question for cheap light source in caves

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merkin

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So I'm starting to get interested in cave/cavern diving photography.

I have a relatively old Canon Powershot A40 in a Canon WP-DC200s waterproof case that works okay in ambient light, but I get slaughtered by backscatter in the caves/caverns when the flash is required to see anything besides my dive buddy's light. I realize I probably need an external flash...

Can anyone recommend something not too expensive to rig to this setup (possibly < $400?). This A40 camera seems to blur a lot of images underwater despite working well on the surface, so if I like the underwater photography more, I may graduate to something better - in which case a light that might also be compatible with something "better" (at least for a little while!) would also be nice.

Thanks for any advice.
 
merkin:
So I'm starting to get interested in cave/cavern diving photography.

I have a relatively old Canon Powershot A40 in a Canon WP-DC200s waterproof case that works okay in ambient light, but I get slaughtered by backscatter in the caves/caverns when the flash is required to see anything besides my dive buddy's light. I realize I probably need an external flash...

Can anyone recommend something not too expensive to rig to this setup (possibly < $400?). This A40 camera seems to blur a lot of images underwater despite working well on the surface, so if I like the underwater photography more, I may graduate to something better - in which case a light that might also be compatible with something "better" (at least for a little while!) would also be nice.

Thanks for any advice.
Flash is required for anything other than macro photography underwater (unless you're in pretty shallow water), and even moreso in a cave where there is zero ambient light. You're going to have to spend a small fortune to get something capable of lighting up a wide angle shot like that... if it's even possible. You'll probably need at least two strobes to get full coverage. CHEAP strobes start around $300, generally, but you get what you pay for. For one decent strobe with good coverage, arms and trays, I'd say you'd be VERY lucky to get out the door under $500. And you're going to need two strobes for the really wide angle shots.

Underwater photography is very tricky. It's even more light-dependent than on land, and backscatter and visibility conditions bring in a whole different range of complexities land-based photographers don't have to deal with. I recommend doing a good bit of research and perhaps reading a book or two, if you're serious about pursuing it.
 
Thanks for the advice. At this point I'm just l;ooking to get some photos of my buddies in the caves and take it into the ocean for reef photos. I'm about to check out Amazon, but any particular books that would be helpful?
 

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