Newbie to underwater photography!

[cyrzk]

+1 on what johnblue said...

its also an investment if you are really into UW photog

 

[OrangeBloke]

Hi all, after 1 year of waiting i'm finally going diving again! can't wait! this time i bring my camera. i'm using mju410 with pt-016 housing. but i've nv done underwater photography before i juz bought the housing for this trip. how is it different from taking photo on land? need to do some adjustments to colours since some colours will disappear as we go deeper? how do i do that? can all the pros come help help? thanks alot!!!

Okay. let me try and answer some of your questions.

How is it different from land? Well first of all you're wet, and the water will mean there will be more things to consider than on land. Water moves so you'll need to make sure that your buoyancy is good to keep you steady and off any reef, fish, etc underneath you - not crashing into things also means that the next person will have something to photograph too.

On land the air is generally clear but underwater there are always suspended particles, even on the clear days. Particles can mean that if your flash hits them they can show up in your shot, in the worst cases it looks like a snow storm, thus if you're restricted to the camera flash only use it on very close shots when there is little water between you and the subject. For wider shots turn the flash off and try going for a blue effect or, better still, use manual white balance if your camera supports it. Eventually you should consider getting an external strobe to have better control of the light and colours.

Starting off you'll also probably find that you'll have a lot of shots of tails as fish and critters leave the shot just a fraction before you take it. There are two main reasons for this - the shutter lag and spooking the fish. Unless you've got an SLR/DSLR the shutter lag on the camera can be annoying as the shutter will fire a fraction later than you want it to but you can help get around it to some degree by getting the camera to do most of its focusing before you finally press the shutter. Do this by pressing down the shutter half way and hold it at half way. When the camera says that it is focused, and you have the composition you need, only then press the shutter all the way. As regards spooking fish and critters, don't swim at them or chase them, move into their territory slowly so you appear less of a threat and so have a better chance of getting a clear shot at them

If your camera has manual mode, or at least shutter or aperture priority modes, get used to using them as they'll do you more favours than fully automatic mode which isn't much good beyond the first few metres of water. Manual gives you the most control over the light and in photography, as you probably well know, having control over the light is how you get better shots.

For you camera's metering mode, set it to spot metering as in most cases it works out best. Leave autofocus on but turn fulltime autofocus off as it wastes power.

Don't move critters to get a better shot. If they're not where you want them, leave them alone, there'll always be another critter and another day to get a shot

As regards flooding, when I had my first flood I was told that there are two types of cameras used in diving, those that have flooded and those that haven't flooded yet...try to stay out of the latter category as much as possible. The best way to avoid floods is to adapt an almost ceremonious diligence around the preparation of the housing, O-rings and camera. The first time you dive the housing leave the camera out and put some tissue in instead. Sure you may miss getting a shot of the passing whale shark but it’ll prove whether or not the housing works - just because the manufacturer says it works it doesn’t mean that it does. It’ll also prove to yourself that you can set up the housing properly. Always use silicon grease on the o-rings but don’t go mad with it – it doesn’t keep the water out, it keeps the o-rings supple and they keep the water out. Make sure that the o-rings are free of sand, hair, etc – tiny particles can lead to a leak under pressure. Only open the housing when you need to so as to prevent the chance of introducing a problem and always rinse the housing in fresh water after each dive to stop salt build up around the buttons, leavers, hinges, etc.

Silica gel packets in the housing can help prevent fogging, as can a little mask defogger applied to the lens port where the lens will look out – rub a little on with a cotton bud and clean off with a non abrasive cloth but you only really need to do this once every few days at mjost

Most of all, take lots of pictures. The shots that you see in magazines are, for the most part, not the result of a single attempt; most involve repetitive shots to get it just right. Digital is very good for instant feedback and letting you learn from your mistakes so take advantage of this

One last word of warning...taking cameras diving can be highly addictive to the point where your camera bag starts to compete with the dive gear for size and weight...but it's also seriously fun

Right, that'll do for now. Good luck with the camera

 

[lovells19]

urgh, i had the sp350, used it for 2 minutes and got disgusted with it. it's sloowwwww in AF, write speed, and everything else imaginable. i wouldn't use it even if someone paid me to bring it underwater. i'm positive i'll start spitting blood the moment i turn it on.

