strobe for Sony Digital

This is my first time using this website and I am relieved to read so many expert opinions. I'm optimistic you can all help me I am trying to purchase a strobe set up as a Christmas gift for my boyfriend who is going on a trip to Cocos this June. We use both underwater digital and video photography, but are merely beginners when it comes to still photo. We own a Sony DSC-P100 digital camera with a Sony underwater housing. I would like to purchase a single strobe and all the appropriate mounting equipment but am finding myself in information overload. I want to buy something reasonably priced and simple to use. It sounds like a lot of you agree the Ikelight DS50 is a nice product. How can I tell if it is compatible with the housing system We already have? Any thoughts on the Sea and Seas YS-90 or YS-15? I am gathering that the TTL system is not available for all digital cameras. It seems this would be an easier system, but am also reading about manual mode, slave mode, etc....As you can see..I have lots of questions. Can anybody offer me some good suggestions on a durable product with decent results to start with? Thanks for your attention! Jenni

Hi Jenni and welcome to Wetpixel.

I'm sure that Ike from Ikelite will have something to say as they have a lot of experience with Sony's digital TTL system.

In any case, there are many strobes to choose from that are "preflash capable" meaning you can use them with a camera that fires a number of flashes before and during the exposure. Some of them offer a "sort of" TTL but most perform better when you set the power yourself, manually.

You don't need a super-powerful strobe for the Sony P100.

You will also want some kind of tray and arm to connect the strobe to the camera. One to look at is the Fisheye tray and also one made by Sea and Sea. I'd have a talk with one of the sponsors here at Wetpixel for a recommendation.

HTH

James

Hi Jenni,

Sounds like you guys are putting together a package rather like what my girlfriend and I have just done. Here's what we went for, for my girlfriend to use and learn with:

Sony P150 camera

Sony MPK-PHB housing

Sea & Sea DX-Stay 21130 (the tray that goes under the housing)

Sea & Sea Flexible Arm 29070 (bendy LocLine arm)

Sea & Sea MM2 Bayonet adapter (to mount MotorMarineII lenses and take the strobe fibre)

Sea & Sea MM2 16mm wideangle lens

Inon D-2000 Strobe

Inon fibre optic (with a Sea&Sea fibre end plug attached by me. You can just use the Inon clamp on fibre attachment, but that stays on the housing where our solution can be taken off)

I've given you the part numbers so you can search for them easily.

The D-2000 really is quite a star product. While the Ikelite system is well established and works well, the D-2000 seemed the best choice to us because of the flexibilty during use. On the fly, you can select from Full Manual (You choose the output level, independant Auto (the strobe meters the light hitting the subject, from its point of view) and S-TTL, which mimics the camera's built in flash, hence providing a very reasonable TTL function.

If you want to see pictures of the rig or sample from the pool, pop me a private message.

Best regards

Martyn

We'd all love to see sample pix and pictures of the rig. Maybe post a few in the photo & gallery forum..??

I also have the P150 and PHB underwater housing and am currently reviewing all my lighting/strobe options as well.

I would also love to see a few snaps of your rig

Hi Jenni,

Just a few weeks ago, after an enormous amount of research, I purchased the Inon D-2000 for my Sony P100 in a Sony MPK-PHB housing. I also purchased all of the attachment hardware from Inon. The parts I purchased are as follow:

AD Mount Base PHB

D-2000 Strobe

Grip Base II

Optical D Cable/Cap W14 Set for MPK-PHB w/ AD Mount Base PHB

Direct Arm Z Set

While the instruction book for the strobe was in English, everything else was in Japanese so it took a little trial and error to get everything screwed together.

The reason I chose the Inon was that it was small, bright, reasonably priced, and designed to use the camera's on-board exposure circuitry to control the flash duration thus providing the closest thing to true TTL metering available for this camera and housing.

I shot 147 pictures a few weekends ago with the strobe set to S-TTL Low and the camera in full auto point and shoot mode. I was pretty pleased with the results. Tomorow I'm diving again and plan to play with the exposure controls on the flash and with setting the camera to a fixed ISO of 100. I'll be happy to report back in on the results of these experiments.

Frank

Waiting with baited breath since I have the same system and have been looking at getting that Inon system for a while now ...

[You will also want some kind of tray and arm to connect the strobe to the camera. ]

You might check out ultralights tray and arm system. Something you can take with you when you change housings or strobes.

Terry