In part one of this series, I talked about my move from a Nikon D300 to an Olympus OMD-EM1. In part two, I talked about the difference in sizes and weight between the Subal housing for my Nikon and the Nauticam housing for my Olympus. Today, I want to talk about the differences between my Ikelite DS-125 strobes and my Inon Z-240 strobes.
The Inon on the left is definitely smaller than the Ikelite. The Inon is shown with the optical cable while the Ikelite has the Ikelite to Nikonos electrical cable.
|
Weight with Battery (lbs) |
No. of Strobes |
Total Weight (lbs) |
|
| Inon Z-240 |
1.75 |
2 |
3.5 |
| Ikelite DS-125 |
3.25 |
2 |
6.5 |
|
Weight Difference |
3 |
So I am now saving 3 pounds on using Inon Z-240 strobes over Ikelite DS-125’s but that is not the only weight savings because when I take my equipment to photograph or when I travel, I take two spare Ikelite DS-125 battery packs with me.
The battery packs weigh 1.5 pounds each compared to the spare batteries for the Inon.
The weight of eight AA batteries is negligible. I didn’t even weigh them because I wasn’t sure if they would register on my scale.
So let’s look at the overall weight savings since we started this series.
The total weight savings with the camera and housing is 4.75 pounds. The weight savings for the strobes is 3 pounds and the weight savings for the battery packs is another 3 pounds. The total weight savings is 10.75 pounds which is a significant amount of weight. Other factors that will come into play are I take two Nikon D300 bodies with me whenever I photograph underwater and at one point I will purchase a second OMD-EM1 so I will save weight there. Another factor is that most of the lenses for the OMD-EM1 are smaller and lighter than their DX counterparts.
To sum things up, I believe that the move that I made is right for me. I am having a blast with the camera. It is so much fun to use and I am using a camera in ways that I have never before. The OMD-EM1 has more megapixels than my D300, has better high ISO performance, has ISO 100 which I don’t have on the D300. The Inon strobes will allow me to use TTL if I want and use optical cables for connectivity to the housing. This eliminates flooding problems with electrical cables. The housing is light and compact and has a great leak detection system (I could have put one into my Subal housing but that would have increased the weight of the housing).
I have everything that I need to start shooting underwater except for the Panasonic 8mm lens which I will buy soon. I can’t wait for the most exciting aspect of this whole journey and that is to start taking underwater photographs. It won’t be long now.
© 2014, Herb Segars. All rights reserved.
