NEW...Strobie 230 portable flash

Gary752

For those looking to save a few bucks, check out the new Stobie 230 by Scott Robert Lim. Some of the new features he has added are 1. Built in radio receiver (works with his Tiny Trigger v3, or any manual trigger (no TTL)) 2. Video light and variable dimmer to assist in low light focusing or a perfect fill light for high ISO applications. 3. External battery input. He is also trying to get a pull out diffuser that is CTO added. On his website it states that if you buy 2 Strobie 230's he will include one of his Tiny Trigger v3's absolutely free. I just checked his website for the price and he is selling these for $159.00 each. So for $318.00 you'd have 2 flashes and a trigger. Only thing you'd need would be your favorite modifiers. If you want to check these out further go to: http://scottrobertla.com/2014/04/27/strobie-230/ I think he stated on Facebook that these will start shipping around mid June. I'm planning on buying a few of these myself!

GaryB

Glort

Garry have you seen the Yonguo Flashes?

This one is a little more powerful than the one you mention and has many more features bar the led light. It has a transmitter and is around half the price of the other ones.

You can see them here: http://yongnuo.eachshot.com/product/yongnuo-yn-560-iii-with-rf-603-single-transmitter-yn560iii-ultra-long-range-wirelss-flash-speedlite-rf603-trgger-for-nikon-canon/

There is of course a whole rang of these brand units.

I have 3 of the yonguo flashes and to say I'm well and truly satisfied with the things is a gross understatement.
To be honest, I bought the first one for a particular job and thought it should get me through it and if it died the next day, no biggie. I have never been big on speedlights and untill I bought the yonguo, I was still using the 45 Metz I bought new as a teenager.

I pretty well mistreated that yonguo thing and it's never flinched. It was rolling round in the toolbox of my truck for a while and looks like it. Not sure how it got there but I didn't rush to take it out. I have had it in flooded underwater bags ( many times) and used the thing as a studio head pounding out pics of 2000 kids in a week for several jobs.
It didn't miss a beat so I went and bought another couple and the external AA battery packs. I had used my mates canon one but bought the yonguo cheapies and they have also been great. Don't know how long they last, I have never been able to flatten ( or slow them down ) on a job yet.
Next I'll get the godox Turbo battery style pack for the 1 sec or less recharges.

A friend of mine who is well heeled and a very Die hard " I'm not interested in cheap Chinese crap" type of guy, borrowed a couple of my 565's ( reluctantly) to do a setup for his Daughters Formal that I couldn't cover for him.
He has a couple of 580 canons which he has had for a while. He ended up doing a few things playing with the yonguos and his pocketwizzards over the couple of weeks till I saw him again.

When he brought them back, I asked if they were as terrible as he thought they would be. He said " I went and bought 2 of them yesterday, I'll never buy canons again when I can buy these things for a 3rd of the price and they seem to give better lighting."
Very high praise indeed from this guy who only buys the best of everything.

Anyway, just thought I'd give you a heads up on these in case you haven't heard or wern't aware of them and they maybe something that interests you.

lifeinfocus

Thoughts/ideas on working set of flash, triggers/receivers and light meter. Last thing I need to get is a light meter, and Sekonic looks like the choice. Need something to able adjust remote flash remotely too.

Ideas on quality products that are compatible and meet all the needs?

Flash, trigger/receiver, remote flash adjust and light meter?

ziggy53

lifeinfocus wrote: »

Thoughts/ideas on working set of flash, triggers/receivers and light meter. Last thing I need to get is a light meter, and Sekonic looks like the choice. Need something to able adjust remote flash remotely too.

Ideas on quality products that are compatible and meet all the needs?

Flash, trigger/receiver, remote flash adjust and light meter?

Indoor or outdoor use? (... or both)
Daylight or controlled light, ambient conditions?
AC/Mains or Battery power?
Speedlight or studio light size?
Recycling speed?
TTL or manual power control?
Budget for the flash components and budget for the meter?

