Which light/strobe for a Canon S500?

[chloew]

I'm planning to purchase the Canon underwater housing for my Canon S500 (Canon WP-DC 800) to take on a dive trip in a couple of months. I would like to get an external strobe to give me a better chance to get some decent pictures.

Can anyone recommend a specific type/model?

Will the light mount directly onto the Canon WP-DC 800 housing? I assume the external stobe will be triggered by the flash from the camera.

Thank you for your help.

[jamesw]

Hmm...the S500 is a totall point and shoot camera so you can't set the aperture or shutterspeed.

Set the camera for -1 exposure compensation and use the internal flash for anything closer than 1 foot.

For an external flash, you'll be wanting something cheap. Check out something called the "Nano Flash" which is sold here:

http://www.fantasea.com/product_cat_...p?cat=5&sub=15

It's a little quantum flash in a clear housing. This flash can be set to ignore 1, 2, 3, or 4 preflashes and it works great w your camera.

Cheers
James

[chloew]

James,

Thank you for the recommendation. I've also considered the Sea&Sea YS-15, Ikelite DS-51, and SeaLife Reefmaster SL-960, all of which are probably a bit more powerful (and expensive) than the Nano.

I am realizing after more reading that the S500 is not very well suited for this endeavor, but I think I may have to stick with it for now to see how much I will get into U/W photography, before investing more money.

[jamesw]

Hi Christian,

If you already have the underwater case, you should do at least one dive with it without the external flash. As long as you are within one foot you can get some decent pix w/ the internal flash only.

Then you'll see why you want an external flash. My rec would be to get a flash that you can use with a more suitable camera later. The Ike DS51 fits that bill nicely.

If you just want to try something cheap, there is a Fantasea nano-flash type unit on Ebay sold by Helix Camera. I think it's 90 bux.

Cheers
James

[jamesw]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fantasea-Cool-Fl...QQcmdZViewItem

[austinh2o]

What James said, he is the master.

[jamesw]

Here's another one on ebay - for those of you looking for a small flash for your underwater digicam:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fantasea-Nano-Fl...QQcmdZViewItem

Cheers
James

PS - I have no affiliation w/ this guy lol

[chloew]

Thank you for everyone's feedback. I'll post some samples when I get to try things out.