Olympus C-5060 flash or strobe?

[tlmainer]

Has anybody used an Olympus FL-20 flash with the PFL-01 housing (for the Olympus C-5060 camera)? Just wondering how it works or if I should go with a different slave strobe? I don't know much at all about flashes or strobes.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ann Marie]

Hi. I am just a hack photographer but I have the 5060 and the FL-20 flash with housing. I've used the flash with the cable but was worried that I might have a problem with it flooding since I am now opening another area of the housing. I recently purchased the Olympus ULF-1 underwater strobe. I am much happier with that. No cables or anything to worry about.

The strobe works well. The cable runs from the flash to a port in the housing for the 5060. I guess that I like just not having the cable to deal with.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Basically, a land strobe does not have to put out as much light as a marine strobe, so the FL-20 has always been considered under-powered for all but very shallow and very clear water. Almost any made for underwater strobe is better than housing a land strobe.

 

[tlmainer]

Ann Marie:

How does the strobe attach to the camera housing?

 

[herman]

Save your money for a real UW strobe, you will be much happier.

 

[ce4jesus]

Hi,
I actually used the FL20 with the PFL-01 housing. It attaches to the housing via a sync cable. There's a small cable that comes with the housing for the strobe that will attach your camera's hotshoe to the housing. I'll disagree, and agree with some of the things said above. First off, I've enjoyed the flash, the hardwired (fire every time) TTL, and was generally pleased by the amount of light given off by the strobe. It was a great beginner strobe as I didn't have to worry about correct exposure. The big bonus of using that particular strobe is I could completely turn off the internal strobe and therefore almost double battery life. Additionally, since it has its own batteries, your camera will cycle faster because its not charging the strobe. Finally it makes a nice topside strobe out of the housing. Those are the good points.
The bad - The strobe housing is square, awkward to aim correctly and the external diffuser is a waste of material (rarely stays attached correctly). It also doesn't have any place to mount a fiber optic cable should you wish to add a 2nd optical strobe down the road.
My recommendation - It will be better than most low end strobes and if you're not planning on going to DSLR, or adding a 2nd strobe then it might be a nice strobe for you. It will work fine for all of your fish portraits and macro shots.
If you're planning on doing quite a few WA shots, adding strobes or the possibility of upgrading a DSLR exists down the road, then invest in something a little more beefy. Looking back on the issue, I have no regrets because I was new to the game. If I were doing it today I would buy an Inon D2000 strobe.

 

[f3nikon]

The FL-20 flash works just fine U/W its more powerful than the cameras onboard flash and even the cameras onborad flash is good enough. What most are forgeting is that when shooting U/W the camera has to be very close to the subject one foot or less, any flash is able to properly at this distance.

Its all about fill flash (the close-up lighting of the subject) not light up the entire reef.

 

[pakman]

f3, what's your thoughts on TTL?

 

[driftwood]

The 5060's UW housing really likes the FL-20 and not much else. I had the FL-20 and housing and sold them on ebay, not enough light to be worth the expense and trouble. The problem I ran into was sync'ing the camera to an external strobe with something other than a fiber optics cable. This is the solution that I ran across that works GREAT, HeinrichsWeikamp GbR.

Get Heinrich's "gadget" and mate it up with a supported strobe and cable and you have virtual TTL without having to penetrate your camera's housing for a direct camera/strobe connection (fewer seals that can leak). The "gadget" also lets you buy older nondigital strobes that will cost you much less (stay on the bleeding edge of technology to get performance for price). I use an old Sea&Sea YS90dx TTL with the 5060 and get great shots.

Hope this helps and remember to turn off your camera's flash to reduce backscatter.

 

[gaudencio]

hi,
I used the Inon 2000s and is very happy with it. It greatly improved u/w lighting for my macro shots though not too good on the distance shots. If you have the money I suggest you directly buy the Inon z240 or the 2000s. I use the manual mode for my strobe, its better that the TTl which sometimes doesnot give good results.