If speedlight size and TTL, what system compatibility? (Canon, Nikon, etc.)

The more you describe the intended use, the better we can advise.

lifeinfocus

Ziggy, here are answers to your questions.

Daylight or controlled light, ambient conditions?
All three, but mostly indoors at church, school or indoor small home studio. Primarily use with flash.

AC/Mains or Battery power?
Battery

Speedlight or studio light size?
Two Nikon SB700 flash owned - also own Phottix transmitter and two receivers.

Recycling speed?
Not critical, although getting up to forty kids in group shot sometimes makes my platinum hair go bald.

TTL or manual power control?
Manual mostly. TTL when on camera - not often.

Budget for the flash components and budget for the meter?
Meter and device to adjust flash remotely and hopefully continue to use Phottix devices. $300 for meter and $$$? for something to remotely adjust flash.

If speedlight size and TTL, what system compatibility? (Canon, Nikon, etc.)
Nikon camera D700 and two SB700 flash units now own and will continue to use

The more you describe the intended use, the better we can advise.
Sekonic L-308s and Sekonic 478-dr - price $230 vs $400 and then the compatibility with triggers etc.

To me the tough part is to get a reputable light meter and be compatible with other units - something to adjust flashes remotely and trigger them to get light meter reading.

Thanks, Phil

Gary752

Phil...Will you be using mainly TTL or manual for your flashes? If manual, you don't really need anything to change the flash settings. That can be done simply by changing aperture or ISO settings in the camera. There was a workshop on CreativeLive with Sue Bryce and Felix Kunze, where they set the shutter speed and aperture, and the only adjustment they used was the ISO to alter the power of the flash/studio strobe. They would have used aperture as well, but Sue Bryce wanted to shoot at a set aperture. The workshop was "The Lighting Challenge: Natural vs. Studio". As for a light meter, the Sekonic L-358 can be had for less than $200.00 on eBay, and it accepts the Pocket Wizard modual if you go with those. If you go with something different for your triggering system, all you would need is a short PC sync cable to go between the light meter and the trigger. You would take the trigger off the camera and attach it to the light meter with the cable, take your readings, and then put the trigger back on the camera.

GaryB

Gary752

Glort wrote: »

Garry have you seen the Yonguo Flashes?

This one is a little more powerful than the one you mention and has many more features bar the led light. It has a transmitter and is around half the price of the other ones.

You can see them here: http://yongnuo.eachshot.com/product/yongnuo-yn-560-iii-with-rf-603-single-transmitter-yn560iii-ultra-long-range-wirelss-flash-speedlite-rf603-trgger-for-nikon-canon/

There is of course a whole rang of these brand units.

I have 3 of the yonguo flashes and to say I'm well and truly satisfied with the things is a gross understatement.
To be honest, I bought the first one for a particular job and thought it should get me through it and if it died the next day, no biggie. I have never been big on speedlights and untill I bought the yonguo, I was still using the 45 Metz I bought new as a teenager.

I pretty well mistreated that yonguo thing and it's never flinched. It was rolling round in the toolbox of my truck for a while and looks like it. Not sure how it got there but I didn't rush to take it out. I have had it in flooded underwater bags ( many times) and used the thing as a studio head pounding out pics of 2000 kids in a week for several jobs.
It didn't miss a beat so I went and bought another couple and the external AA battery packs. I had used my mates canon one but bought the yonguo cheapies and they have also been great. Don't know how long they last, I have never been able to flatten ( or slow them down ) on a job yet.
Next I'll get the godox Turbo battery style pack for the 1 sec or less recharges.

A friend of mine who is well heeled and a very Die hard " I'm not interested in cheap Chinese crap" type of guy, borrowed a couple of my 565's ( reluctantly) to do a setup for his Daughters Formal that I couldn't cover for him.
He has a couple of 580 canons which he has had for a while. He ended up doing a few things playing with the yonguos and his pocketwizzards over the couple of weeks till I saw him again.

