Comments on Epoque strobes?

[Ian]

I'm looking at getting one of the cheap epoque strobes to use with my Fuji F31...

Been looking at the 150dsa and 230ds.

The benefit of the 230 seems to be wider beam (I may buy a wide angle lense in the future), higher power and laser for aiming. There is also an "auto" mode but I've not found a thorough explanation of this anywhere... The downside is that it weighs more, is larger and is more expensive.

Anyone own either of these? Are you glad you bought the one you did?

Anyone know if the user manual is available as a PDF online (my googling failed...)

[Sakara Drinker]

I know there used to be an issue with the Epoque strobes flooding. Not sure if that was ever sorted out.

[Zok]

The 150dsa overcame the flooding problem, I used that strobe for a couple of years and was happy with results.

[Maria Munn]

Hi there,

I used the Epoque 230 strobe for a couple of years and love it. I think that it is a very nice strobe for someone who wants a wide angle of beam to light reefs, divers and turtles (see the attached image) with a wide angle lens and is not as expensive as others. The Epoque 150 strobe is fab for people who are just looking to take photos of macro subjects, and if you can go for the 'big brother' version then I couldn't recommend it highly enough.

The modelling light is nice too. Put your Fuji into Aperture Priority mode, 5.6 for reef scenes or big groupers and f8 for macro subjects such as scorpionfish, stonefish, bigeyes etc to let in less light and give you more depth of field/sharpness to your subject. Turn your strobe to on and if your subject has too much light, turn the dial one way, if it too dark then you will know to turn it the other way!

Finally, remember to get within a foot of your subject, get level or even under your subject and have a great time playing. Fingers crossed you will come back with some great pictures.

Happy Snapping

Maria