strobe/accessory recommendations for A80?

[secondadonna]

I'm looking at strobes or other useful accessories for a Canon A80. We already have a housing but that's it. It's gift-buying time. Can anyone recommend a good low-to-mid-end strobe for the A80? Alternatively, what about compatible lens add-ons? Thanks for any help!

 

[jmatheso]

I'm looking at strobes or other useful accessories for a Canon A80. We already have a housing but that's it. It's gift-buying time. Can anyone recommend a good low-to-mid-end strobe for the A80? Alternatively, what about compatible lens add-ons? Thanks for any help!

Hi,I just got an A85 last month and took it to Bonaire. I got the Sea & Sea YS-90 Auto with the fiber optic connection and it worked great. I couldn't be happier. Lots of folks recommended against the auto version of the strobe as I "wouldn't have control" but I found I could modify the light output just fine by using all manual settings on the camera, setting the aperature to F5.6 and then changing the strobe up or down in its auto setting to very the light output. The strobe is best from about three feet in. I just left the camera in macro mode all the time. Used full manual, wide angle all the time so I could get close to the subject and got great color from this set up. When I wanted to get something farther than 3 feet I found shutting off the strobe and switching to the A85's underwater sceen mode worked best. Then a little bit of Photoshop Elements auto lighting adjustment to pull the blues out and things worked great.

You could also look at the Sea and Sea YS15 Auto which is new, less expensive and limited to one auto setting with a bit less light output. Considering that most of the time I had the YS-90 powered back about half way this could be a good alternative if you can't spring for the bigger strobe. If it's an option I would REALLY look at the Inon D-2000 with the clear photo system. It's about the same cost as the YS-90 and worked fantastic for some folks I was hanging out with down there.

good luck
john

 

[alcina]

Also have a look at Inon strobes...I have one and use it with my A70 (before the camera/housing got stolen anyway!) They aren't the cheapest, but they allow great control and will grow with your skills...

 

[lukeROB]

Inon D2000 is definatly the best on the market for this type of digital camera. It is very well priced for what you get.

 

[gt2003]

jmatheso, You are making me super jealous. Is that a cowfish? I had a bunch of those that I thought would be awesome after my last cozumel trip. Nope, reefmaster wouldn't focus that close. I've got a similar one to the shrimp also but I had to get too far away to see the shrimp unless you know its there. I've got the a75 now and can't wait to try it out. Maybe I can afford either the ys15 or ys90 before I go. We'll see. Nice pics and thanks for posting. If the shrimp pic isn't attached its because its too large of a file. Thanks again, Greg

 

[jmatheso]

Thanks Greg. Yes that's a cowfish according to my ten year old son with the fish book expert. I can't believe the quality I was able to obtain considering it was my first attempt. I received so much good advice from folks on the Internet before I went it really helped. I read somewhere on the net that good settings for the A-85 with the strobe would be: Camera on full manual, speed set to 1/1000, ISO set to 50, lens at F5.6, auto strobe set to F9 because of the low ISO to reduce grain, lens at widest angle possible, macro on, red eye off, Affi off, meter set for center weighted, internal flash on 1/3 power and get CLOSE! Boy that worked as a good starting point for me. Take one shot, look at the LCD's results with the display set to show the histogram as a fast way of determining if the exposure was close and then shoot again making little adjustments to either the aperture or the strobe's power. For wide angle stuff a little shallower where there was enough light I used the auto sceen setting for "underwater" which worked well. I think the A-75 has that feature. Then I used Photoshop Element's "auto light" adjustment to remove the blue cast and that worked well for my underwater "people" pictures. Check out these that were taken on my very first few dives.
Good luck to you,
John