Choosing a strobe to use with a Olympus Stylus 300 / PT-016

Hi guys, this is my first post here.

I've been using a Olympus Stylus 300 for a while to take UW pictures. I know it's not the best because it's a point and shoot, but for now it's ok:

But most of the time I have pictures like this:

I think the next step is to buy a strobe.

So guys, can you advice me what strobe should I buy, and where ? I never found a store where I can test the strobe, only find them at internet stores... I have no problem buying things on the internet, but I really wanna test and check if the strobe goes ok with my housing.

Thanks !

Fabiano

I can't advise you about the store but my (and most of the other users here) favourite is a Iklite DS125 with Manual Controler

My wife dives a Stylus.

I wouldn't recommend using a strobe with it. The whole beauty of the Stylus, is that it is small and lightweight. Adding a strobe will just make it more combersome to carry around, and will likely NOT improve your photos.

The Stylus does not allow for manual exposure control of any kind, so it will always assume that you are in a low light situation. That means wide apetures and slow shutters. And since the camera will change this for every shot, it would be difficult to dial in a strobe, not knowing the apeture and shutter speed beforehand.

If you are unhappy with the photo's you are taking, and strive to take better photo's, then you would be best served by moving up to one of the other Olympus models that allow for manual exposure control, at which point, adding a strobe would be an excellent idea.

A friend of mine uses a C3040 in an Olympus Housing, with a YS-25 strobe. It's a very small package and takes some very decent photos.

Thanks Detonate.

That's something I was considering, if the strobe will efectivelly help to improve my pictures.

I'm planning to upgrade next year... so the idea is to buy a strobe, and then change the camera.

But thanks for the advice.

[]s

Maybe you should check with Ike if the TTL Sensor works with the stylus. If yes then the strobe would mimic the preflash and you could get the full improvement of the strobe without neding a Non-Auto mode in the Camera.

Simon

I'm planning to upgrade next year... so the idea is to buy a strobe, and then change the camera.

Purchasing your dream rig in sections is a good strategy. But towing a trailer with a sports car may not be. I agree with Detonate. Camera first, strobe second.

Since it appears that you have funds available, imho you'd be much better off to focus your attention on the camera first. If you purchase a camera with manual controls (aperture, shutter, ISO, flash, etc), you'll have the capability of improving your images vs your present system, regardless of attachments. If the camera you choose can shoot RAW, imho you'll have one that you can grow with for some time. It's also a good idea to practice with any new camera before adding an external strobe.

A major part of controlling the influence of an external strobe is derived from the camera and it's manual settings. Adding an external strobe to your present system will be at best a step sideways ( not a step forward ) Due to the bulkiness and ergonimics issue, some may even consider it a step backwards!

"Auto" cameras think that they are working on land, with two feet on the ground, and shooting through air. Their underwater use imho are limited to very close macro compositions and night dives, where the background exposures are rendered black due to the absence of ambient light.

The mere fact that underwater housings are made for Auto cameras does not validate their performance capabilities....

my .02psi,

ymmv,

imho,

fwiw,

b

The mere fact that underwater housings are made for Auto cameras does not validate their performance capabilities....  

That's true...