Jasoncassanova

Just my opinion, but I have owned both Ikelite and Aquatica housings and have owned Sea and Sea YS-90's (the predecessor to the ys-110) and Ikelite DS-125 (the predecessor to the DS-160).


a.  The weight.   An aluminum housing will only weigh about 1 pound less than the Ikelite.  I know this for a fact, I owned both at the same time and weighed them on my postal scale.  Everyone kept telling me how much less aluminum housings weigh and it's just not much difference.

b.  Lighting.   The DS-125's put out much more usable light than YS-90's and I believe the same is true of the DS-160 vs. YS-110.  The guide number of the DS-160 and YS-110 is the same but I think most people will say the DS-160 is more powerful.   In any case, I don't think selling your DS-160 and buying a YS-110 to replace it is going to benefit you.  In addition, the recycle rate on the DS-160 is faster than the YS-110;  important if you need to shoot several action shots in a row with a full dump.

c. Ergonomics.   The Ikelite is a great deal for the money.  The aluminum housings are superior in terms of ergonomics.  This is a bigger deal than I thought it would be.  My Aquatica housing is just easier to use in all circumstances.  

IF you go with the Ikelite housing, you definitely want to stick with the DS-160 because TTL is built in to the system.  

IF weight is an issue for you, you might consider selling your DS-160 and getting Inon Z-240's instead since they are much smaller and lighter.  Again, most people feel the DS-160 has better coverage and the color temperature is better for wide angle shots than the Z-240, but you can't deny the Inons are a very impressive strobe..  The YS-110 and DS-160 are pretty close to the same size and weight, I think the YS-110 is just a bit lighter.  The Z-240 is about 1 1/2 lbs. lighter than the DS-160, so 3 pounds savings on a pair.   Just realize whatever you do, a housing with camera inside and an an 8" dome, two strobes and two 8" arms on each side plus clamps and cables is going to be pushing 16-20 pounds out of the water.

Whatever you do, the resulting photos from your D7000 vs. the G11 should make you very happy.

good luck,
John

thank you for your precise point of view... i really appreciate it a lot

I think that metal housings are all about ergonomics and positive controls. My Ikelite worked just fine but the boxy feel bugged me so I purchased a metal housing (Sea Tool) and I love it. Is it worth it? My experience is that the cost will negate upgrading to a newer rig.

I also moved to fibreoptic strobe connections and this was a big deal. Essentially nothing can go wrong with the connections. The Inon Z-240 strobes are simply bulletproof.

So, my advive is that IF you move to a metal case get a pair of Z-240 strobes and sell the DS-160.

In deciding which path to choose consider how long you are willing to wait to upgrade. It is AT LEAST $1500-$2000 more for a metal housing every time you upgrade. I would not leave Ikelite because of the strobes. My DS-125's had better bouyancy and warmer color than the Z-240s

If you do upgrade is should be because you love the precision surfaces and controls of a metal housing. It is a joy to assemble and use......but it will not take better pictures.

thanks tom... i now have a clearer point of view in my situation

I am sure you are aware that strobe light can be controlled with strobe power (either manually or by TTL), , distance to subject and aperture. The answers up till now seem to forget the aperture.

For Macro, to get good depth of field (if there is enough light) you can use small apertures (high number such as f16). What are you using normally : i have other ikelite strobes, but if the aperture is too large (the number too big, eg on the full f2.8 opening) or if i forgot to adjust the iso back if i have shot ambiant light and it is way too high (such as 1600), the TTL cant cope and the picture is still underexposed.

i'll keep this in mind, you are right about having a big opening when shooting something up close. Thanks.


Jason.

I believe the answer is no.  Since you are shooting TTL, dropping the ISO down will make the camera ask for the flash to put out more power to achieve the same results as when you shot at ISO 100.  What you need to do is either shoot manual or if you want to use TTL then use exposure/flash compensation to quite down the amount of light being output.


Cheers
BC

Got it!


Jason.

I see You'r point. Then again many start with manual and use TTL only occasionally. Specially in macro You can achive interesting lighting (shadows etc) with two strobes on different power settings. A long talk in short - start trying manual The sooner the better. IMHO TTL gives often boring even lighting

Cheers
Karel

Karel,

     Well i might just try that this weekend, it'll be my first to dive with a group of underwater photographers, so this time it'll be long and shallow for us, so i think that gives me a lot of time to experiment


Jason.

Hi Jason!

Ever considered choosing strobe power manually?

Cheers
Karel

Karel,


     well since i'm just new, my friend told me to practice with TTL first before i start with manual.



Jason.

Hi ya Jason,

Well from the little bit I know- the general iso standard for underwater pics is 100 or 200.
If you have lower ISO values eg.from ISO 100 to ISO 80, and keeping all your other settings constant, yes the light should 'back off' so to speak in your image, and when you make a print, your 'grain saturation' of colours etc.  should  be even better!
You could also reduce your aperture at iso 100, back off on the strobes etc....there are so many combinations you can go with!

Are you finding this is 'over bright' phenomenon in your macro or in wide angle shots?
I would imagine this tactic of yours would work better for macro, because you are closer to your subject so your strobes will have more powerful effect.
If you were shooting wide angle you might actually find your pictures too underexposed with iso 80- so you may have to switch to diffent iso eg. iso 200.

So in theory, to answer your question- yes- however- this all depends on what you are shooting at the time, ambient light conditions, subject location, sizeof subject, size of scene, visibility of water etc etc etc

Its all down to experimentation and learning...and every shot condition will have a different setting.
Changing the ISO down is only one way of making your shots better

Happy learning

ps. I dont have a facility to shoot TTL on my camera at the moment- so I cant help you there. For strobes I just mess around with strobe angles, strobe setting, and of course, a combination of ISO, Aperture, and shutter speed.

Damo,

    
    Well you actually nailed my inquiry, this over bright phenomenon happens when i shoot macro, the DS 160 is a powerful strobe at TTL with just less than 16 in. away from the subject, it brightens the subject a lot than expected. so i was wondering if i can't adjust my strobes any farther and would want to have a result in a good combination of aperture and shutter speed, i was hoping that i'd rather change the iso setting if it was possible. since i'm just starting, i'm shooting during the day and mostly around 10ft - 20ft. depths. i agree that lowering the ISO on a wide angle shot would make it underexposed.

thanks.

Jason.