YMMV, of course.

I beg people not to buy it

i think my old c5050 writes and focus faster then it

 

[lovells19]

Biggest Difference between UW n Land is the medium.

Land its air, which is super less denser then water, hence light gets to travel a great deal before being dispersed and loses sharpness/contrast/colors

Other then that
- Only when indonesia is on fire, u will get alot of particles which might cause the backscatters
- Wind don't move you much unless its a Hurricane
- You can Change lens to suit the different shooting condition
- You can set up tripod, set up many flashes, talk to your model ask her don't expose her armpit hair

UW anything after 2m is blue/green
- Waves/surge/currents push you all over the place
- You still get some sort of particles in the clearest water
- You cannto change lens, so if u set for macro and if you see Whale shark, you can only shoot the whaleshit
- setting up tripod and multiple flashes is very expensive and troublesome, you cannot talk to your model, and worse, she probably cannot see you with her mask off

As for fishes, i think its all same, insect also flys away if you get too close, or move suddenly, advantage is you can hold your breath on land, underwater you'll be floating away like a balloon.

I think camera plays a small part, ultimately its the photoshop hahahahaha

 

[johnblue]

I beg people not to buy it

i think my old c5050 writes and focus faster then it

Lovells19

Skills, or the lack of it, makes a photo nice or not so nice. All point and shoot cameras are about the same.

(a) Here's the link to someone whose wreck diving photos made it into Scuba Diver Australasia using a SP-350. Not his 1st time using a SP-350 and shoot himself into magazines.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/un...s-made-into-scuba-diver-australasia-woot.html

(b) Here's the link where people takes more than decent quality photos using the "dun buy" SP 350camera. The forummers there bitched abt the slow focus speed and other ills but they still captured fish portraits pretty decently.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/olympus-outlet/249525-olympus-350-images-impressions.html

Look for the photo of a grasshopper in Post 2 by Larry C. Grasshoppers are skittish bugs if u get too close, dun they? Surely the AF focus fast enough to capture that pic

How abt the last photo of a shrimp in Post 6 by ce4jesus?

Do shrimps remain motionless and posed for divers all the time?

Photos in Post 11 by Tassie Rohan are fantastic given that he use a "dun buy' camera as quoted from you.

(c) Yo can view Larry C photos using SP350 under the link

http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h240/Larry_C/

there are quite a few fish portraits in his album. And fishes DUN stay motionless and pose for u right?

Please dun use sweeping statements for comparing C5050 to SP350. We need to inform newcomers rightly and without prejudice. The poor threadstarter is probably confused. We all know that C5050 is an excellent prosumer cam that Olympus unfortunately doesn't make anymore of these in their new lineup. SP-350 is not a prosumer cam, at best a mid level point and shoot when it debuted in 2006. How abt compare the glass used by C5050 against the latest point and shoot cams? Which current point and shoot camera uses f1.8 glass like the C5050? Which current point and shoot has smaller aperture than F8 currently? The size of sensor on the C5050 is bigger than most point and shoot cams of today.

I'm a weekend warrior who enjoys kicking around or shooting hoops with friends. I have the old Adidas predator model (2005) and Nike T-Mac basketball shoes. Heck, I still can't bend the ball like Beckham, dribble like Zidane, and the only part that closely ressembles Tracy Macgrady is my Nike shoes that he wears. I admit that I dun have their skills and will never reach their levels in 10 generations. End of day, it's the skills and the way to work around problems to make things work despite their shortcomings.

U have used the D200 to make nice photos and it's an excellent cam. I am using C7070, D80, D300 and I still can't get my photos into mags or win contests unlike Ivan (www.divenet.net) nor Alvin Ho. And Alvin uses a Oly E-510 which in www.dpreview.com does not enjoys rave reviews like D300! It's because they are good at what they do, not because Alvin uses E-510 or Ivan uses E-500. Maybe I shld buy a 2nd hand E-510 for uw shooting to get into magazine pages.:think: BTW have you seen Edman's (www.edvineng.com) photos using point and shoot cameras with OEM housings? Many of his shoots are as good as, if not better than those from DSLR. How did a camera like G9/10 with AF focus slowly, not as good as its bigger and better cousins shoot such pics? Surely it's the approach and Edvin's level of proficiency. Check out www.wetpixel.com abt forummers comments on his shoots.

