Strobe for Sony NEX in Nauticam housing

I am planning on getting a NEX-5, a Nauticam housing and one strobe. Is an Inon Z240 the best way to go? A small strobe is advantages for traveling. I have been using an Epoque strobe for a few years now with a Canon SD870 and would like to move up in capability.

Should I buy a 0.5 or 1.5 diffuser with it? I am not sure what lenses I will get with the camera but will likely get the fish eye lens to attach to the 16 mm lens.

I believe the Z240 has a focusing light. Is it a tight spot or very diffused? Is there any chance I can use this as a weak video light? I currently use a UK Light Canon for my video light but since the Sony NEX-5 has much better low light capabilities I am hoping to not have to include the LC on the setup. If not, if there is a different strobe that includes a video light that would work I may consider it instead of the Inon Z240.

Thanks

hello dunfield,

we bought the nex-5 for our trip to wakatobi in december.it is a wonderful piece of stuff and very very light to travel.

i´m also using a nikon d300 with two subtronics which is great but really bulky.

my daughter uses the nauticam with a inon s-2000,optical triggered.works great,even has ttl when you want to use it,and

is ultralight.it doesn´t have a focuslight though,so we mount a sola focuslight for nightdiving and video on the second

ultralightball on the housing.perfekt setup , a dream to travel and very astonishing results.

if you like post me an e-mail and i´ll send you one or three shots of the set up ...

cheers

claus

The Z-240 would be good. I rarely use the stronger diffusor as the strobe itself can be dialled right down, but the two diffusors used to be included in the package, anyway...

The focus light is not bright enough to use as a video light; I'm not aware of any strobe that has a focus light that bright.

Tim

Thanks for the comments.

Would it make any sense to continue to use the Epoque strobe as a second strobe to the Z-240. My long term plan is to get 2 similar strobes but I would like to spread the investment out. The Eqoque strobe only has a manual power setting so getting the correct strength is always tricky. The plan would be to use it for fill.

Thoughts?

Thanks

Jim