Hello All,

I am relatively new to uw photo and am just purchased the camera, lens, housing and ports. BTW, Blake at Aquatica has been very helpful. Excellent service and response times.

I have the above set up and am looking to begin shooting with the Nikon 12-24 DX and a 60 mm for macro.

Can anyone reccomend me specific strobes to pair together with this system? Anyother comments on accesories (arms, etc) are most welcome.

Cheers!

Welcome to the board Charlie!

How many strobes are you looking to buy?

Nice way to dive into UW photography.

No reason not to go with Aqautica/TLC arms if you happy with working with Blake. I like them.

Strobes... Well you have a lot of choice out there, but the two most popular choices would be either the Ikelite DS-125's or the INON 220's.
A pair of either of these strobes should give you enough coverage for either macro or wide angle work.

There are long disussions in the Strobe&Lighting forum on the differences, but you can't really go wrong with either.

M

Since the S2 does TTL, and you have Flash Compensation on the camera that's really easy to use w/ the Aquatica, you can use small macro strobes like the:

Ikelite SS50 or the
Sea and Sea YS30's

They don't have any manual control, but they are great for macro w/ TTL and they don't cost too much. You can pick up a set of Ike 50's for something likek $400 for 2.

FWIW, I use Ike SS200's for wideangle and Ike 50's for macro.

Cheers
James

Thanks James, this was the point enquiry :wink:

Hello Charlie,

While Ike does make good strobes and Ocean Optics Subtronic flashguns/strobes are incredible, I use Sea & Sea YS-120's (four for wide angle) and YS-30's (for highlights in macro and at times as a flashlight for models to use during certain shots) with my Aquatica digital and film housings. They are compact and very reliable. Most of all, I like the broad, warm beam of the 120's and the cordless TTL of the 30's.

I work closely with Blake and Norma on various projects and can assure you that they will be as kind and helpful after your housing is five years old as they were when you were considering buying it.

Scott

I agree with James in regard to the ikes. Thankfully the S2 will accept ANY TTL strobe the uses the Nikon connector. Sea and Sea strobes are nice as well. The YS 30 is good for normal macro using a 60 mm BUT if you plan to shoot at greater magnification in the future the Ys 30 may not provide enough light to properly expose the shots if a small aperture is used.

I have found that the Nikon SB-105 is a great choice for macro as well. It has a narrow beam like the Ike 50 and is acutely more powerful. The best feature of the 105 is that it also has 1/4 and 1/16 manual power settings. This is quite useful for creative lighting situations.

The 105 as well as the recalled 103 are quite common on ebay. if you get a 103 Nikon will replace it with a new 105 at no charge, That is how I got my 105s

Yo James, I just got my Nikon 12-24 ! Woo Hoo! REAL wide angle at last. 8)

Kindest Regards

Chris Bangs

One major advantage of the Inon Z220 is that it has output power comparable to the Ike DS125 but at the size of the DS50. It's great for macro, and probably comparable to the DS125 for wideangle. If keeping your luggage size and weight under control is a factor, this is a big advantage.

Herbko,

I will be looking into the Inon strobes. I need more power in tight places for shooting tiny critters I can't see.



Chris

Hi Guys (and Gals?),

Thanks very much for the info, most helpful.

Cybergoldfish - was thinking of buying a pair to start with. So perhaps if one specific will suffice for both macro and WA, though have strengths in one area, and then I can add the dedicated strobe for the other area in the future. I saw the other posts that also answer this approach.

I live in Hong Kong, but dive regularly in the Philippines. If anyone makes it out to this side of the pond, let me know and happy to help with any queries as to the local dive scene.

Cheers!