Opinion abou new subtronics?

That Maxi looks like an Alpha-Pro to me. So maybe the Midi is the Alpha replacement. I have to say I have always thought my Subtronics are awesome. I've never shot any other strobes I would swap them for.

Do you have the Ws for the old and new Subtronics? In my experience Subtronic figures tend to err on the side of caution compared to some manufacturers.

Alex

yeah:

Maxi: 200

Midi: 160 (which is identical to the Alpha, isn't it?)

Julian

Just done my own research (on the Subtronic website):

Eco range:

MINI - 90 Ws - 116? coverage - 90 or 140 flashes on full (2 battery options)

MIDI - 160 Ws - 116? coverage - 200 flashes on full

MAXI - 200 Ws - 116? coverage - 180 flashes on full

Pro range

ALPHA - 160 Ws - 106? coverage - 230 flashes on full

ALPHA PRO - 200 Ws - 108? coverage - 200 flashes on full

ALPHA PRO macro - 200 Ws - 100? coverage - 200 flashes on full

GAMMA - 270 Ws - 112? coverage - 170 flashes on full

MEGA(colour) - 350 Ws - 112? coverage - 110 flashes on full

One thing I have just learned is that the MINI now has two battery options - presumably the big one should last a bit longer.

Alex

And here are my real world experiences with the Alpha.

On film the most I ever shot my Alphas was 7 dives in a day on TTL. 252 shots (I have no idea what power these were, obviously). They never ran out.

On digital I usually start my Alphas usually average out on 1/4 power. I have shot between 500 and 600 shots regularly in a day. No problem.

Power 160 Ws seems accurate. On my last trip I swapped my Subtronics for Ike 125s (that I liked a lot) and generally felt that Ike's at 1/2 power were very similar to Alphas at 1/4 power in terms of the apertures I was shooting. Makes sense since Ike is 110 Ws.

Re-coverage. This shot is full frame from the 10.5 fisheye (180 degrees). Lighting from a single Alpha (slightly behind the plane of the lens). Coverage looks better than 106 degrees to me:

Alex

To get back on topic.

So now that I understand these new strobes in comparison to my Subtronics I'll tell anyone who is a serious shooter to go for the Midi. 160 Ws is plenty. Coverage is excellent. Batteries should last a day of heavy shooting.

Alex

judging from the photo I would have been sure the 180° were lighted by two strobes. that's a nice coverage and awesome photo as well.

I think the combination of three elements make them so good:

- powerfull unit driving a ring type tube

- colored glass for feeding the red channel accordingly

- dome glass for maintaining the huge coverage in water

All of the above together is seldom found in an amphibic strobe.

Julian

yeah, not bad for a single 106 degrees coverage strobe! I would have used two - but my other strobe a Sea & Sea YS120 stopped working during that dive.

The downside of the Subtronic range can be PRICE! Especially if you are in the US with the weak dollar at the moment.

Alex

Regarding the Subtronic with exchangable battery:

No delivery date. Sounded like they were trying and build some prototypes!?

They are aware of the problem and work on a solution...

Subtronic has a paper that certifies that it is not dangerous to transport the strobe on a flight. The strobe is not designed to be opened by a customer. The manual states that it is dangerous to open it because of the high voltage parts inside...

This is a no-go for many users...

Hartenberger is a good strobe in a similar high quality.

You can remove the whole battery pack for exchange it or to recharge it if you have only one.

In some modells you can change the reflector and light color too.

If I would have to buy a aluminum housed strobe tomorrow I would probably go for a Hartenberger instead of a Subtronic.

I ordered a set of Inon 220... I think it's the right choice for me...

Cheers Torben

Hi all ,

the new subtronic Strobes would be the fastest strobes ever produced for under water use they will be triggert with in 22 khz this means a time between flash and the next one about 0,2 milli seconds this is obvious to set the multible pre flashes of the Canon E-TTL and also the Nikon I-TTL and also the Olympus E300 TTL, for cams like the Nikon D70 and the Canon E300D it is posible to set one preflash at the right time, or to cange the I-TTL flash mode like the D70 does if you know that the strobe signal changes the I- TTL mode of the Nikon D70 .

just a few informations........

Michael