102 replies to this topic

[Nicool]

Just a report back on the potential overheating issue with the Z330.
 
I'm running some tests of Eneloop Pro vs Ikea Ladda batteries.
 
To do so, I put the Z330s in a bucket of water at 28°C (82°F), and fired them as quickly as possible at full power.
 
The frequency was down to how quickly the strobes recycled.
 
The tests have so far involved over 600 full strobe dumps in quick succession (per strobe)
 
No issues with temperature yet...
 
Adam

Thanks for this interesting test Adam!
Can you confirm the Z330s are as powerful as before after such a treatment?
The risk i see is the light bulbs not tolerating well: what happened to one of my Z240s is (after repetitive flashing) is that it got less powerful than the other strobe.
Its light output would still vary when playing with the knob, so not a problem of corroded magnet, but it had became around 2 stops less powerful than the other strobe.




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[adamhanlon]

Hi Nicool,

 

I'm siting at my desk writing half blinded!

 

Just fired the strobes.

 

Subjectively, I would say that both strobes are still putting out their full output. 

 

Did you speak to Inon about the issues with your strobes? My experience is that they are very responsive to any issues. I am also aware that earlier models of the Z240 did have issues with overheating (although they tended to blacken the tubes rather than burn them out like the YS-D2 tends to). Certainly, the latter versions seemed not to have the issue. I had Z240 type 4s and they were fine...

 

All the best

 

Adam

[Nicool]

Hi Nicool,
 
I'm siting at my desk writing half blinded!
 
Just fired the strobes.
 
Subjectively, I would say that both strobes are still putting out their full output. 
 
Did you speak to Inon about the issues with your strobes? My experience is that they are very responsive to any issues. I am also aware that earlier models of the Z240 did have issues with overheating (although they tended to blacken the tubes rather than burn them out like the YS-D2 tends to). Certainly, the latter versions seemed not to have the issue. I had Z240 type 4s and they were fine...
 
All the best
 
Adam

Thanks Adam for involving yoursefl so visually
Yes since then i have reached out to Inon and got the faulty strobe serviced, it was a flash tube that started to blacken, and now works fine.
This was however on Type 4 z240.
But i had clearly gone beyond the Inon recommended repetitive shooting limits when this happened.



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[errbrr]

Inon were not all that responsive to my melted tubes/capacitor, but that may have been the dealer intermediary and their communication. Repeated full dumps at 28 degrees with no burn out sounds like a great improvement. Typically I would lose the tubes on one out of my six Z240s on each week-long tropical cave diving trip. 

[adamhanlon]

Just to let everyone now that what I thought was the missing ingredient with these strobes is no longer missing!

 

http://wetpixel.com/...for-z330-strobe

 

Inon announced their 4600°K (and 4900°K) diffusers yesterday. It remand to be definitely seen, but I think these will make a significant difference to the quality of light.

 

Adam

 

[tangfish]

That's great news! I wonder if they allow the same amount of light through as the first type of diffuser.

 

I'm curious to know Alex's opinon after trying these warmer diffusers, as the stock diffuser of the Z-330 seemed to be one of the main shortcomings he noticed when comparing the Inon directly against the Retra strobe,

http://wetpixel.com/...=59574&p=393451

[FLAFROG]

Today is April 10 2018.

Anybody know when the Inon Z-33o's will start hipping in the US?

[FLAFROG]

Flafrog,asked that Q,I'm logged in but didn't  show?

[Reku]

I imagine it's going to be awhile before things start to ship. I've been waiting over 3 months so far.

[davehicks]

I ordered my 330's from Reef Photo on Dec 19th and recieved them April 5th.  I shot with them all that week up in Port Hardy.  Great strobes, easy to use, no problems at all. 

 

Coming from the stellar battery capacity of the Ikelite 161's I was not sure what to expect from a strobe running 4 AA's.  I used brand new Eneloop Pro's (2450 mah) for the 330's.  I swapped batteries after 2 dives, and probably took around 250 shots max on those cells.  My charger never showed more than 1/2 capacity used up.  I'd guess these will be good for 350+ shots at 1/2 power.

[Diver4fun]

Good to hear, I'll soon get my two new 330's. The only thing I'm less happy about is the supposed sequence shooting restriction. Does anyone have experience with this?

