Beginner Alert: Older SONY Point-n-Shoot and an Ikelite Housing ~ strobe solution???

[Conforte]

Hi all,

I own the SONY DSC-S85 camera and Ikelite Housing. The camera is about 10 years old, but takes clean 4.1 meg photos well.. all day long. My underwater shots are in dire need of additional light, but I'm new to this part, so I've been doing tons of reading. All articles and forum point to the "TTL" function of the camera. Now, nowhere in the camera's manual does it make mention of TTL technology or Auto Flash Settings. The camera does not pre-flash... the best I get is a secondary light for "red eye reduction." I figure somehow, I need to block the cameras flash to reduce scatter, yet allow the slave to see the flash to trigger the strobe.

From what I'm reading, I will have to depend on a slave strobe in Manual Mode, and dial in my own settings (usually 1 to 10, based on distance to the target, macro, angle, etc.)

Can anyone suggest a compact strobe which will be easy to set up, and will work with the least amount of peripherals? I am hesitant to go to the local camera shop until I know a little more about my options... and I'm trying to keep this package relatively inexpensive, whatever that means...

I've seen a number of Strobes online and on eBay, but don't know enough to put the right package together.

Thanks, Robert

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Ikelite 6110.75 Underwater Housing and Sony Cybershot DSC-S85 Camera

Sony Cybershot DSC-S85 Camera:

• 4.1 meg Pixel ~ 6x Zoom
• MPG movie mode
• LCD Viewfinder and Optical Viewfinder
• 1ea 128 mb Memory Stick
• 1ea Lithium Battery
• Cables and Power Supply
  • Audio/Video interface cable
  • USB Computer interface cable
  • AC Power Supply

Extras:

• Five additional 128 mb Memory Sticks, over 120 images per stick.
• Memory Stick to USB adapter to allow fast image transfer to computer
• Two additional Lithium Batteries
• Two battery chargers ~ compact wall and power adapter.

Ikelite 6110.75 Underwater Housing for DSC-S85:
The housing is molded of corrosion free clear polycarbonate and operates safely to 200 feet. The Release Handle system and removable base plate allow easy attachment of our video lights and TTL SubStrobes. Housing is in perfect condition, free of any scratches.​

 

[Furnari]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I was in a similar situation about a year ago with my Sony DSC-W290 so I figured I'd chime in. I ended up going with a Sea & Sea YS-02 instead of the YS-01- the 01 has TTL capability, and the 02 does not. I made my decision based mostly on price and the fact that my camera didn't have TTL. A year later, I'm pretty happy; I'm now thinking about upgrading cameras to one with TTL, so maybe it would have been nice to get that in a strobe- hard to say. I also looked at the Ikelite AF35, which would probably work pretty well with your housing. What swayed me was the fact that you get a lot more strobe for just a little more money by stepping up to the Sea and Sea. With either of these two or other options, you could install a masking kit with a fiber optic port over the flash in your housing. My 02 came with one, and I imagine most strobes do, too. Hope this helps...