Starting out with a strobe.
Lots of beginner underwater photographers start out using natural light, but quickly realise this is limiting them to the shallows. So if you’re wanting to get deeper into underwater photography (ha - get it?), a strobe or some form of lighting should be near the top of your wish-list.
 With that in mind, I’m going to tell you about a few of our most popular strobes, to help you out with that all important strobe decision.
Our most popular strobes with travellers, Inon strobes are teensy. I cannot emphasise enough how portable these strobes are. I was blown away the first time I saw the S-2000, which Inon boasts is “the world’s smallest, best strobe” (and they aren't the only ones who think so) - though they shouldn’t undersell the new Z-330 which is selling faster than they can manufacture at the moment and is the strongest strobe on the market. A sometimes controversial point: they take regular AA batteries. Some love this, others prefer a rechargeable custom battery.
If you prefer a custom rechargeable, look no further than Ikelite’s DS161 and DS160. These come with proprietary batteries and Australia/NZ chargers. About half again as big as the Z-330 and twice the size of the S-2000, they’re going to take up more room in your bag and they are a LOT heavier than either. The 161  also includes a video light, so it’s a twofor. Ikelite also make the TTL DS51, which takes AAs and is more compact - though slower, larger, heavier and a much narrower beam than Inon’s tiny S-2000.
Typically, the bigger the strobe, the more light they’ll generate underwater though, so if you’re planning on taking wide-wide angle shots with a DSLR or Mirrorless camera, you may want to go straight for the Z-330, DS160 or 161 and skip the smaller models. The S-2000 and DS51 are perfect for a compact camera setup or macro photography. (I’m oversimplifying here - Ikelite 160/161s aren’t much more powerful than than the S-2000 but have horseshoe-shaped tubes instead of straight ones, which product a slightly more even illumination, which appears as “brighter” to the eye.)
 One thing to think about when buying strobes is colour temperature. Generally, around the 4000K mark, you’ll experience more blues, and around 6000K, more reds and yellows. This handy-dandy chart helps explain the colour temperature differences in a range of strobe brands.
Inon produce coloured diffusers for both the S-2000 and the Z-330 to warm their strobes' light up and bring out the yellows and reds - but remember to crank your power a bit compensate for the slight loss of intensity if you use one. (Definitely not an issue if you're using the powerful Z-330!)
Honorable mentions for the most affordable go to Fantasea Nano Flash (which we have on sale at the moment) and Ikelite AF35 AutoFlash. Nano Flash is similar to your on-camera flash, but off-camera. Not very powerful but you will get better lighting since you can place it on the side of your camera to get more flattering lighting on your subject. The AF35 is super affordable, includes tray and arm system and is no mucking about. Unfortunately, like the Nano, it's an optical slave - meaning your camera flash will still go off, which can complicate things - and you can't use it with any other tray or arm system, so it's not super flexible.
When it comes to connecting your strobes, you’ll need to grab yourself a sync cord - which is a whole other kettle of fish! A confusing topic that can vary dramatically depending on your strobe and housing, feel free to give us a shout and we can help you out on this difficult topic.
As always, any questions you have can be directed at us via our Facebook, via email, or you can give us a call any time on 09-521 0684!
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