[snoozer]

FRUSTRATED.  Ordered a pair on 1/5/18 from a major place in California.  No delivery of product as of today, and no one there has the slightest clue as to a delivery date.  So i sit with a new D 500, lenses, housing, vacuum monitor, dome, ports, extensions,  gears, arms, clamps, viewfinder, and all the other assorted equipment one collects for a system, and no strobes.  Trip in one month.  Wishing  I knew where I stood.

Anyone know of a place in USA that has these in stock?  Does Inon have a North American rep? 

[Diver4fun]

My strobes arrived, did some quick testing. Strobe power is definately better than my YS-01, it just seems a bit too bright at lowest power setting? at 1/250 f5.6 images are a bit overexposed. I know there's a ND filter but using it doesn't really make sense to me.

[adamhanlon]

I find that I can turn mine down enough. How did you have the the exposure set up? TTL or Manual? Magnets in or out? I'm sure you know this, but the Full Power option on the Z330's controls is where the Manual setting used to be!

 

Of course there is also the option of simply moving the strobes away from the subject a little?

 

Adam

[Diver4fun]

I find that I can turn mine down enough. How did you have the the exposure set up? TTL or Manual? Magnets in or out? I'm sure you know this, but the Full Power option on the Z330's controls is where the Manual setting used to be!

 

Of course there is also the option of simply moving the strobes away from the subject a little?

 

Adam

Both TTL and lowest manual settings produce the same result. These were just test pics in a bath tub, didn't have time to dive with them yet. According to Inon minimal GN is 4(sea&sea YS-01 has 1), if I divide this by 5.6 I get 70cm working distance (above water). Strobes were like 20cm from test subject so the overexposure does make . Things will probably be better when diving in murkier water, increasing F-stop and by moving the strobes a bit further back.

[davehicks]

I'm not sure when you'd use f5.6 unless you were in really dark conditions and wanted a lot of natural lighting.  For anything that can be strobe illuminated & wide angle I rarely go below f7.1 or f8.  More often I'll shot f9 or f11 at higher ISO's to get better corner sharpness.

[ChrisRoss]

I'm not sure when you'd use f5.6 unless you were in really dark conditions and wanted a lot of natural lighting.  For anything that can be strobe illuminated & wide angle I rarely go below f7.1 or f8.  More often I'll shot f9 or f11 at higher ISO's to get better corner sharpness.

It depends on what sensor size you are talking about   f5.6 gives the same  DOF as a full frame at f11 when shooting a m43 sensor.  THe reason to stop down is to have enough DOF to get the corner into focus.  When using m43 cameras and compacts like the RX100 you'll actually start losing sharpness to diffraction at f11. 

[peartdiver]

 When I first ordered Inon Z330 (2) from Backscatter (east) it took 6-7 weeks but they arrived in time for my recent April trip to Curacao. Having only read up on their potential, I am happy to report they are really studly in their performance and I had no issues to report at this time. Recycle time and was great using the recommended eneloop pro AA batteries. I fired off dozens of shots during my dives and still got great response without recharging. The warm difuser was in use and I loved the effect on my images.  These strobes are easy to manipulate on the strobe arms and using a Nauticam's fiber optic cable for TTL with my housed Canon G7x, I am very pleased.  If you are considering purchasing this unit, it is worth the wait.

 

Peter

[jmark18]

Just got my new Z330s today to replace the Ikelite 161s I had. I decided to change in order to save packing weight as I travelled with extra batteries and that added significant weight. The settings appear straight forward EXCEPT for the preflash button.I shoot manual with electric sync chords and cannot figure out from the manual how I should set the flash/preflash buttons.Suggestions?

 

Jeff

Edited by jmark18, 02 June 2018 - 05:19 PM.

[hellhole]

Just got my new Z330s today to replace the Ikelite 161s I had. I decided to change in order to save packing weight as I travelled with extra batteries and that added significant weight. The settings appear straight forward EXCEPT for the preflash button.I shoot manual with electric sync chords and cannot figure out from the manual how I should set the flash/preflash buttons.Suggestions?
 
Jeff

What camera are u using? This will help determine if your camera does pre-flash or not.

If you do not know what camera you are using then answer the below.
Does your camera do a few flashes before the actual main flash fires?
If yes, then the button for the acc will be up. Which means on.
If no. Then the button should be down. Which means off.

This button only applicable if you use the manual option on the strobe. Else... Don't matter if it's up or down.

Okay?

Edited by hellhole, 03 June 2018 - 07:14 AM.