NOw I've just got to wait for the ZX-1 and housing.
Just to make things a bit more complex....
You might know that Oly has a strobe (the UFL-2)... that strobe is their 36 guide number strobe, put in an underwater case.
It has a huge number of features that a normal underwater strobe does not....including the ability to zoom as the lens zooms (via wireless connection). The strobe at wide angle is only a guide number of 20.
One can change strobe settings from the back of the camera.
There are several items that have people concerned, or to be blunt, they don't like, including:
1. It only uses to 2 AA, and while taking TTL images, the recycle time is hard to even see, but do a complete strobe dump, and it will take seconds to recharge.
2. The field of view is not as wide as most round pattern, underwater strobes. While I doubt this is a concern, it would be possible with that really wide angle lens and a dome to see the difference.
3. The flash should be good for over 200 flashes...but if you ever used it in manual mode, would guess the last flashes would take over 10 seconds per flash. (In ttl mode, one would mostly never be limited).
4. Zoom (if turned on), may be a real mistake, as the strobe underwater is no longer aligned with the camera... so it may be a rather worthless feature.
5. It does not have a focus light (which I like to use for strobe aiming.
On the other hand:
1. I just used two of the UFL-1's with a LX5, and after over 600 images, I never had one that was not exposed correctly. Nor was the recyle ever an issue.
2. I accidentally turned on a feature (which the Oly should also have), that adjusted the shutter speed, and then adjusted to flash output to provide a balance fill. It worked amazingly well. It was so good, that someone else had to inform me it was on.
3. The Oly can flash sync to 1/2000 of a second... (the LX5 to 1/4000th) this strobe will work at those speeds
4. Like the Nikon land strobe system, these can be used in bunches, and wirelessly controlled. Could, if they wanted to spend to the time, do some pretty amazing lighting with say 6 or 7 of them.
5. The stobe can be used on land (as it is just their middle of the pack land strobe in a case).
I'm a huge fan of what Oly is doing with the XZ, and will also be getting one, and have been struggling with which strobe to get. I have YS110's on my other gear, and am very comfortable with using S&S strobes, but I think that perhaps giving the Oly strobe a chance would not be a bad idea.