rad21
Contributor
I recently returned from a trip to Grand Cayman and Little Cayman ( a separate trip report will follow) and got a chance to try out my Oly 5050 in the PT015 housing. After reading the boards here and on other internet sites, I thought I had a pretty good handle on settings to use with just the internal flash- no external strobe. I set My Mode with various f stops and shutter speeds as recommended by the numerous people that were kind enough to share their knowledge.
First, I must complement everyone who has posted their great photos that were taken with their digital cameras. I have to admit it was really frustrating for me- I was used to the Sea & Sea setup- I pretty much kept the YS 40A strobe in auto mode and got some decent photos without much effort. Trying the 5050 for the first time was a real challenge. Between the auto focus lock and shutter lag, it seemed like every shot took forever to shoot. By the time, the shutter released, my subject was long gone. I was used to my film camera where I was able to take a shot with no lag at all- what I saw was what I shot. I used the half press mode to lock in the focus but still the lag was frustrating. So I decided I would shoot stationary or slow moving sea life. After the first few dives with manual settings that I used from Splashdown diver and other sites, all of the photos shot with various f stops and shutter speeds were way too dark. On Little Cayman one of the divers on the boat had an Oly 5050/PT015 with an Inon strobe. I discussed my settings with him and he suggested that I start with Aperture priority mode instead of manual mode. The results were much better for me, and at least I got some good shots. Each day, after 3 dives, I would download my CF card to my Archos Gemini 220 which worked great. I also viewed the photos on a TV to see how they looked. (I deleted some photos which I thought were unrepairable, only finding out when I got home that Photoshop Elements could perform miracles with the Levels and Autolevels controls)
After heading home after some incredible dives, I was hoping that I would have some good photos from my 5050. I downloaded all my photos as well as some snorkeling photos that my wife took with her Canon S400/800 underwater housing. By the way, I realize the S400 does not have the same capabilities as the 5050, yet I found the Canon to be more logical (for me)and easier to operate the various controls plus the camera fits in the housing without the Oly 5050 ritual of pulling up knobs and pushing down knobs to get the camera correctly aligned. I think Canon did a better job of engineering the housing and offers much better instructions and manuals (for the camera) than Olympus does.
When I got home, I downloaded our photos and used PS Elements to review and adjust the photos. I was surprised to find many photos that I thought would be worthless, were magically transformed with autolevels or levels. I was amazed! Only a few photos could not be corrected( they looked like infrared photos after using autolevel), the correct colors just werent extractable. I will post the photos on ofoto in the next few days and will post a link here so you can view them. My wife got some shots of a Spotted Eagle Ray while snorkeling, I was just too far away when it cruised by during our dive.
Overall, I was happy with the first time results, I still need to get used to the focus delay and shutter lag though. Since I only take one or two dive vacations per year, I probably wont purchase a strobe for my setup. If I was diving like Gilligan, I would definitely add a strobe but even if I did, it would take me years before I could take shots as good as Gilligan and the other folks here. I realized that I am a diver who like to take photos underwater but I am not an underwater photographer....... In closing, thanks to all of you for posting your photos, information, suggestions, ideas and guidance for us newbie digital camera folks.
I tried to attach a photo but even when I used Elements "save for Web". the files exceeds 200kB.
Rad21
First, I must complement everyone who has posted their great photos that were taken with their digital cameras. I have to admit it was really frustrating for me- I was used to the Sea & Sea setup- I pretty much kept the YS 40A strobe in auto mode and got some decent photos without much effort. Trying the 5050 for the first time was a real challenge. Between the auto focus lock and shutter lag, it seemed like every shot took forever to shoot. By the time, the shutter released, my subject was long gone. I was used to my film camera where I was able to take a shot with no lag at all- what I saw was what I shot. I used the half press mode to lock in the focus but still the lag was frustrating. So I decided I would shoot stationary or slow moving sea life. After the first few dives with manual settings that I used from Splashdown diver and other sites, all of the photos shot with various f stops and shutter speeds were way too dark. On Little Cayman one of the divers on the boat had an Oly 5050/PT015 with an Inon strobe. I discussed my settings with him and he suggested that I start with Aperture priority mode instead of manual mode. The results were much better for me, and at least I got some good shots. Each day, after 3 dives, I would download my CF card to my Archos Gemini 220 which worked great. I also viewed the photos on a TV to see how they looked. (I deleted some photos which I thought were unrepairable, only finding out when I got home that Photoshop Elements could perform miracles with the Levels and Autolevels controls)
After heading home after some incredible dives, I was hoping that I would have some good photos from my 5050. I downloaded all my photos as well as some snorkeling photos that my wife took with her Canon S400/800 underwater housing. By the way, I realize the S400 does not have the same capabilities as the 5050, yet I found the Canon to be more logical (for me)and easier to operate the various controls plus the camera fits in the housing without the Oly 5050 ritual of pulling up knobs and pushing down knobs to get the camera correctly aligned. I think Canon did a better job of engineering the housing and offers much better instructions and manuals (for the camera) than Olympus does.
When I got home, I downloaded our photos and used PS Elements to review and adjust the photos. I was surprised to find many photos that I thought would be worthless, were magically transformed with autolevels or levels. I was amazed! Only a few photos could not be corrected( they looked like infrared photos after using autolevel), the correct colors just werent extractable. I will post the photos on ofoto in the next few days and will post a link here so you can view them. My wife got some shots of a Spotted Eagle Ray while snorkeling, I was just too far away when it cruised by during our dive.
Overall, I was happy with the first time results, I still need to get used to the focus delay and shutter lag though. Since I only take one or two dive vacations per year, I probably wont purchase a strobe for my setup. If I was diving like Gilligan, I would definitely add a strobe but even if I did, it would take me years before I could take shots as good as Gilligan and the other folks here. I realized that I am a diver who like to take photos underwater but I am not an underwater photographer....... In closing, thanks to all of you for posting your photos, information, suggestions, ideas and guidance for us newbie digital camera folks.
I tried to attach a photo but even when I used Elements "save for Web". the files exceeds 200kB.
Rad21