I have no quarrels against u, Lovells19. Probably you have a terrible experience with SP350 after fiddling with it for a while, but the objectives in our statements must be correct. Based on threadstarter low initial uw shooting experience, small budget for camera + uw housing, urgent need to get a cam deadline and the current available setups for 2nd hand sale locally, what do you suggest for him? Perhaps you have a better lobang for 2nd hand stuff than most of us.

It's easy to say Brand A sucks, Brand B sucks, Johnblue's (me!) uw shooting skills sucks, but let's provide alternatives, solutions so that everyone benefits from asking.

Do let threadstarter know which setups you have in mind that can fit his budget and its availability here. I believe many of the newcomers would love to know.

PS: By informing that 'camera plays a small part, ultimately its the photoshop', we are not telling the newcomers the correct thing. Ultimately, a well exposed and a good eye for composition photo taken the 1st time is beneficial to them in the long run than using photoshop to adjust color curves, creating/editing layers and cropping. Photoshop is not the right tool to produce good photos, it's a mean to enhance photos.

 

[coalfox]

I still can't get my photos into mags or win contests unlike Ivan (www.divenet.com) nor Alvin Ho.

Chill man... ;p
by the way, think you meant www.divebooks.net instead?

 

[kthan]

SP350 - i go with Antacid and Lovells, dun buy it from a pure u/w photography standpoint.

But if it is unbeliveable cheap, then why not :think: ?

i have only one thing to say: unless you are like the very fortunate few, these u/w digital cams will probably be used more often on land than underwater. No point basing your buying decision on the 2-3 dive trips a year when u also need a small compact for your more frequent "dry" use

 

[johnblue]

Chill man... ;p
by the way, think you meant www.divebooks.net instead?

Thanks for pointing out the correct link.

 

[zambullidor]

aiyah

Fast camera, slow camera, as long can take good pictures is a good camera!

Peace:kiss:

 

[epalite]

Some inputs for UW photography...

First, buoyancy and dive control. While you shoot you don't step/kick onto stuffs around you, and you should know when your air is running out. Basic dive safety. Yes, it is different from land.

I used to have a Olympus 3030 with a PT housing, and a strobe.

You may want to understand why a housing may flood in the first place. There might be dirt on the o-ring/gasket or crack. Every meter you dive down, the water is pressing into the housing and opening till it breaks. Learn what to and how to clean. My housing was spec to be 100ft or 30m, good enough for Advanced dive.

I suggest doing some warm up. For the check out dive, I brought the empty housing down for first time to understand its buoyancy, whether I will be comfortable with this additional slug floating around, and whether it is ok with the pressure (around 60ft). On my 2nd dive that I actually put in my camera.

Every time you opened up and closing the housing, for reason like changing memory card or battery, dip the housing into water and observed for bubbles. There is always a tank of fresh water nearby, say those for cleaning dive equipment.

I would recommend starting with coral reef near the beach, around 10ft to 20ft, with sufficient light and taking those nudi branch / corals which is relatively stationery. The light should be sufficient and you can practice the knob controls and manual focusing.

Put little bags of silica gels to avoid fogging.

When you are getting more comfortable, you begin to shoot deeper, with losing light and things becoming blueish, requirement of external strobe, and conscious control of your buoyancy/time.

It is fun. It is amazing when you get good catch, that's the same when you are on land. Enjoy

 

[antacid]

the question i ask myself is, why go through all the pain and suffering using the SP350 when there are so many better alternatives around?

but i think it's enough knocking on the camera. we're entitled to have different opinions. thanks for sharing an alternative view!

buy a camera that makes you feel good, that you will use. even if your pictures dont look good, you must look good doing it! that's why i spend so much money to buy a big dslr setup, so the girls can come up to me and say, "oooh, it's so big!"

priceless man.

