New UW Photographer

[Scubie Doo]

Hi everyone! I have been diving for about one year. During that time I have been using the Sealife Reef Master Mini. This little camera has served me well on tropical dives/snorkeling trips. However, here in the Puget Sound this camera does not cut it.

I have been doing a lot of research on upgrading my UW camera and I finally pulled the trigger on a G10 with a Canon housing. There is a ton of good information on this forum and I really appreciate the postings. After reading various information on this setup I have a couple questions.

1) Will I be able to get quality shots without a strobe? or do I have to be a strobe? When I am ready for a strobe, any recommendations on an economical strobe setup?

2) Any recommended settings for my first dive?

3) I have heard concerns about the Canon housing. I know maintenance should be self explanatory, but any tips or recommendations on how to successfully maintain the housing?

4) Finally, does anyone know of any good UW photo training programs? I would love to talk to an expert prior to dipping my new camera in the Sound.

Sorry for the barrage of questions on my first post. At least I did not bring up any questions about shooting in RAW format, I will save that for later.

Thank you very much in advance for your insight.

[dphershman]

Hi everyone! I have been diving for about one year. During that time I have been using the Sealife Reef Master Mini. This little camera has served me well on tropical dives/snorkeling trips. However, here in the Puget Sound this camera does not cut it.

I have been doing a lot of research on upgrading my UW camera and I finally pulled the trigger on a G10 with a Canon housing. There is a ton of good information on this forum and I really appreciate the postings. After reading various information on this setup I have a couple questions.

1) Will I be able to get quality shots without a strobe? or do I have to be a strobe? When I am ready for a strobe, any recommendations on an economical strobe setup?

2) Any recommended settings for my first dive?

3) I have heard concerns about the Canon housing. I know maintenance should be self explanatory, but any tips or recommendations on how to successfully maintain the housing?

4) Finally, does anyone know of any good UW photo training programs? I would love to talk to an expert prior to dipping my new camera in the Sound.

Sorry for the barrage of questions on my first post. At least I did not bring up any questions about shooting in RAW format, I will save that for later.

Thank you very much in advance for your insight.

Here's a few answers--- hopefully this will help get a discussion going

1) To get 'quality' pictures you need a strobe. Bad light = bad pictures. the canon housing doesn't allow you to use the best feature of the G10, that is ttl exposure through the camera's hotshoe. With this housing you have to do the slave mode routine with a strobe. It'll work okay, but there's more guessing going on with the correct exposure settings. For now use a dive light as a light source-- that'll work sort of for macro shots. Forget wide angle except for sillouhettes. I'd really suggest the Ikelight housing for the G10 as it allows you to utilize the camera's ttl exposure system via the hot shoe.

2) Use Aperture mode for macro shots, use P mode for general wide angle shots. Set the aperture to at least 5.6 or smaller for macro, if you get a strobe try f8 and smaller apertures. You can try apertures greater than 5.6 for wider angle shots.

3) the canon housings do tend to flood after awhile. Be very careful about any hairs or other obstructions.

4) there's plenty of experts on this forum. Surprised they haven't weighed in by now!

[dwashbur]

I haven't used a strobe yet and get really good pictures; likewise my daughter. Search the board for my name or chenari and check some of our pictures out; that's a little of what you can do with a Canon without a strobe. Obviously a strobe would be nice, but the built-in flash with the diffuser does a decent job, and if you or your buddy can shine a dive light for extra fill, it's even better.

We now have three Canon A630's, all in Canon housings. The Canon housing, especially the O-ring, isn't as forgiving as some others (notably the Ikelite), but I don't think it's as bad as it's sometimes painted, either. You just need to make sure you clean and grease the O-ring before EVERY dive. I use a microfiber cloth to clean the ring, the channel that it sits in, and the facing that it goes against when the case is closed, and I'm extra alert for hairs, pieces of lint, and that sort of thing that might get on the ring as I'm putting it back on.

