Assistance Needed-Strobe Shopping

Hello, everyone. I've been shooting underwater digital photography for about a year and a half and am ready to invest in an external strobe. I currently use an Olympus C-7070WZ in the Olympus PT-27 housing, however I don't really think I'll be happy with the Olympus underwater flash setup. So, I've been scouring the web for info on underwater strobes and have been, quite honestly, a bit overwhelmed. It seems that Sea and Sea, Ikelite and Inon seem to be the front runners, but I was hoping someone out there has had some experience specifically with my camera model/housing and any of the strobes by these three manufacturers. It seems that more than likely I'll have to go with optic firing, but I'd like a strobe with both that and sync cord capability so it will "grow" with me if I change/upgrade camera systems. However, I also want to get as much functionality with the camera system I have now. Any information/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I'd also been interested in recommedations for arms/trays that are compatible with Olympus housings.

Thanks

lil D

I lwould suggest the Inon for you, there are a lot of options for it using fibre optic connections. And nice thing about Inons are the small size. I can't tell you exactly what model is best for your needs but the 240 is the newest one, not sure exactly how it would work on fibre optic but it does have synch cord. I know they make a model that does both, not sure which number.. might be the 2000.

I would suggest contacting one of the sponsors on the right hand side of the page, several of them are Inon dealers and will know a lot more about the specifics than i do.

The new Sea and Sea 110 is another good option.

As for Ikelite, i am not sure about their compatability with fibre optic connections as the DS125 does not have a slave mode. This would be Ike model you would want as it is a fantastic strobe that can grow with you. You might have to get the external sensor with an Ike strobe and i don't know the specifics on how it would attach to an Oly housing.

Again, the dealers would be your best bet to give you the best info on specifics.

Ultralight makes great tray and arm combinations that will fit any housing.

Additionally to what Mike has put, i'd say avoid the Ikelite DS-125 unless you can get a hard wiring for it, the slave sensor is a pain in the bum as it invariably gets twisted and off target.

I think the DS-125 is the best strobe around, but the slave sensor lets it down.

This allows you to hard wire a strobe to your olympus housing:

http://www.heinrichsweikamp.net/blitz/indexe.htm

That is what i would do, but if you are not comfortable with that amount of messing about, go for an INON.