Canon S50- can it use an external strobe?

I'm confused, perhaps by some of the jargon. Does the Canon S50 or S45 camera have a connection to attach an external strobe lamp? I read somewhere that it cannot take an external flash, but it appears some people do use them.... any users that can clear this up?

thanks.

The external strobe connection will depend on your housing. If you're using the Canon housing then it doesn't have any provisions (bulkhead) for hardwiring an external strobe. However, because it is a clear housing you can use a strobe that will slave off your camera's internal flash. This is either done by attaching a fibre optical cable, e.g. Inon D180, Z220 (see http://www.marinecamera.com/inon_d180.html to get an idea) and Sea and Sea YS90DX, or by using a sensor aimed at it e.g. Ikelite DS50, DS125 with a manual controller (see http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/mansensors.html for a picture ).

thanks ReyeR. so it is possible. I see you've got an OLympus C5050, I'm curious, how much extra do you get vs. the Canon s50 for the extra bulk you have to carry around?

The 5050 & housing is small, not much bigger than your S50.

The bulk comes from the extra strobes and arms - and you will have the same problem with that if you go the external strobe route.