Strobe for Sony DSC-P10

[MFaunce]

My wife has a Sony DSC-P10 in a Sony housing. She's happy with the camera and picture quality, but would like to add a strobe to get some better pictures while diving deeper or in shadows. I've got a similar Sony DSC-P100. We'd rather keep things as simple as possible and don't want to have to change settings before every picture. Both cameras have the "pre flash." I've been reading as much as I can about strobes, but end up with more questions that I had when I started.

Money is an object and we'll only use the strobe a couple of weeks a year on trips. Her "rig" only cost about $650. Mine was about the same. We want to keep things on the simple side to keep things fun.

Anyone have any feelings about the strobes that Ocean Brite sells? See http://www.oceanbrite.com/moreinfo.php?id=346 . Looks like this would be about $495 for the entire kit with tray, arm, strobe and electronics.

After reading the review at http://www.digitaldiver.net/images/strobearticle/strobearticlescrn2.pdf it seems like the Ikelite DS50 would be best. Looking around their website it looks like these would be in the $725 range after getting the strobe, appropriate electronics, arm & tray.

Sony sells a video light and arm that list for $550. But, that looks just like a high powered flashlight on a short arm. I think I could do better than that myself with a eLED dive light and a home made arm.

As an aside to this question, as long as we stay within the flash distance (say under 4') will a strobe really add that much? I know that by moving the strobe to an angle that you can limit or get rid of backscatter, but what other advantages are there?

I know we're dealing at the low end and that alot of you have spent more on one component then we're talking about spending on an entire system but any input would be appreciated.

TIA

 

[slee416]

If you like INON, the D180 optical fibre kit can be modified to fit and work with the Sony camera and housing you mentioned. Check out www.seaoptics.com or talk to Ryan at www.uwcp.com. I abandoned my Sony because 1) it was an old model and 2) there just weren't that many options for u/w strobes and lenses. Good luck!

 

[Cecil]

Mike, you've picked a subject I have a strong opinion (abet a minority one). I just do not see or feel the need to strap an external strobe on my Sony. I have been using an older DSC-P5 for 2 years now. I find that there are very very few times an external would help. There are two reasons externals are recommended, 1) Flash Power and 2) backscatter.

Power wise the Sony's have a pretty powerfull internal flash and I normally have to keep mine on the lowest power setting so the pictures are not overexposed. I find it can reach out 3' in murkey water and maybe 5' in clear water. If your subject is outside these limits it's to far, anyway.

Backscatter, I find is not a real big issue on most pictures. When the background is the bottom or a reef it's just not a problem. When you shoot up into the water column or the subject is far away, you can get some. That's where good editing comes in, it's very easy to remove in Photoshop.

There are also some issues with getting the external to work with the Sonys. You know about the pre-flash, the other problem is the camera will not know about the external and will not expect the extra light. You will end up having the external putting out the same amount of light as the internal or be overexposed. The other issue is the Sony's are tiny and fit nicely under a BC strap, not going to happen with an external.

All my opinion, they're your pictures, you decide. Here's some examples and an editing tip.

Last Weekend's Dive

Bonaire w/the Sony

UW Photo Editing

 

[Gilligan]

Cecil has some valid points re the Sony and an external strobe since the camera has issues with one.

I used the internal strobe on my Olympus for a year or so before I bought an external one. I live on Maui and get to dive 3 or 4 times a week so the strobe was worthwhile to me and I don't mind the larger rig since I dive off a kayak.

You can get great photos with the internal strobe , especially in the Macro mode. It's all about learning the camera. I found that manual mode works best underwater.

Another thing to consider is using Manual white balance for non-strobe shots (if that option is available on your camera). Calibrating the white balance off a dive slate for the existing conditions yields better results than Auto WB. Adjusting the photos in a software program adds the final touch.
This article talks about using a color correcting filter in conjunction with Manual WB. I located a used FL-B filter for next to nothing and will try it as soon as I get it and post the results.

I have heard pros and cons to the filter use and Manual WB but I'll reserve my opinion until I have tried it. The "cons" say anything you can do with a filter underwater you can do in a software program after the fact thereby rendering the filter a waste of time. I'm not so sure about that.

 

[ReyeR]

This has been discussed before here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?threadid=59690
The issue with the DSC-P10 (and other full-auto cameras) is whether you can reap the full benefits of adding an external strobe. See point #2 in the same post: http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=637768&postcount=8

About the Sony video light (HVL-ML20M)
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=324976&postcount=12

Bottom line: Adding an external strobe will DEFINITELY help in reducing backscatter, especially in murky water. It will also give you wider coverage and more creative control with strobe placement.

What you won't be able to do with the P10 is get full exposure benefits of adding more light, particularly reds, to your picture, and control over the balance between the amount of strobe light and ambient light as the camera sets the aperture and shutter speed for you. For the same reason adding a strobe will also give you no additional benefits with regards to achieving more depth-of-field and freezing motion. The above reasons make adding an external strobe (or two) to a manual camera setup in-valuable.

Manual white balance is not available on the P10.

HTH

 

[slee416]

What you won't be able to do with the P10 is get full exposure benefits of adding more light, particularly reds, to your picture, and control over the balance between the amount of strobe light and ambient light as the camera sets the aperture and shutter speed for you. For the same reason adding a strobe will also give you no additional benefits with regards to achieving more depth-of-field and freezing motion. The above reasons make adding an external strobe (or two) to a manual camera setup in-valuable.

I'm so glad I dumped Sony. No offense to the current users, I am a fan of many of Sony's other products (TV, computer, audio equip) but for u/w photography there's so many more options with the likes of canon and olympus.