a 2nd Z330 strobe, so I have 2 x Z330.
Option 2 = Buy a Z330 Type 2, so I will have one type 1 and one type 2 Z330. Is mismatching okay? Currently the Type 1 is out of stock in my area.
Option 3 = Sell my Z330 and then buy 2 x Z300 type 2. Would an upgrade be worth it? Not my preferred option because I gotta sell the one I have at some loss
Type 2 has the fly-eye coating over the whole front rather than just in front of the tubes, plus the rotating shade has a reflective internal coating. All in all, those are fairly minor differences - Type 2 will give you a more diffuse beam, both from the flash tubes and from the modeling light, but that's about it. To be sure, I don't own either of those - I shoot with Retras - but if I had, I wouldn't bother with upgrading the original one to a Type 2. Heck, I was just on a liveaboard with a guy shooting a Z6 with a DS161 and DS125 - much bigger difference there - and his pictures were perfectly fine.
I agree with Barmaglot - the main concern when mismatching strobe is the temperature/color difference that it can create (one side more yellowish vs the other) but between a Type1 and Type 2, I am not aware of any issue on that front !
Yeah, I agree with the guys.
I started with a Nikonos SB strobe, added an Inon Z220; then was using a mix of the Z220 and a Z240 then various Z240 types. No problems in terms of use.
The only issue might be that it is nice to have the exact same controls on both strobes. It just makes for more instinctive working. But that's not an issue ( I assume) between a Z330 Type1 or Type2.
Fun-In, in Taiwan, sells the Z330-2 for the best price. They may have the Type 1 still available. I have bought strobes from them and they deliver promptly.
If it really bothers you, you can convert the Z-330 Type 1 to Type 2. Basically they replace the dome with the fly-eye one and tape the reflective tape on the light shade and I think that's about it. UWCameraStore from Netherlands can do it for 119€ (https://www.uwcamerastore.com/inon-type-2-upgrade-service-for-inon-z-330-inon-d-200), and I'm sure they can do it in other Inon service centers as well.
I have 2x Type 1 and one Type 2 and currently use T1s for my main strobes and T2 for a remote slave. When I eventually buy a second T2 I'll just switch them around: T2 main, T1 slaves. I just won't bother with conversion
