Strobe for Sony DSC-P73

[Albion]

Also the sea sea 25 is very good. not too big and with a tray and arm that all plugs together very simply.

 

[LAWDIVER]

I was mistaken, the camera will preflash for red eye reduction, not for focusing. How do you get the external strobe to sync with the camera, I am new to this. Would you use a fiber optic cable or what?

 

[Cecil]

You have to turn off the pre-flash, on the P5 it's in the Setup and called Red Eye Reduction. I leave mine off anyway, red eye is one of the easiest things to fix (compared to backscatter). An external strobe will sync with a slave module that covers the internal strobe and triggers the external. The other way is a fiber optic cable that does the same thing.

 

[ReyeR]

LAWDIVER, Cecil, Red Eye Reduction and pre-flash are 2 different things. With RER the flash will fire several tiny flashes before the main flash. The purpose of the tiny flashes is to close the iris of the subject's eye. You should never use this mode to trigger an external strobe.
Pre-flash is used to measure the amount of flash light needed to correctly expose a scene. In Sony's own words from the manual: "The flash fires twice, first pre-emission is to adjust the amount of flash light, and second emission is to shoot the image"
You can turn off RER by selecting a different flash mode. You can't turn the pre-flash off on the P5 or P73.
To get your external strobe to sync you need to 'slave' it to the camera's flash. The external strobe will have a light sensor that will trigger the strobe when it detects that the camera's flash has gone off. The fibre optic cable is just a means of channelling the camera's flash light to this sensor. This method is deployed with the Inon D-180 or the Sea and Sea YS-90DX. Ikelite strobes have the sensor separated from the main strobe unit. You mount and aim the sensor in such a way that it 'looks' at the camera's flash.

 

[LAWDIVER]

Thanks to all who have helped with this. After researching the different strobes, I think I am going with the Inon D-180. One final question, Where on line is a good place to purchase the strobe, tray and arm?

 

[ReyeR]

Will be worth checking if there is a fibre optic kit for the MPKPHA first....

 

[marpacifica]

Thanks to all who have helped with this. After researching the different strobes, I think I am going with the Inon D-180. One final question, Where on line is a good place to purchase the strobe, tray and arm?

You can try Yuzo at http://www.uwdigitalcamera.com/English/euwdigitalindex.htm

Their on-line order form doesn't work, so you have to shoot him an email and he'll get back to you (usually within a day, sometimes a few hours depending on the time). The Inon D-180 you have to pre-order b/c he runs out of it as soon as it comes in, but he is supposed to have received a shipment on June 20. It runs a little over $400 with the exchange rate, and add $60 for express mail. He's a pretty dependable guy and many on this board have ordered from him, including me. No worries. You can also get trays/accessories by clicking on the appropriate tab at the top of the webpage. Good luck!

 

[Tobagoman]

I tried a slave strobe with the Sony DSC-10 and had terrible luck with it. The pictures while I was testing continuosly came out dark. I tried different settings on the camera and could not improve the outcome. When I turned the strobe off the internal flash illuminated the picture correctly, I just couldn't figure out why it caused the picture to be underexposed with the external strobe. I finally gave up and sold the strobe.
The pictures with the camera alone have been fantastic, but there have been a few that would have been enhanced with an external strobe.
If anyone else has had this problem with the Sony I would be interested in hearing how it was resolved or not.
Thanks,
Tobagoman

 

[LAWDIVER]

Well I ended up returning the dsc-p73 to circuit city because 2 days after I got it, the dsc-p93 (higher resolution) went on sale. Tried the camera and housing out today for the first time with just an internal flash and the pictures came out great. The good thing about this set-up is that it will fit inside my BC pocket when not in use. Here is a freshwater eel in the cave at vortex springs.

 

[LAWDIVER]

Here is a picture of a blue-gill. I have to say I am very happy with the results, and again thanks to everyone for their input.