Sony DSC-W1

[RockyTop]

I am just a novice at photography so I am not looking for professional shots. I just want to get decent pictures to show family and friends.

I have read a lot of posts here and I realize sony is not the favored brand. However, I already have a Sony DSC-W1 camera and a 1 gig memory stick and will be getting the housing for it. Im not interested in investing in another camera and digital storage at this time.

My question is what kind of external strobe will work with this particular setup?

Any assistance would be appreciated.

thanks.

 

[Larry C]

Your Sony should work perfectly fine. It's small and light, 5.1mp is quite adequate and Cybershots take very nice pictures. You don't have a hotshoe for an external flash, so you'll need to use a slave strobe that flashes when the built in flash goes off. I don't know if the camera has a preflash or not. If it does, you'll need a strobe that has a preflash setting so it doesn't go off prematurely. You'll also need a mounting tray and adjustable arm for your strobe. If you are looking to stay on a budget, Sunpak and Epoque have very nice strobes for under $200. Sea Life and Sea and Sea also make reasonable slave strobes. The Sunpak has a fixed mounting point which will work, but limit your access to pictures of stuff hiding under rocks and such. Also, if the flash is too close to the lens, you'll get backscatter, which is a reflection of material in the water which makes spots all over your shot. For a cheap adjustable mounting system, check posts by Sea Yoda and Gilligan, or you can look in my Gallery at the "loc-line" based adjustable system that I made for my strobe. Or for about $175 you can get a really nice adjustable arm system from Ultralight. A loc-line set-up will cost you about $35-$40 in materials and a couple of days labor to get it right and other than really sharp bends, it's quickly and easily adjustable to about any position.

 

[Cecil]

What Larry said on the external. I would try it without an external first. You may be surprised as long as you get very close to your subject. I am a long time Sony user and only use the internal flash. Here's a link to some pictures I took last month in Bonaire with a Sony DSC-P150 internal flash.

http://www.bonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/116771/261587.html?1142900839

 

[alcina]

Inon should also work with that set up.

Have fun and post photos soon

 

[RockyTop]

Thanks for the information. I just ordered the underwater housing and a wide angle lens for under $200.

I am going to stick with that for now and just take some photos. I just wanted to make sure I could get an external strobe for this setup before making the purchase.