Strobe for Sony DSC-P10

My wife has a Sony DSC-P10 in a Sony housing. She's happy with the camera and picture quality, but would like to add a strobe to get some better pictures while diving deeper or in shadows. I've got a similar Sony DSC-P100. We'd rather keep things as simple as possible and don't want to have to change settings before every picture. Both cameras have the "pre flash." I've been reading as much as I can about strobes, but end up with more questions that I had when I started.

Money is an object and we'll only use the strobe a couple of weeks a year on trips. Her "rig" only cost about $650. Mine was about the same. We want to keep things on the simple side to keep things fun.

Anyone have any feelings about the strobes that Ocean Brite sells? See http://www.oceanbrite.com/moreinfo.php?id=346 . Looks like this would be about $495 for the entire kit with tray, arm, strobe and electronics.

After reading the review at http://www.digitaldiver.net/images/strobea...rticlescrn2.pdf it seems like the Ikelite DS50 would be best. Looking around their website it looks like these would be in the $725 range after getting the strobe, appropriate electronics, arm & tray.

Sony sells a video light and arm that list for $550. But, that looks just like a high powered flashlight on a short arm. I think I could do better than that myself with a eLED dive light and a home made arm.

As an aside to this question, as long as we stay within the flash distance (say under 4') will a strobe really add that much? I know that by moving the strobe to an angle that you can limit or get rid of backscatter, but what other advantages are there?

I know we're dealing at the low end and that alot of you have spent more on one component then we're talking about spending on an entire system but any input would be appreciated.

TIA

Hello mdfaunce-

I had the predecessor to your camera (Sony DSC-P1) in a similar predicament. I bought the Ike DS-50 (the grey digital-friendly version). It worked very well. Make sure you don't buy the arm/mount sight-unseen. I hated my rig (strobe and camera were not the problem), but once the investment is made, it is hard to justify changing...

I don't know anything about the OceanBrite, but I'd advise staying away from the Sony light. Like you said, it is a video light -- and not a particularly good one. Hotspots the center and color temperature is too warm.

When I switched to DSLR, I sold all my stuff on eBay. I didn't get much over $500 for the camera + sony housing + the Ike DS-50. So you might be able to find a similar deal if you're willing to buy used...

Good luck!

-Erik Moon

Canon 1Ds/1DII - Subal CD1 Dual - Subal + Canon 550ex - Inon Z-220

For example, see: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

I have another predecessor to yours, the DSC-P5 in the Sony housing.

I also have the Sea and Sea 16mm wide angle add-on (thanks ebay).

I have the DS-50 with the digital slave sensor. This combination works very well. Really any strobe will not help you much beyond 5 feet; but it's still a huge leap forward over no strobe.

The "TTL" really does work, I've verified this shooting with and without it enabled. Battery life is superb; I use Radio shack rechargeable NiMh AA's. Over 3 days I might shoot 300 pictures..still going on 1 set (although I do carry backups). I really like the ergonomics and often shoot one handed (below). When swimming I put the whole rig behind my back across the tank and hold from each side with my arms straight back, which I find very comfortable.

Only criticism I have is that I would prefer 2 strobes for better lighting; and more power would be good.

Only criticism of the camera (not strobe) is that it's full auto and you can't dial back when very very close. For example, it often overexposes against white sand at 1 foot. Newer slave sensor has a manual override in 10 steps which could compensate, but mine doesn't have that.

I recommend blacking out the internal strobe to reduce fwd-looking backscatter. I taped a small piece of black card into the housing. Still get plenty of light leaking out around the top to drive the slave sensor.

See my web link below for samples...all taken with this combination.

Hope this helps

Do you think a DS90 or DS120 would work even better than the DS50 you have? What about strobes from Ikelite and Inon? I'm not asking about which one is the better strobe (has been explored many times on this forum) but rather which ones would work well using slave flash with the Sony.

Tom