Inon z220

Hello,

At the moment I own 2 sea&sea ys120 strobes, but I am thinking of replace them for the Inon z220. My question will 2 Z220 cover the Nikon 10,5 Fisheye completely without a problem? the reasons fo the replacement is the smaller size and the possibility for the manualsettings ( Ys120 just have full or 1/2 power). Another question: will the pilotlights of the z220 be strong enough to lighten Makrosubjekt so that I won't need a strobe to lighten them in low light situations?

Rob

Hi Sharky,

I have found that it takes two extremely wide strobes to cover the full fisheye frame. The 220's aren't wide enough for that, but neither are most strobes.

In low light situations, you can use the aiming lights on the strobes to help your camera acheive focus lock. You may need to do some special wiring on the hotshoe to get the lights to stay on though - it just depends on which camera and housing you are using.

Hope this helps.

James

hello James,

thank you very much for your quick reply. What do you think? the strobe angle of the Z220 (circular 100°)aren't so much smaller then that of the ys120 (105°x105° with diffuser but I don#t use diffuser). And what about the colour temperatur ys120 (5100K) vs Z220 (5500°K). Would you recommand this switch?

Rob

Hi Rob,

I don't think you will notice much of a difference in angle of coverage. I do think will notice a reduction in power. You will definitely notice a size difference and you'll need to charge half as many batteries...:-)

You didn't say what type of camera you are using, but if it's an ISO200 camera, the Z220's will have plenty of power, but at ISO100 may be a bit underpowered.

So there are some tradeoffs. Do I think you should switch? Well - that's a personal choice. It sounds like you want more power settings, smaller strobes, and focusing lights. You'll definitely get two out of those three, but you'll have to trade off some coverage and power.

Cheers

James

Hi Rob,

I've been using two Z220's for almost two years now with my D100/Aquatica set-up and love them. I don't have the fisheye lens but they provide more than adequate coverage for the rest of my lenses and the focus lights provide enough light for everything except focusing on night dives; sometimes they just don't stay on long enough to get into proper position. I use an Epoque light with variable power centered mid-housing on my night dives to give me enough light so I can dive and focus properly.

They are extremely lightweight and I chose them for that reason as well as the ability to use rechargable AA's and also carry fewer batteries.

Janet

Hi Rob

I agree with Janet. I switched from an SB105 to an Inon Z220 about 6 months ago - and then bought a second one. I really like them. They are compact and light and ideal for travelling. I did have the adventure of changing some of the wiring in my Subal D10 housing to get the focus light to work - but this was fairly trauma-free with good advice from my dealer (Seaoptics in Oz)

Hi,

I am using both , YS-120 Duo & Z-220/220S with F100(film, ISO100) +D-70(Digital, ISO200). When I use F100 with 16mm fisheye (180 degree, same as 10.5 on digital), my choice of strobe is 2x YS-120Duo.

I like Z220 very much but, not produce same power on wide angle picture. I just put max power in manual mode (not TTL) & play with f-stop. Yes, I don't like it takes 8 AA batteries but, it give you better/longer battery time , specially when you shoot almost unlimited digital shots.

I exclusively use Z-220/220S for my macro pics.