When he brought them back, I asked if they were as terrible as he thought they would be. He said " I went and bought 2 of them yesterday, I'll never buy canons again when I can buy these things for a 3rd of the price and they seem to give better lighting."
Very high praise indeed from this guy who only buys the best of everything.

Anyway, just thought I'd give you a heads up on these in case you haven't heard or wern't aware of them and they maybe something that interests you.

They look good except for the shipping time. To get free shipping it would take 15 to 30 days to get them, where I can have the ones I mentioned in 3 to 5 days. Plus I like the idea of having the LED video light being built in, and that they will work with the triggering system I already have.

GaryB

ziggy53

Thanks for responding, Gary. Since you have Nikon equipment and, I presume, Nikon versions of these flashes, you're a much better source of information than I am.

Gary752

The Strobie 230 should work with any camera, and just about any triggering system that uses the same radio frequencies as the pocket wizards. If you don't have a triggering system, and you buy two of the Strobie 230's he will give you a Tiny Trigger to get you started right out of the box. You do have to tell him which camera you use for the Tiny Trigger, cause one thing he incorporated is a red focusing led light for the Cannon cameras, and I think he mentions that some cameras have the center pin offset slightly. For more information on these flashes go to: http://scottrobertla.com/2014/04/27/strobie-230/ and for the Tiny Triggering system go here: http://scottrobertla.com/scott-robert-studio/srs-radio-trigger-system/ For just the transmitter check this page out: http://scottrobertla.com/scott-robert-studio/srs-radio-trigger-system/srs-transmitter-only/

GaryB

lifeinfocus

Gary, thanks so much for taking the time to put together your comments. I need to digest this a little, working through a cold right now and slowed done some.

plaidjenn

Gary,
Did you end up getting the Strobie 230s? I am trying to weight those vs. the Yongnuo 560-iii...

New here to this forum and fairly new to photography (about 2 1/2 years...)
So, any advice is appreciated.

I saw Scott Robert on Creative Live and loved his teaching, so obviously leaning towards the 230s and getting the trigger .

Gary752

plaidjenn wrote: »

Gary,
Did you end up getting the Strobie 230s? I am trying to weight those vs. the Yongnuo 560-iii...

New here to this forum and fairly new to photography (about 2 1/2 years...)
So, any advice is appreciated.

I saw Scott Robert on Creative Live and loved his teaching, so obviously leaning towards the 230s and getting the trigger .

At the present time I have 3 Strobie 130's, 1 Nikon SB600, and a Tiny Trigger with 4 receivers. I just purchased a 36" Octobox that as soon as I receive it, I'm going to modify the mount for the flash so I can change it out from a single flash to a 3 flash mount if the need ever arises. Once I get this completed I will be buying the Strobie 230's. What sold me on the Strobies is his customer service, and the time frame it takes to receive them after he ships them. He ships via USPS and only took 3 days to get my stuff from him, compared to almost 30 days for the others. The only think that might slow up shipment is if he is doing a workshop out of the country.

GaryB

plaidjenn

Gary752 wrote: »

At the present time I have 3 Strobie 130's, 1 Nikon SB600, and a Tiny Trigger with 4 receivers. I just purchased a 36" Octobox that as soon as I receive it, I'm going to modify the mount for the flash so I can change it out from a single flash to a 3 flash mount if the need ever arises. Once I get this completed I will be buying the Strobie 230's. What sold me on the Strobies is his customer service, and the time frame it takes to receive them after he ships them. He ships via USPS and only took 3 days to get my stuff from him, compared to almost 30 days for the others. The only think that might slow up shipment is if he is doing a workshop out of the country.

GaryB

Thanks for your reply, Gary. I think he seems very customer oriented - I have seen him use that 3 flash setup, too!