Reefmaster Mini questions

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teddyg04

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
101
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Location
Scottsdale, AZ
# of dives
50 - 99
I received a mini with strobe as a gift, and have discovered how much fun underwater photography can be. Problem is, I'm not too knowledgeable, so I have some questions. In "sea" mode, I seem to get red photos (last trip was to Bermuda: clear water, depth to about 75 ft). "Landscape" mode is better, but photos are sorta blue. Also, I saw a previous post where you recommended a distributor of popup sun shades. It looks like just the thing to solve another problem - the inability to see my screen underwater. Do you have any information on how well they work in water? And is there one that will fit the DC800? My daughter has one.

Thanks in advance!
 
If using the Mini and External Flash accessory, the camera should be set to Ext Flash mode. Sea mode is for underwater pictures without external flash accessory.
We have tested various sunshades on the market, but the results are not so good.
 
Even without the flash attached ( not needed in Bermuda) the photos still turned out red in Sea mode. What am I not doing correctly? And I may try the shade; it's not too pricey. If I do, I'll post the results.
 
How deep were you?

Also, while in Sea mode, do you have the camera's internal flash on? We recommend that you keep the camera’s built-in flash to OFF when in Sea mode. If you set the flash to Auto or ON , you will cancel the automatic color correction.
 
While in Sea Mode, you should only see a red screed until about 15 feet. Then it should go away.
 
Are you doing a manual white balance? I was completely unhappy with my reefmaster mini until I started white balancing often under the water. After that, I am only halfway unhappy with it. Still a lot of pictures out of focus, even when particularly careful at being steady. The cozumel trip we just returned from I took about 350 pictures and can say that TWO of them turned out very well....about 90 or so are acceptable but with either slight blurring or poor color filtering (even with white balancing), and the other 260 were useless. I'm going to post some questions after we're all unpacked and settled in, to see if perhaps I was doing something wrong, but it's a pretty simple camera that I just can not get good pictures from. Perhaps that is the nature of underwater photography, and I will get to the bottom of that before our next trip...but thus far, not too impressed with the mini.

Another problem I noticed, which may well be causing the focus issues is when we would get down near 70 feet there would appear to be fogging inside the camera lens, in that when I looked at it, it would appear white. If we then went shallow...say 45 feet it would go away. There is no room inside the camera that I am aware of for desicant capsules, and following suggestions I would leave it open over night to insure it was dry inside but to no avail. There never seemed to be any water intrusion when I opened it up, but the next day the white lens would return. Again, open to the possiblility that I was doing something wrong....just no idea what.

Here is the best picture of the trip, one of two that turned out like this.

cozumelreef.jpg


But most turned out like this, or worse.

turtle.jpg


Color issues, in my mind can be attributed to light or perhaps not frequent enough white balancing and maybe fixed with software manipulation but the focus issues are very frustrating. We had one very large turtle feeding where my partner got right down in the shot with him...and it blurred. :( Even the acceptable shots are seldem in really good focus. It was very strange how one pic would be green, the next would not, then the following would be green again....in sea mode and manual balanced...taken 5 seconds apart and pics of the same thing.
 
Wow. You should speak with Denise about that. The fogging of the lens sound like water in the camera. As for your color the Reefmaster Mini's color isn't great. I have a digital Strobe and the color now turns out great. But before I had the strobe I would set the Camera to Sea mode than set the white balance to manual against the white sandy bottom and the pics would turn out much better.
 
Sorry to hear about your frustration with the Mini camera and I hope we can help. Yes, underwater photography can be a challenge and is much different than land photography. I am sure your number of “acceptable” pictures will continue to improve with learning some basic tips and understanding the challenges typically of underwater photography. Please take a moment to review our online guide to underwater photography Great Pictures Made Easy which is located on the SeaLife website (under the Tech Support menu).

It is very difficult for us to comment on the color balance and focusing of the camera without evaluating some original image files taken with the camera. Please send a few pictures to service@sealife-cameras.com

The fogging problem you mention will definitely cause some poor picture results. The following is some advice which I copied from our website site tech support which explains how to avoid fogging:

How can I prevent fogging inside of the camera lens?
Humid air or small water drops trapped inside the waterproof camera may condense on the cooler glass lens port and cause fogging. Here is the best way to prevent fogging:

1. Keep the inside of the camera perfectly dry. Make sure you and the camera are dry before opening the waterproof door. Even one small water drop that drips into the camera can evaporate and condense (fog) on the lens port.

2.Avoid opening the waterproof door in high humid areas. Load the batteries and SD memory card in a dry environment, like an air-conditioned room. This will help to avoid trapping humid air inside the camera.

3.If you do experience fogging or if a water drop gets inside the camera, insert two fresh Moisture Muncher desiccant capsules (item # SL911) inside the battery compartment for at least 24 hours. It is highly recommended to store the camera with fresh Moisture Munchers in the battery compartment, to keep the camera optics and electronics clean and dry. See your local SeaLife dealer to purchase Moisture Muncher.

We look forward to receiving some of your pictures.
 
Told you she would help.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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