SP-350..what external strobe?

[tmorg]

I just purchased the Oly SP-350 and PT-030 housing. I am VERY new to underwater photography, in fact I've never taken underwater photos. I've been looking through the board for a very long time and decided on the SP-350 because of the good reviews! My questions are 1.) Can I use anything other than an Oly external strobe with housing or can I use another external strobe that is compatible? 2.) If I can use an external strobe other than the Oly, where can I find PT-030 compatible strobes?

Sorry this is so long, but with all the hype about backscatter and not getting good shots without an external strobe, I think I should get one.

Thanks!!

 

[friscuba]

Lots of strobes to choose from, Inon and Ikelite seem to be the most popular. I'm not sure if you will get anything but manual out of the non-Oly strobes unless you get that spendy converter thingamabob from the German guy everyone seems to mention (yes I'm serious, just can't remember what it is).

I'm going to try the Oly housing and flash. I've got $151 total for the flash and housing + another 11 bucks in shipping and tax into it picking up new stuff direct from Olympus off their Ebay auctions. I figure that's worth trying for that price, gotta make a tray and arm now. Hopefully I'll be able to report back in a couple weeks with an opinion on how it works for clear water.

You can still get quite good shots without the external strobe, but you'll be somewhat limited to macro or manual white balanced shots without it.

I'm sure others will have more specific strobe recommendations.

 

[bfisher]

I don't have a lot of experience with the strobe or camera yet, but I'm using a Sealife SL960 strobe. I'm still learning the ins and outs of it so don't have much of an opinion yet. I think the problem is ME.

If you hunt around you can find one for about $270 or so. Depends on what you want to spend and what your needs are. I'm not going to be publishing any pics in magazines so don't need a $1000 flash unit.

I posted a slide show on ther SP-350 thread you can view. Most of the pics the flash wasn't working because I didn't have it set properly. Where it did work the color is good. A couple I had the intensity too high, especially in sand. Live and learn.

The only thing I don't care for is the plastic tray. And I need to see if I can get more sections to get the strobe farther away from the camera. With the PT-030 housing and strobe the thing is pretty bouyant, which is annoying. I think instead of adding weights I'm going to have a friend make me a tray from 1/4" steel and see if I can kill two birds with one stone; less bouyancy and more rigidity.