Ikelite DS-125
Manufacturer: Ikelite Type: Strobe Year introduced: 2001 (prototype), 2002 (production)
Overview
The Ikelite DS-125 was one of the defining strobes of the early digital underwater photography era. First shown as a prototype at DEMA 2001 in New Orleans ([1]), it became Ikelite’s workhorse digital strobe throughout the 2002-2005 period and was the strobe most commonly paired with Ikelite’s growing line of DSLR housings.
The DS-125 was designed specifically to address the needs of digital cameras, which had different flash synchronization requirements than film cameras. It featured approximately 1-second recycle time, which was fast enough for the rapid shooting pace that digital cameras enabled ([2]). It was shown alongside Ikelite’s expanding housing lineup at Seaspace 2002 and DEMA 2002 ([3], [4]).
A key milestone came in 2004 when Ikelite developed their E-TTL converter, enabling the DS-125 (and the smaller DS-50) to work with Canon’s E-TTL flash metering system for the first time. This was demonstrated with the Canon 300D Digital Rebel housing ([5], [6]). The Ikelite eTTL2 converter later extended this capability to the Canon 20D ([7]).
The DS-125 appeared constantly in reviews, field reports, and trip accounts across the Wetpixel archive, used by photographers including Tim Rock and many others. It was also paired with Ikelite’s Manual Strobe Controller for remote manual power adjustment ([8]).
Reviews & Discussion
- [9] — Prototype model shown
- [10] — Shown at Seaspace with ~1 second recycle time
- [11] — Continued presence at DEMA
- [12] — E-TTL converter compatibility
- [13] — Extended eTTL2 capability
Timeline
- 2001-01: DS-125 prototype shown at DEMA 2001 in New Orleans ([14])
- 2002-04: DS-125 shown at Seaspace 2002 with ~1 second recycle time ([15])
- 2002-07: Shown alongside Ikelite Manual Strobe Controller at DEMA 2002 ([16])
- 2003-10: Continued presence at DEMA 2003 ([17])
- 2004-09: E-TTL converter enables DS-125 use with Canon E-TTL metering ([18])
- 2005-02: eTTL2 converter extends compatibility to Canon 20D ([19])
References
Sources
- Wetpixel article, Jan 14, 2001: Dema 2001 Gallery ↩
- Wetpixel article, Apr 16, 2002: Seaspace 2002 Report Truly Unsinkable ↩
- Wetpixel article, Apr 16, 2002: Seaspace 2002 Report Truly Unsinkable ↩
- Wetpixel article, Dec 2, 2002: Sea Sea D60 Housing Photographs ↩
- Wetpixel article, Sep 6, 2004: Ikelite Does Canon Ettl ↩
- Wetpixel article, Nov 13, 2004: Ikelite 300d Housing With Ettl Converter ↩
- Wetpixel article, Feb 13, 2005: Ikelite 20d Housing With Ettl2 Converter Conversion Circuitry Enables Ettl2 ↩
- Wetpixel article, Jul 22, 2002: Dema 2002 Report ↩
- DEMA 2001 Gallery (article) ↩
- Seaspace 2002 Report (article) ↩
- DEMA 2003 Show Coverage (article) ↩
- Ikelite Does Canon E-TTL (article) ↩
- Ikelite 20D Housing with eTTL2 Converter (article) ↩
- Wetpixel article, Jan 14, 2001: Dema 2001 Gallery ↩
- Wetpixel article, Apr 16, 2002: Seaspace 2002 Report Truly Unsinkable ↩
- Wetpixel article, Jul 22, 2002: Dema 2002 Report ↩
- Wetpixel article, Oct 7, 2003: Dema 2003 Show Coverage1 ↩
- Wetpixel article, Sep 6, 2004: Ikelite Does Canon Ettl ↩
- Wetpixel article, Feb 13, 2005: Ikelite 20d Housing With Ettl2 Converter Conversion Circuitry Enables Ettl2 ↩
- DEMA 2001 Gallery (article) ↩
- Seaspace 2002 Report (article) ↩
- DEMA 2002 Report (article) ↩
- Sea & Sea D60 Housing Photographs (article) ↩
- DEMA 2003 Coverage (article) ↩
- Ikelite E-TTL (article) ↩
- Ikelite 300D with E-TTL Converter (article) ↩
- Ikelite 20D with eTTL2 (article) ↩
- Confessions of a Nikon Traitor (article) ↩