New Retra Strobes...Regrets?

Just wondering how you guys that have purchased Retra strobes recently (such as  Pro X series) feel about missing out on the new model that seems to present significant upgrades...I got my Pro X less than a year ago and at that time, they were not on the market for long. Now they are discontinued, making me feel I have an obsolete product  

And yes, I know that technology always evolves, but this is fast and pretty radical.

Venting and wanting to hear folk's thoughts on this...Thanks. 

I think what you describe is an ongoing issue with anything "photographic", or any other kind of technology for that matter. Whether it's cameras or strobes, any purchase is almost immediately obsolete. The question is, "Does it matter?". Are the new strobes going to do anything for you that the old ones can't do?

The obvious solution is buy the new ones, and sell the old... or keep them for spares.  ;-)

Considering the new ones are pretty much exactly as powerful as the old ones I wouldn’t worry. But if you don’t like them anymore I’ll put them to good use. Unfortunately I can’t even justify the price for their new pure models so I’ll stick to my trusty ys-02s. 

I feel your pain.....

I've had my Pro-Xs for about two years and love them. And, yes, serious heartache that there is now an even newer (and better?) model and I am SO tempted.

But, as Stoo rightly says, will they do anything for you that you can't already do with the ones you have? I'm working hard at convincing myself that of course they can't.

But shiny new toys, siren calls...... and, really, you can't blame Retra. Technology moves on and companies cannot sit still. Apple, anyone?

Got retra Pro X with superchargers and have no regrets. I love them and they will last me years (I hope!). I would rather spend the money on a trip than upgrading these to strobes with similar light quality output.

@TimG your reference to Apple reminded me their refurbished/exchange product program - would be great for customers like Silvana if they had indeed one ;-)

I started with the first generation and quickly moved to the second generation when Retra changed to the circular flashtube and added a second O-ring to the battery door which was big incentive for me to purchase three of the Prime models. 

When the Pro X and Prime X series emerged, I stuck with my three Primes as the newer 3^rd generation really didn’t offer any more than I already had. 

That said, while my current strobes have and certainly will continue serving me well, I am biting the bullet and getting a pair of the Pro Max models. The game changer for me is not because they are 40 Ws more powerful at full power, its that Retra has changed the solution to being able use 8 AA’s straight away with a cleaner easier system than going with the add on Supercharger modules. 

Plus, there are a couple of features about them that I have address in a First Look write up you can read here - https://www.scubadivermag.com/retras-new-4th-generation-pro-max-prime-and-pure-underwater-strobes/

4 hours ago, TimG said:

I feel your pain.....

I've had my Pro-Xs for about two years and love them. And, yes, serious heartache that there is now an even newer (and better?) model and I am SO tempted.

But, as Stoo rightly says, will they do anything for you that you can't already do with the ones you have? I'm working hard at convincing myself that of course they can't.

But shiny new toys, siren calls...... and, really, you can't blame Retra. Technology moves on and companies cannot sit still. Apple, anyone?

 

I asked myself the same question about what value the newer model brings, and I think to me it is just the convenience of accessing all 8 batteries via a single cap vs. two in the case of the supercharger. In fact, it is a bit more than just the convenience, it will have one failure point less than the supercharger and two less o-rings to maintain. Having a display status would be nice but I can live without it. 

Definitely made me think of Apple and thinking they moved even faster...

4 hours ago, waterpixel said:

Got retra Pro X with superchargers and have no regrets. I love them and they will last me years (I hope!). I would rather spend the money on a trip than upgrading these to strobes with similar light quality output.

@TimG your reference to Apple reminded me their refurbished/exchange product program - would be great for customers like Silvana if they had indeed one ;-)

 

 

Lol - was thinking to email them to ask if they have an exchange program would probably get me fooled into it...

I have a pair of original Retra Pro strobes, pre-ordered way back in late 2018 and received in early 2020. I don't feel any pull towards the new models - yes, they are improved, but the improvement are very incremental, and fundamentally the new strobes don't do anything that my 3.5 year old models aren't already doing.

10 hours ago, Silvana said:

Just wondering how you guys that have purchased Retra strobes recently (such as  Pro X series) feel about missing out on the new model that seems to present significant upgrades...I got my Pro X less than a year ago and at that time, they were not on the market for long. Now they are discontinued, making me feel I have an obsolete product  

And yes, I know that technology always evolves, but this is fast and pretty radical.

Venting and wanting to hear folk's thoughts on this...Thanks. 

 

I'm kinda in the same boat on feelings about the change to a display and the extra battery compartment aspect.
But I haven't use my Pro X with Supercharger enough to know any "significant upgrades" that this newer version might give me. 

I was ALSO dreaming Oskar might offer a trade-up program...

I am not a user of retra strobes however having had several discussions with them I think it is commendable that they continue to bring innovation out.

I also think it is understandable that older model are being discontiuned once stock is sold out as long as they honour the warranty this is nothing strange 

Like anything a consumer needs to decide if the new features are worth a change bearing in mind that offloading their now discontinued item can be costly but nothing lasts forever.

I tend to keep my strobes for at least 5 years I do not use them enough to justify changing them quicker and for cameras in my underwater housing this is at least 3 years but usually more like 5

Any time I buy something I do a lot of research to be sure I am happy with the limitations and trade off of what I got and then simply ignore new products coming out. However I also recognise that if I bought a product that did not fit the bill I would be looking for a change much quicker. It has not happened yet though

For me the new models are still part of the Pro series and they have been tuned to match the existing Pros in terms of light, in use. I have original Pros and I skipped the Pro X generation for this same reason. 

As others have commented I think Retra’s thinking is that when a production run is finished and they have ideas on how to improve their product they give those to the customer. It is the advantage of being a small company with small production runs.

Alex

10 hours ago, Barmaglot said:

I have a pair of original Retra Pro strobes, pre-ordered way back in late 2018 and received in early 2020. I don't feel any pull towards the new models - yes, they are improved, but the improvement are very incremental, and fundamentally the new strobes don't do anything that my 3.5 year old models aren't already doing.

Well at least, the improvment from the Original flash was huge like a different TTL management that is able to communicate with TTL triggers, something that is not possible with the original strobes (AFAIK no trigger does have a TTL able to connect with the Retra first gen).

I now own a Canon R7 and have to stick to manual with my original Retra strobes that I ordered the first month of the launching announcement and actually received 10 months later, -6 months late from their initially scheduled delivery-.

They offered me a 15% discount on the price when the next version of Retra flashes came out, not enough to allow me to upgrade.