Great Pics with IC-12 but issues with ISO

[nomro]

Hello ,

I have been using the IC12 for quite sometime and I'm very satisfied by the results. Though I want to try to get clearer photos at depths or in dim lighted wrecks. It seems the auto ISO causes a distortion at the same time if I tweak it manually I will compromise the lighting of the photo which will appear dimmed .

Any suggestions ?
PS: I have attached below an example photo.

 

[nomro]

The Pic looks distorted a bit due to auto ISO in full screen , PS the resolution is around 5 MP.

 

[IntovaJoe]

Hi Nomro,

Your sample pic looks pretty good to me, so I don't know what you means by "distorted". It’s backlit, so the fish and shipwreck appear dark but overall it's an OK pic. If you're referring to the fish and shipwreck being in shadow as the distortion, then no amount of tweaking the ISO will help. The only way to improve this kind of situation is to either aim the camera at a dark area and press the shutter button slightly to pre-set the exposure then move the camera to the lighted area while still holding the button down then fully press the shutter to take the shot (but this will probably wash out the blue color of the water), or use an external strobe since the on camera flash probably won't be powerful enough to compensate for the light coming towards the camera (this is better because it will brighten the fish and shipwreck and keep the blue water).

Regards,
Joe

 

[nomro]

Hi IntovaJoe ,

The distortion is not showing in the pic , because it was resized in scubaboard , but in full size it looks pixelized.
Best Regards
Nomro

 

[herman]

From your discription, it sounds like you are describing the effect of high ISO speeds. Odds are the camera is trying to get the best shutter speed it can by increasing the ISO. Cameras are built for topside use and the auto functions are geared tward that, even so called UW setting are not much better. Turn the auto off on everything except focus and shoot manual. It will take you a little while to learn but the end results will be better. If that is not possible, turn off as many auto features as you can.

 

[nomro]

From your discription, it sounds like you are describing the effect of high ISO speeds. Odds are the camera is trying to get the best shutter speed it can by increasing the ISO. Cameras are built for topside use and the auto functions are geared tward that, even so called UW setting are not much better. Turn the auto off on everything except focus and shoot manual. It will take you a little while to learn but the end results will be better. If that is not possible, turn off as many auto features as you can.

Herman ,
Yes , you are quite right about the ISO problem, I have turned off the auto white balance and it proved to be one of the best decisions to take, it took me a while to practice.
Now I think I need to do the same for ISO as a second step, do you have any tips on using manual settings for ISO ?