 

[zambullidor]

buy a camera that makes you feel good, that you will use. even if your pictures dont look good, you must look good doing it! that's why i spend so much money to buy a big dslr setup, so the girls can come up to me and say, "oooh, it's so big!"

priceless man.

egomanic ;p

 

[howeikwok]

the question i ask myself is, why go through all the pain and suffering using the SP350 when there are so many better alternatives around?

but i think it's enough knocking on the camera. we're entitled to have different opinions. thanks for sharing an alternative view!

buy a camera that makes you feel good, that you will use. even if your pictures dont look good, you must look good doing it! that's why i spend so much money to buy a big dslr setup, so the girls can come up to me and say, "oooh, it's so big!"

priceless man.

You won't believe the number of NTU gals staring at my ugly ass and big ass camera up at Dayang this past weekend. PRICELESS!!! :bsmilie:

 

[antacid]

bo jio...
))=

boon lay poly has some pretty girls.

how's conditions like on the island? i'm sorely tempted to go next weekend. want to go try out my magic filters after that rock 'n roll trip at weh..

 

[howeikwok]

bo jio...
))=

boon lay poly has some pretty girls.

how's conditions like on the island? i'm sorely tempted to go next weekend. want to go try out my magic filters after that rock 'n roll trip at weh..

Haha, how i know you want to go?
Didn't rain but was cloudy. Sea state going up and down from mersing was pretty calm. Prevailing monsoon winds made some sites pretty much out of the question like Lang bay, Captain's point, Pinnacles. Exit at some sites was a hassle like Pinang and Rayner's rock. Vis was pretty good, water was damn cold (24-26), marine life was a good variety as usual... :heart:

 

[lovells19]

I think camera plays a small part,

Maybe you didn't see my next post.

Personally, when I used the SP350 I puked blood and my dinner the night before.
No other digi cam produced in the 2006 has focusing as slow as it, and as impossible to focus as it does.

So I WOULD not recommend anyone to buy it, although like you have mentioned it can still make very good award winning pictures by some photographers. Good for them

If you want to talk about price, there is the Canon Ixus, Fuji F31/40/50/100,which is about the same when launched. With much faster focusing, better colors and contrast.

But ultimately Camera plays a small part, but if budget allows, why not choose one that is less frustrating to use. Having a better camera takes your mind off having to worry about operating it.

Im not against Olympus, just that particular model and its range sp 310 320 350, i think someone in the R&D department should be FIRED!

im not against you too, just against the lousy and super disappointing technology.

 

[antacid]

Maybe you didn't see my next post.

Personally, when I used the SP350 I puked blood and my dinner the night before.
No other digi cam produced in the 2006 has focusing as slow as it, and as impossible to focus as it does.

So I WOULD not recommend anyone to buy it, although like you have mentioned it can still make very good award winning pictures by some photographers. Good for them

If you want to talk about price, there is the Canon Ixus, Fuji F31/40/50/100,which is about the same when launched. With much faster focusing, better colors and contrast.

But ultimately Camera plays a small part, but if budget allows, why not choose one that is less frustrating to use. Having a better camera takes your mind off having to worry about operating it.

Im not against Olympus, just that particular model and its range sp 310 320 350, i think someone in the R&D department should be FIRED!

im not against you too, just against the lousy and super disappointing technology.

haha i grew a beard waiting for it to AF, and the flash to recharge.

lovells, maybe we have short attention span?

 

[lovells19]

haha i grew a beard waiting for it to AF, and the flash to recharge.

lovells, maybe we have short attention span?

I smoke too much, if it focus too slow my hand will keep shaking

 

[heyitsjeremy]

Hi all, after 1 year of waiting i'm finally going diving again! can't wait! this time i bring my camera. i'm using mju410 with pt-016 housing. but i've nv done underwater photography before i juz bought the housing for this trip. how is it different from taking photo on land? need to do some adjustments to colours since some colours will disappear as we go deeper? how do i do that? can all the pros come help help? thanks alot!!!

i'm looking for a pt-016 housing. can i know where did you bought yours ?