In reading a couple of camera reviews for the Sony DSC-P10, I wasn't able to find any mention of the availability of a "slave" function in the flash menu. A slave function feature would send an optical signal, a single blip of light, from the onboard flash (master) to command an external (slave) flash to fire
in sync with the shutter event. The key here is only one single blip of light, not a preflash or even a series of preflashes as would be common with many preflash point and shoot digital cameras.
If the Sony camera requires a preflash event (quite common) to aid in exposure calibrations, then the external strobe matched to it would be required to address those extra blips of light.
With optically triggered strobes, each blip of light detected by its sensor,
from any source, may be perceived as an order to fire. Some newer strobes are capable of keeping up with these almost instantaneous firing commands. Other strobes are designed simply to ignore the pre flashes and wait (programmed by user) for the correct time to fire in sync with the shutter event.
Unfortunately I believe an SB 105 is not capable of firing in rapid succession in order to keep up with preflashes. Nor is there any circuitry available on the strobe itself to ignore the preflashes. If the DSC-P10 were to fire a preflash resulting in the firing of the SB 105, the strobe would not be able to recycle quickly enough to be prepared for the subsequent signal to fire in sync with the actual shutter event.
Therefore an additional piece of equipment may be necessary for the SB 105 to work in some capacity with your camera. This added instrument would need to be capable of ignoring a single preflash or several (programmed by user depending on specific camera preflash characteristics). That's where the HeinrichsWeikamp Digital Adapter may be a solution.
The HeinrichsWeikamp Digital Adapter
translates the optical signal received from the onboard master strobe (the flash found on the camera) into an electronic signal. The electronic signal to fire then travels through the sync cord connected to the external strobe (SB 105). As previously mentioned, the DA may also be calibrated to ignore one or more preflashes. Check the heinrichsweikamp web site for a complete list of Digital Adapter user defined options.
You should email Matthias Heinrichs or a reseller of his product to verify prior to ordering, especially since Matthias does not presently officially list the Sony DSC-P10 as tested*. The SB 105 is listed by Matthias as compatible but with limitations. This might refer to the ability for the connected strobe (SB 105) to offer manual mode (user defined strobe power level output) but not TTL (strobe output controlled by the camera's brain). Once again, Matthias has the answer!
*Although the DSC-P10 is listed by heinrichsweikamp in a category classified as "no information about compatibility", there does exist a photo of a DA set up in conjunction with the P10 housing in the gallery section of Matthias' web site:
detail:
One last point. I feel compelled to point out that your camera has no manual control of aperture or shutter speed. Normally I do not recommend building underwater rigs around auto cameras due to the fact that they are calibrated at the factory to capture images on land, through air, with two feet firmly planted on the ground. Of course when diving we are attempting to float motionless while capturing reflected light which has been filtered though water. The ability to manually control the size of the aperture and the speed in which the shutter opens and closes is very desirable underwater in order to have user control over the background exposure and motion blur. Knowing beforehand the specific aperture setting would also be helpful in choosing the appropriate strobe power level setting in order to help control the foreground exposure.
no affiliation with any of the products mentioned,
nor have I personally tested them,
b
