Any experience using standard camera ($100-$200) without external flash?

[jonix]

You should be able to get plenty of really good pictures without a flash with a little practice and by utilizing the manual white balance.

manual white balance is the key

The only problem is once you get into underwater photography, things can get really expensive really fast.

i miss my bank account

happy shooting graeme!

 

[adurso]

Canon A95 with W50 housing, no strobe

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[String]

Ive got hundreds of acceptable ambient light shots on my A620 (or some with internal flash) as i dont own a strobe. As long as you're careful about what shot to take you can get some great pictures.

See here for latest red sea trip all done w/o any strobes:
Red Sea 2008 - a set on Flickr

 

[M_Bipartitus]

If you haven't seen it, you should look though

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/canon-corner/249426-canon-a570si-images-impressions.html

There is a discussion of the A570IS with a number of great shots with and without strobe.

I had a good couple of dives with the A570IS and Canon housing, but after less than a year I find myself with over a $1000 in strobes, and in a search for a good dSLR rig.

As alluded to above, underwater photography is expensive and if you like gadgets and have any chance of getting serious about your photos underwater, it will cost you. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

I'm glad you pointed me to that thread, someone posted about 5 pictures in Puget Sound (where I dive) using only the internal flash on an A570, and they looked quite good, so I'm sold.

And I'm not really a big fan of photography (I basically just leave this camera set to auto), so can probably avoid spending thousands on equipment. I just want some basic pictures when I'm down there.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

If nothing else, I would recommend learning about white balance. Without careful attention to white balance your success rate with this camera is likely to suffer. When vis is low the white balance needed to get good colors can change rapidly with depth.

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

Alright thanks, I'll keep that in mind (which means I'll probably be back here in a a month asking advice on it ). I wouldn't mind taking the photography course, it's just right now I have other priorities and taking a photography course is a ways down in the ordering.

 

[huntervh]

Like you I wanted something cheap for the occasional dive, really did not want to spend a small fortune on equipment I would use less than 10 times a year. Went to Ebay and purchased a Canon A720 IS and a Canon underwater casing(WP DC-16) for a total of $230, they are used, and there is not a warranty, so it is a little more difficult if something breaks.

My buddy has a A570 that he uses in Minnesota lakes and rivers, not the best pictures since the clairity is nothing to write home about.

This pic was taken in about 35' of water, and it did not help that I was kicking up the muck on the bottom.

 

[vondo]

I used a Canon A620 in a Canon housing on these trips:

My Scuba Diving Photos

The above water pics are with my DSLR, though.

 

[jonix]

You can most certainly get by without an external strobe. Both of these were taken with my Canon A95 in a Canon WD-50 housing without an external strobe. It's a fun setup to dive with taking good macro but significantly less cumbersome.

beautiful photos i miss my a95. got it flooded last august.