Hi!
I am new in the UW photo world…
I’ve acquired a Sony DSC-T100 w/ MPH-THD Sony housing, and now I’m looking for a Strobe for my camera.
I’ve looked at Ikelite DS-51 and I’ve been advised not to buy this because I should have a manual controler/sensor. Instead I was advised to buy the Sea&Sea;YS110. And when I found the store with a price tag suitable for my budget, they told me I should instead buy the Inon D-2000 because YS-110 “...it will fire but we cannot get the optical TTL to perform acceptably”.
I don’t know what to do now…
The MPH-THD housing is opaque in the flash area (working like a diffuser). Will this be a problem when connected via fiber optic to the strobe?
Thank You for your kind help!
Cheers

Hi

If the store has recommended you buy the Inon strobe instead of the Sea and Sea because they can’t get the optical TTL to work acceptably, I suppose you have to figure out why they are advising you this way.  There are a few possibilities:
- They genuinely have had problems with the Sea and Sea strobe in the past, and are trying to help you avoid buying a strobe that you will end up being disappointed with (and of course they want to avoid the headache of an unhappy customer)
- They get better margin on the Inon kit, and/or the Inon kit is more expensive
- a combination of the above!
- some other reason entirely…

If you want TTL (i.e. the manual control solution doesn’t appeal to you) then I think your choices are indeed limited to the Inon or Sea and Sea strobes.  Personally, I don’t find the manual control with the Ikelite kit to be difficult.  You have to point the strobe anyway, so it’s not much extra effort to look at the distance to the subject and set an appropriate flash power level.

With the fibre optic conection to the housing, the main difficulties seem to be achieving a reliable attachment (alot of people seem to use some sort of velcro strap arrangement) that holds the end of the optic cable so it gets a good blast of the camera’s flash.  The diffuser on your housing shouldn’t cause any problems (by the way, I think you probably mean that the flash area is translucent, rather than opaque.).

Hope that helps.

Graham

Dear Graham,
Thanks for you reply!
Yes, the flash area is translucent…
I guess with my housing I can’t use the TTL mode. But at the same time I would like to buy a good strobe that would be usable if I decide to upgrade my camera in the future.
I will try to understand with them why the YS110 is not the adequate strobe for me…

Here is the response from Reef Photo store:

“As I said, the YS-110 will fire as required when used with your housing/camera. My statement does not address using the fiber optic cable or not. You should definitely use a cable with whatever strobe you choose.

Despite the manufacturers claims, the YS-110 automatic optical exposure control, called DS-TTL, does not work as advertised. It is not accurate and in our opinion is not usable. It’s probably not a matter of the sensor, but the circuitry that must mimic the camera flash in microseconds. Other factors like ramp up time/ramp down time of the flash tubes also figure into the equation. Not sure where the fault lies, but our experience has been negative when trying to use the DS-TTL setting on these strobes.

To get predictable, repeatable exposures, you will have to use the strobe in manual mode, manually setting the exposure for each shot.

The Inon S-TTL system however is proven and is very accurate. “

Any comments?

Hi again.

Why do you think you can’t use TTL with your housing?  I haven’t seen the particular housing that you have, but I would have thought that will a little ingenuity, it would be possible to arrange an attachment point for a fibre optic cable for either the Inon or Sea and Sea strobes.

I’m afraid I don’t have any experience of either the Inon or Sea and Sea strobes (other than having read their specifications and claims), so I can’t comment on whether the shop is giving you correct information or not.  On the face of it, their explanation of the problem appears technically feasible, and they are certainly being quite clear in their view that the DS-TTL with the Sea and Sea strobe is unreliable, and that the Inon S-TTL does work.

Is there any reason why you do not want to consider the Inon strobe?  They are very popular, and seem to have a good reputation.  The s-TTL system Inon use has been around for a few years, so it’s reliability would be well known in the market place, and on forums like this one and wetpixel.

Sorry I can’t be more helpful

Graham

Thanks Graham.
I’ve also seen in a french forum someone having problems using the Sea&Sea;YS-110 in DS-TTL mode.
I woukd prefer the YS-110 because it can be connected both by fiber optic or electric cabe to the camera, and the Inon is only connected by fiber optic.
If I want to upgrade my camera in the future to a DSLR the Inon strobe wouldn’t work.
On the other hand, I’ve read a few reviews where people say that they use their slave strobe always in manual mode - and this way the YS-110 wouln’t be a problem…
I am almost convinced to buy the Inon flash… It is cheaper anyway…

Have you looked at the Inon Z-240 strobe?  it has both fibre optic and electrical sync cord capability.  It’s a little more expensive than the D-2000, but not by much.

As I haven’t read the reviews you are referring to, I don’t have any idea of the context of the phrase ‘slave strobe’ but I normally take that to mean a second strobe that triggers when the primary strobe fires (the primary is synchronised with the camera using the sync cable or fibre optic).  Unless you get double sync cords, running the slave strobe in manual mode is the easiest way of operating a second strobe. 

Also with double strobes, I believe many photographers like to vary the output level of the two strobes (i.e. they are not always matched) because this creates different lighting effects, and enables better control over shadows.  Hence they use manual control over the second strobe (and quite possibly the primary too).

HTH

Graham

I’ve found with Inon that you can buy an optical converter to be used with DSLR cameras…
This way, if I want to move to a DSLR I can still use this strobe!
I am convinced…
I’m going to buy the Inon D-2000…
The Z-240 is above my limit… My wife will complaint enough with this… I don’t want her to “kill” me…
Thanks!