strobe necessity?

[skinnyhb]

alright, so im looking to get the olympus sp350 with the olympus housing so i can stay under $500. but from a lot of other posts, it sounds like i am going to need to add on a strobe for lighting. am i correct in this assumption? forgive my newbieness.

 

[Gilligan]

For the most part yes, but you can live withot one while you learn your camera.

Take your macro shots with the built in strobe and the more distant shots with manual white balance or the RAW mode.

The built in strobe is good to about two feet.

An external strobe may give you a little more distance depending on its power but it will offset the flash so as eliminate or greatly reduce "backscatter".

If you buy an external strobe you will need a tray/arm for the setup.

An inexpensive strobe ($200. range) is the Sunpak G Flash.

Ask SeaYoda about it as he uses one.

The Inon D2000 will run you about $600. with the fiber optic cord which you have to have.

I use the Inon D-180 which was replaced by the D-2000.

 

[havnmonkey]

my G6 is hooked up with a Ikelite Ds-50(manual controller) and a Sealife SL960d flash(fiber optic to Ds-50).

the Sealife and Sunpak are roughly the same price bracket and are both solid strobes. Anything more is going to set you above $500 for the strobe.