Olympus Stylus 500, PT-026 Housing and a Strobe???

[DamnRock]

Hey guys, I'm trying to put together a good inexpensive u/w set that's good on land too... close to $500 or $600 as possible... So far I've found the Olympus Stylus 500 to be my best bang for buck deal... $200 for camera, $135 for u/w case)... I'v efound a sunpak strobe for $180... so that's a total of $515 or so...

Can anyone comment on how important it is to have a strobe? I'm going to be diving at St. Thomas... in addition to some snorkling in the same area.

I'd appreciate any comments on this prospective setup you can give. I just can't spend a crapload of money on it. Does anyone know of a better strobe for $200 or less that'll work with the PT-026 Olympus housing?

Thanks in advance!

Rock

 

[DamnRock]

Actually, I just found another candidate... Pentax Optio S5i and Pentax o-WP2 u/w housing... can get both for $440... iwth $200 strobe would be $640... just the upper limit of my price range...

that's IF I even need a strobe for my kind of photography... I'm not a serious diver... I'll probably dive a couple times a year in the ocean and a few more times in lakes... I just need a decent setup for casual vacation record keeping.

Thanks in advance.

Rock