We keep ours in aperture mode at f/8 and shoot exclusively in macro mode. I haven't used the G10, but in the models we have the macro mode is flexible enough to do decent shots out to about 24 inches, and in to about 2 inches. Dusty2 can tell you more about the G10, I believe.

[Scubie Doo]

Thanks for all the advice I received, it was helpful. I got my G10 and could not wait for a strobe, so I said "what the heck". I was getting terrible shots with my Reef Master Mini. Well the investment was well worth it! Here are a few shots with minor Picasa editing. I shot all my images in RAW too and I will play with that as well. Again thanks for the advice and please let me know if you are considering the G10, it is an amazing camera!

[smike]

I have the same setup as you do, and I only have a dozen dives or so with it so far. Without the strobe, it can be difficult to get light to the whole frame on macro shots. I just shoot on the top part of the frame that the flash fills in. The light from the flash is a real nice color, so the flash pictures turn out nice. A focus light is very helpful. I always shoot @ F8, then focus is not quite as critical, especially on the macro stuff.

If you are thinking of the strobe, but want small steps ($), first step is to get an arm, and then a focus light, and then finally a strobe. Strobes have a steep learning curve BTW...

[Scubie Doo]

Smike,

Great information, I appreciate it. I agree with shooting the subject in the top half due to the lack of light on the bottom. My light is on my hand so I can position the light to fill in the bottom of the photo (takes a little work though). Have you shot in RAW yet? If so, do you use Canon's software to edit or did you get a different program? Again, thanks for the strobe purchase progression it really helps create a game plan.

Jesse

[Gooch]

Nice pix Jesse. I've just ordered the same setup and can't wait to see how they look. I'm also biding my time until I can afford either a fiber optic flash or a Ikelite/hotshoe (really the best I understand) setup. That octo picture looks very cool.....

[smike]

Yeah, I shoot RAW. There is also a RAW+jpg option, it gives you both pictures, then you can decide how to edit it later. I just shoot in RAW though, and sometimes use the CANON tools to edit (especially) the color. The upside is the tools are precision, the downside is that they are slow. Usually the only thing I change is the color, and then switch to another tool for cropping and anything special.

See this link... http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10083 for editing software discussion...

I am trying to come up with a specific way of organizing photos as I edit them. The CANON tools do a nice job of organizing the photos into directories by shoot date. I might do a couple of operations on the photo, then save the final form. I need to figure out how to name the files (easily) as I operate on them. Here is one idea of how the editing might go:

10034.RAW - as it comes from the camera
10034.jpg - might convert it to jpeg
10034-colorcorrected.jpg - an image with color corrections
10034-colorcorrected-cropped.jpg - the same one cropped
10034-Squid-doing-jumping-jacks.jpg - the final image that I am using somewhere.

S'Mike

[smike]

You can take your light and mount it to the strobe tray in a temporary way, using pipe clamps, rubber bands, anything you can dream up to hold it till you get the real parts. I made the camera tray and bought handles and arms for my camera. The tray secures to the camera case with a 1/4"-20 bolt. Be careful the bolt is not too long and presses against the plastic enclosure when you tighten it.

S'Mike

[Scubie Doo]

I took shots in RAW and Jpeg. I like that option as I throw the Jpeg on Facebook for friends and family to view. I don't care if they are perfect at that point. I used the Canon editor for RAW editing and I agree, use that for color adjustments and then Picasa (or something else) for cropping, etc. The photo naming issue is a tough one. However, I find if I shoot in RAW and Jpeg I keep RAW as my "original" and then rename the Jpegs as I edit. The organization of photos is almost more difficult than editing oh well!

[Tangfish]

Great photos, Scubie! Looks like the new system is really working out for you. That's fantastic. Keep em coming!

[Scubie Doo]

Tangfish, thanks! That means a lot coming from you. We need to get out and dive together sometime! Does brother Tangfish dive too?