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INON #2932
October 22, 2008 - 5:15 PM

Mark Rupert, Steve Philbrook of INON America and Takura Torii, and Yoshiro Ichikawa of INON Japan were at the INON booth showing off their line of strobes, accessories, and a prototype fisheye endoscope (the “insect eye”).

The new INON S-2000 strobe is really small and features improved optical sensor sensitivity. It features a single flash tube and has a guide number of 20 (meters, air).

Additional notes:

- no focus light
- 4 x AA batteries
- small!!
- 100m depth rating
- optical slave sensor is approx 100 times more sensitive
- removable diffuser
- hotshot mount for direct attachment to housing
- tiny controls—will be impossible to use with gloves
- late 2008 / early 2009 ship date

Because of the increased light sensitivity of the S-2000, no dedicated optical fiber optic sync is needed (although it is a good a idea because you don’t want your strobe to fire when other people shoot). INON showed a compact housing with an angled metal tab in front of the camera’s onboard flash and a mirrored light collection “well” on the strobe’s optical sync sensor with an extended arm for aiming. It’s hard to describe; see the photo in the gallery below.

INON also was showing a new endoscope port / lens prototype that is called the “insect eye” in Japanese. It is a long, thin port with a 130° fisheye lens on the end of it, and is capable of framing macro subjects with a wide background and near-infinite depth of field. At the moment, the new port is designed for a Canon 60mm EF-S macro lens. INON estimates that this lens will ship by spring or summer of 2009. I want one.

Also on display were the entire assortment of INON buoyancy arms and a universal grip base. The buoyancy arms have mounts for INON accessory lenses, and may start to ship as early as next month.