Sea & Sea DX-1G Pro Package - September 2008 - Editor's Pick STORY LINE The Pro Package is Sea&Sea's DX-1G camera armed to the teeth with a powerful YS-110 strobe, a wide-angle lens and all the caddies, cables and cases to make it work.

KEY FEATURES The DX-1G is a 10-megapixel picture box tailored to the demands of underwater shooters. Notable among its long list of goodies is a pair of fiber-optic cable sockets for supporting dual strobes and an image-stabilizing function to eliminate motion blur when the shutter is pressed. The 2.5-inch LCD screen rides under a hood for better viewing in bright conditions, and the whole rig is rated to 180 feet. Perfect companion to this point-and-shoot is the YS-110 strobe. TTL, or "through the lens" metering, and auto-exposure settings, as well as 13 manual power levels allow this strobe to provide just the right illumination in any setting. A handy LED target light is also built in, and a set of rechargeable NiMH batteries is good for 320 flashes at maximum power.

DIVER IMPRESSIONS This is a real step up from the typical point-and-shoot, and when everything goes just right, the picture quality is amazing. I could never have gotten these images with my old point-and-shoot. Shutter lag is incredibly short and the picture in the viewfinder when you press the shutter is the one you get. The camera and strobe are power hungry, so be sure you're fully charged, as performance on backup alkaline batteries is short-lived. This camera is also more complex than a typical point-and-shoot, so read up on its features before hitting the water, and when you do, make sure you have the strobe and the camera on the right flash settings. Manual 2 on the strobe worked best for me.

MSRP $2,499

CONTACT seaandsea.com — Diver impressions by Sport Diver reader and 2008 Kona Classic participant Chanelle Cline.