Strobe Advice - Aquatica A20 - Canon D20

Hello

I would like to start off by thanking all of the individuals who have contributed to this very informative knowledge base.

After reading most of this forum, and the DgiDeep site, I have selected the Aquatica A20 housing for my Canon 20D.

However, I am still struggling with the issue of selecting the most appropriate strobe system for use with WA for the A20.

After reading the forums, studying the manufacturers’ sites, and discussing the choice with an online retailer, I have narrowed my decision to the following three choices in my current order of preference, although the order seems to change almost hourly.

>> Ikelite - DS-125

----- Pros – Very powerful, very fast cycle time, hi level of output control with manual controller, ability to control power output from the housing with the manual controller, Modeling light

------ Cons – Proprietary battery, reliability issues with the sync cord

>> Sea&Sea – YS90-DX

------ Pros – Standard AA batteries, good power controls on flash, less expensive than Ikelite or Inon

-------Cons – no modeling light, have to reach to strobe to adjust power

>> Inon Z-220F

----- Pros – built in modeling light, TBD

----- Cons – TBD

Up to this point I have only used a Canon S400 in a Canon housing so I have very limited knowledge of the subtleties of the pros and cons I have listed above. At this point I am primarily interested in shooting WA, with an emphasis on larger animals in tropical environments.

Any advice regarding this choice would be greatly appreciated.

MH

I have also posted this on the WetPixel site

The Inon is also the most compact and also uses AA batteries. I think they are bettter than the YS90-dx in every way. I sold a pair of YS90-dx and bought the Inon's. The DS-125 may have a wider beam but none of the tests I've seen has shown it to be more intense in the sweet spot.

I think you could put the ys-90 and Z220 roughly in the same class in terms of power. The Sea&Sea line-up ys-60 up to the ys-120 have all around 60 W/s.

Having a look at the Z220 capacitor's data it comes to around 60 W/s too.

The Inon is more sexy in my opinion, because of size, features and a rounder light pattern (vertical coverage due to the dual tubes).

I have never used an Ikelite DS-125. But it’s obviously a more powerful strobe than the others (110 W/s). Different to the Sea&Sea and Inon strobes the DS-125 features a ring type tube (coverage) and has a warmer colour temperature (ys-90 & Z220 are cold as land guns in comparison). In spite of white balance – feeding the red channel is still good for greater distances (wideangle shots).

It’s obvious that small strobes with colder light can produce a bright centre easily. But they don’t do this in all colour channels underwater. If you would define a guide number for every colour channel, I am sure the DS-125 would less underexpose the red channel than the others (water is still a blue filter, greater distance - greater effect).

Another point might be serviceability, depending where you live and the manufacture's (local) service options.

Just my two (euro) cents …

Julian

Herb and Jolly,

Thank you for your advice on the strobes.

After taking into account your input, I had narrowed my choice down to the Inon or Ikelite.

The final decision was driven by a thread on Digital Diver that suggested the Inons were being discontinued. The thread wasn't conclusive, but I was forced by schedule to make a decision.

I ended up going with the Ikelite DS125, starting with a single strobe, plan to add the second later this year.

Thanks

Jim