In 2008 I purchased an Olympus Stylus 1030 SW Digital underwater digital camera for a snorkelling trip in Hawaii.

In 2009 I took up scuba diving and purchased the PT-043 Underwater Housing for the same camera.

Now I’m ready to purchase a strobe to make better quality pictures as recommended by wookie.

www.thescubasite.com/Scuba-Forum/Scuba-Diving-Stories/1762-Egypt-Trip/Page-2

The strobe recommended for my camera is the UFL-1 underwater strobe and fisheye bracket. Does anyone have a comment on the strobe or maybe you can recommend a combatable one you know about.

I don't have any personal experience with it, but looks ok on paper and I've not heard anything bad about it. What would worry me a bit is the recycle times.. Have you looked at the sea & sea YS110a?

This strobe has a 3 second recycle time.

Is this acceptable for an amateur on a strict budget or will I regret it?

The sea & sea YS110a is 1.9 seconds.

I looked at the sea & sea YS110a. It would appear that it’s a better strobe; it’s also about $400.00 more than the UFL-1. There was a problem with the UFL-1 that I just discovered. The arm is weak and breaks easily. I was told this week that it’s being discontinued and replaced with a new bundle that corrects this problem. The strobe however remains the same.

Sorry there is not that much difference in the price here. We're probably being over charged as we usually are here in the UK.

The Olympus is paired with the 10Bar arm in the camera shops I like (may be an alternative you can look at).

I think you could probably live with the 3 sec recycle time, you may just have to chose your shot more carefully. I tend to be more trigger happy I just wanted to make sure you were aware of that limitation as part of what you pay for..

I think 3 seconds will have to do for now.

Being that I am new at diving I think I will take my chances with the UFL-1 and then in a few years when I’m more comfortable I will buy a completely new photography kit.

Thanks for the recommendation.