geggle 0 Posted January 2, 2005 Okay, I know this has been asked a gazillion times before,. But not by me. I am a digital novice and have a cp5000w/ ikelite housing. I am looking for suggestions on strobe selection. So........ would a single ds 125 be a better starting place, than (2) ds 50s? I shoot everything from macro to WA recreationally. I need a good starting place for a system that will obviously grow as I climb the learning curve and resign myself to schlepping around more and more STUFF! anyone out there have experience between these two systems? Thanks :? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
derway 2 Posted January 2, 2005 On a given trip, it is always wise to have an extra strobe. So having 2 is good, so at worst you might be forced to shoot with 1. Not that anything actually ever goes wrong, but... Maybe one of each? Get nice main/fill effect... The 125 is much nicer for wide, though several folks I've seen shoot wide with dual DS50s, and get good results. On the other hand, I think the size and power of the 125 is just right. And you don't loose that much carrying 2 of these, versus 2 ds50s, and if you don't want to carry both, you know you'll end up with 2 ds125s! Welcome to the world of uw photo... Don Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoelD 0 Posted January 5, 2005 As a novice UW photographer, I started out life with a single DS-125 strobe, which was fine (I thought) a year ago. My photos turned out heads and shoulders better than the guy who took the manufacturer's housing and no strobe. Then I added a WA lens and port... DMoss and I went to Little Cayman this last November, with the same setups except he had snuck along a second DS-125....taking photos of the same thing, his dual-strobed images make mine look sub-par. If the choice was to go with 1 DS-125 or 2 DS-50s, I think I would go with the 2 DS-50s, or if at all possible 2 DS-125s. I had hoped to plug the hole that UW photography had blown out the bottom of the wallet, maybe next year.... That being said, an IOU for a second DS-125 and EV Controller is in my camera bag. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dmoss 0 Posted January 6, 2005 Geggle... My buddy Joel has some good points in his reply. He was not totally correct, however, on one of his comments :roll: I didn't actually 'sneak' the 2nd DS125 on the trip. He saw the outfit a few days prior to our departure (shame he didn't have time to order one himself ) The dual strobes makes a big difference...improved overall lighting without shadows is the real plus. You just have to experiment with toning down the strobes for closeups. Whether to buy 2 DS50's or 1 DS125 is tough to answer. The dual stobes is the better settup, but the DS50 has a recycle time of 3.5 seconds while the DS125 has a blazing 1 second recycle time. I shoot a lot in sequential mode and the faster recycle time makes all the difference when trying to get the perfect shot of a darting trunkfish. You might want to get a single 125 to start with and then add a second one when your budget allows. The best advice I can give for your first UW photo trip....when you think you are close enough...get closer !! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
