Buying a strobe(s), any advice?

Hello!

Had the good fortune of taking a day trip to the Dry Tortugas/ Fort Jefferson National Park 2 weeks ago.

My theory has been "stay shallow until you can afford to buy a strobe", so this was an excellent area for me to shoot as the Fort has very good vis, shallow water and a good variety of fish life.

I was walking back to the boat after a decent day of shooting when a father and son notified me of some big groupers below the boat. I got back in the water and swam under the hull of the power catamaran, and 15 ft below the surface were 5 Goliath groupers...the largest being 250-300lbs easily. The shadow from the boat decreased the vis to about 5 ft, so needless to say, my shots of the groupers didn't turn out all that well. As a matter of fact, it was the biggest highlight of the trip, and I couldn't capture a decent photo of it!

So, being thoroughly frustrated, I did what most of my fellow Americans do when they can't afford what they want, and I applied for a credit card.

Now that it's here, I'm ready to buy something!

Basically, I don't want to purchase a system, and later wish I'd gotten something a little stronger, or buy a single strobe only to realize that I'm wasting my time not shooting with 2.

Here are a few questions that I'm hoping a few of my fellow Wetpixel members won't mind taking the time to respond to/advise me on.

Q. Will I be majorly disappointed if I purchase only one strobe?

Q. Shooting mostly wide angle, do I want to go with higher watts?

Q. Ikelite housing...might as well stay with Ike correct?

Q. No dealers in my immediate area...anyone recommend a good site to purchase what I need (was going to use Adorama)?

Thanks guys (and gals).

Al Nelson

Hi Al,

My wife has the Ike 20D housing and 2 DS125 strobes. We just returned from a Bali trip where we mostly shot macro and she got absolutely FABULOUS shots using the eTTL2 built into the Ike housing.

For starters you will do well with one strobe - use the diffuser. You will eventually want two...

Cheers

James

James,

Thanks for responding. Would you mind clearing something up for me? Every site that advertises the DS-125'S seems to offer 3 packages: Sync cord, Slave sensor, and Manual controller. I've been reading the past forums trying to understand the pros and cons of each but have not learned much. Could you shed some light on it for me?

Cheers,

Al Nelson

Al, You want the sync cord.

Ikelite 20D housings have a manual controler built in so there is no need for an external one and even if you do deside you wanted to use an external manual controler you will still need a sync cord.

Slave sensor is for cameras that dont have the option of a sync cord.

Oh and your question of where to buy. I much prefer www.bhphotovideo.com over adorama.

William,

Thanks brother...that's the info I was looking for.

I'm going to buy 2 of them today before I talk myself out of it!

Rock on!

Al Nelson

If you are going with two strobes, the cord that comes in the package wont work.

You need the dual sync cord to use two strobes.

Ask for the dual eTTL2 sync cord - the one with the blue band on it.

Cheers

James

William...thanks, glad I mentioned that I'm buying 2.

I was just sniffing around Ike's site and came across this blurb:

"DS-125 SubStrobes with Serial Number below 2,500 require a $150 update to operate with the latest eTTL conversion circuitry. DS-125 SubStrobes with Serial Number between 2,500 and 4.999 operate well with the latest eTTL conversion circuitry, but require a $50 update to provide optimum performance. "

Did you guys go through all that, and if so, who provides the updates? B&H? Do I have to mail them in to Ikelite? Serial numbers over 5000 require no updates?

Ike: If you read this thread...from a consumer standpoint, you guys could really benefit from a skilled sales-copy writer...you know, to really s-p-e-l-l out all this for the laymans like me. I mean, why can't I find this info on the Ikelite site?

The merchant sites that sell your products don't do much of a better job. Seems to me that they assume the consumer arrives to their website knowing what he needs and is just stopping by to place an order.

Then again...if it was all spelled out for me, I wouldn't be able to bug William, James and all the other Wetpixel members with my strobe questions.

Thanks for the info William and James!

Al Nelson

Yes, one of my strobes needed ot be updated. Which does require sending it in to Ikelite.

It was very easy to do but not something you need to wory about, as your new strobes will be eTTL compatible.

As far as a lack of info on the net, that is why it is worth it sometimes to buy from local dealers(or wetpixel sponsers). The price is higher than B&H but they can answer all of your questions.

Well, Al, where you read about required updates states: "DS-50 and DS-125 SubStrobes produced since September, 2004 have all required updates." The jerk that runs Ikelite is too cheap to hire skilled writers, preferring to tell his own lies.

Al,

I'll seconds James remarks. I shoot the 20d in an Ikelite housing with 2 DS-125 strobes. For wide angle 2 strobes gives you not only more even lighting, but the option to move one strobe around for a bit of halo back lighting, which gives close up items in a wide angle shot a nice backlit edge. The ETTL2 works perfectly 99% of the time and the built in manual controller fixes anything else. I've purchased from both J&R and B&H with good results, but B&H processes your order and ships faster with better web tracking. By the time J&R's web site show that the order is ready to ship I've had the package for 3 days.

Doug

Doug,

Thanks for your input. I'm going for it.

Cheers

Al Nelson

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone had any opinions about dual DS-50s. My basic thinking is to get a single DS-125, but was wondering if dual DS-50s would be a better option.

FYI, I am in the process of buying a Canon 350D and Ikelite housing, and plan to do a mixture of macro and wide angle shooting.

Thanks in advance. ds

Hi Betty

Unless you plan on going with strictly macro i would go with the 125s. The 50s not really powerful enough for WA, even with two. The 125s on the other hand will do a great job on both WA and macro. You would be better off with one of them to begin with as you will eventually want them in the future. Then as things progress add a second unit.

Shooting strictly macro, and using and Ikelite housing with the built in eTTL2 and manual controller, I'd be very happy with 2 DS50's. They are small, light, and have a powerful focused beam.

On the other hand, I don't feel they would be adequate to use with a lens like the Sigma 15mm fisheye, especially as I like to use manual strobe power controls and often make one strobe more powerful than another.

Cheers

James

Guys,

Thanks a lot for the advice. It was particularly helpful as the Sigma 15mm was the lens that I plan to buy.

On a related issue, does anyone have an opion about the Ikelite control arms for the strobes? Ie. Are the ULC or similar better, or should I buy the DS-125 package and use the control arms that come with it.

Thanks again.

With apologies to Ike............... Get the ULCS arms. Ike's are good, but ULCS is superior. specially with the heavier strobes.