Best bang for the buck strobe for Canon SD1400

[Fourseventeen]

I have a Canon SD1400 with Canon WP-DC37 U/W housing. What would be my best external strobe option for this camera? Not looking to break the bank...I only do about a dozen dives a year, 65' or less in depth and mostly Caribbean waters (So Cal otherwise) Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Gilligan]

Read the discussion on this thread.

Keep in mind your camera does not have manual shooting capabilities (Tv, Av and M shooting modes). Unless you will eventually upgrade to a camera that does IMO you should not spend a lot of money on a strobe for that camera.

Be sure that whatever strobe you get has a setting that is compatible with your camera's flash. What I mean by that is does your camera have a pre-flash or no-preflash.

 

[ozziworld]

somehow got double entry. same post as below.

 

[ozziworld]

Gilligan is right. you will most likely upgrade if you out grow you camera since it does not have any manual or raw capabilities.

However, I think you can invest in a decent strobe that can be used with a future camera.

I think any of the optically fired Sea & Sea or Inon strobes would be easily adaptable to a G or S series Canon in the OEM or other housings.

You can actually count on the strobe/tray/arms remaining viable while you replace the camera/housings as newer models come around every year or so.

I actually started out this way with a housed Canon P&S with OEM housing. Got an Inon S2000 and basic 10bar tray and flex arm. I have since upgraded to a FIX S90 and still use the S2000 strobe.

 

[Fourseventeen]

thanks for the info guys. I actually own 2 Canon 5D mkII DSLR but I am not looking to spend a fortune on a housing, ports, dual strobes etc seeing as I only dive a max of a dozen times a year...just cant justify spending 3000.00+ on these items. Looking to spend about $500-$600 and get some decent underwater photos to remember my trips. Not really expecting to get publish quality photos U/W.

 

[ozziworld]

With that budget, you can get a S2000 that would serve you well even after you move on to another camera/housing set up.

Or I would consider getting myself an S95/OEM Housing and use it with Manual and Raw for white balancing. A lot of people getting good enough results with just raw and post processing.

That way, you get a very capable compact camera topside as well.

 

[weitodive]

I have used a g9 for 2 years now. I originally had the ikelite case and just went oem. If you want a good bang for buck strobe, I love the size and rprice of the inons. I had a single z240 that I used with the ikelite case and got great photos. I think you would be Better off with a g series because you can use wet lenses for macro and wa. If you have 2 mkii's (jealous btw) I think you would be much happier with raw and more artistic control of a g series and one inon strobe.