New Photographer...needing a strobe?!?! please hel

I have been diving for about a year and I have been working on my photography. I am going to buy a strobe for my camera but I am having trouble getting good information on the strobes that I understand.....i can't find anyone educated in my town.

I have an Olympus stylus 410 and a PT-017 housing. A few months ago I tried out my friends YS 25 auto and it was good...but is there a better one?

So what is better, DX or Auto? YS25 or YS90?

Is there anywhere on the web that would explain all the details about strobes and techniques? Please help soon!

www.digitaldiver.net has a strobe comparison tool. It'll give you some info on different brands etc...

HI there !

about these strobes

there are lots on the market for use, you need something that is pre-flash compatible for a start. and allows you optical link up.

ok preflash is the little bursts of light that fire from your flash on the camera prior to it actually firing the main exposing flash output.

optical link is simply a fibre optic cable that passes light to the strobes trigger sensor from your camera.

as i say lots around just check for these specs

as for the ys25, nice little unit but it just might be that for you little,

when choosing a strobe its wise to try and get as much power output and beam angle for you cash. taking into account your setup the following would be just fine

Ikelite DS50 / DS125

Inon D2000

Sea & Sea ys90 auto

or you can possibly turn off pre-flash on your camera and set the flash to slave , then just about any strobe will do the job as long as there is a optical link.

hope this help a little.

regards

craig