2Dive4fun:
I found this information, and will practice with it. I look forward to any personal advice of other owners.
Originally Posted by meisburger
I recently bought a Canon A-95 and Canon housing and have been looking around the Board for some help getting started with this set-up. I searched for a basic “Underwater with the A-95 for Dummies” type article, but didn’t find one, so decided to start the process of putting one together. I hope others (people who actually know something) will continue, and correct, this article, so that eventually it can be posted as an introductory guide. I have entitled it A-series rather than A-95, since I believe all the cameras operate basically the same.
I have collected some notes below. Some may be un-attributed, as I didn’t think to copy the author and am too lazy to go back and search again. Sorry about that. Feel free to credit yourself in this space.
Shutter Speed
I am giving this advice based on my recent trip to Coz and on my use of the A70...some things may be a little different on the A85, but hopefully this will get you in the ballpark. First, set your shutter speed for 1/250 or so. There is more than enough light down there in Coz, I found. A fast shutter will help freeze action and you shouldn't get too much blur. I wouldn't use program/auto mode...the camera will select a shutter speed that is too slow and you will get blurry shots. (Alcina)
Dealing with Shutter Lag
Now for shutter lag. You cannot control this, it's just one of those things you are going to have to work around when using any digital non-slr. Prefocus by half press of the shutter then there shouldn't be any significant lag when you fully press to take a photo. This is one of the hardest things to "learn" when moving from film. You are going to have be patient and wait for the fish/creature to "pose" to take the shot. It'll be worth it. (Alcina)
Slow down. Even while drift diving it is possible to do this. Don't pursue the fish/creature...most of the time this will make them turn away. Have your camera & arms in position so you aren't making dramatic movements when you take a photo...this will also let you have a nice place to prefocus from. (Alcina)
Practice practice practice. If you can do shore dives or snorkelling or even in the swimming pool get in there with the camera. You don't have to keep your results, but practice is the only way you will get a feel for how long it takes for your camera to go from cold (no prefocus) to a worthwhile shot. Then you get to try to "time" that when you diving...it can be frustrating, but keep at it...you'll be surprised at how fast you get it!! (Alcina)
(someone else) I will add that either on land or in a pool or snorkling start using manual mode. Since you are calculating the exposure (setting shutter and aperture) this elimates the lag of the camera trying to do it. All the camera is worrying about is focus. Use the half press method it is the only way or you will never get a fish shot. Use the flash and get close (very close), be patient - one or two good shots in a dive will be far more rewarding than 50 average ones. Once you get a bit more experience try to increase this is 5 great shots in a dive - that is 50 great shots every 10 dives (your collection starts building quickly.
Turn off the AiAF (it now only focus on a centre square and doesn't stupidly try and pick what it thinks you are trying to focus on).
Now for some very important information. Don't try and shot fast moving fish straight away - look for nudibranchs, sea stars, corals, scorpianfish and other slow moving or non-moving life. Get some good shots there you will be happy and you can get the fish shots once you get a bit more experience. You do not need to take a picture of everything in a dive. Select a subject and spend 5 minutes trying to get a good shot - if uncooperative move on.
Aperture
Next, try your aperture around 5.6 or so...you may have to change one or both of these settings during the dive if it looks like your photos are blown out. Remember, in most screens on digital cameras if the colours look nice and bright and well exposed they are actually OVER exposed and you need to adjust to make them a bit darker. YMMV but I use this as a good rule of thumb. (Alcina)
Use the scene mode when you are shooting with natural light. It will probably help a little with colours.
Good Advice
Don't be disheartened you are still enjoying great diving - so your shots werent perfect you had the experience. I had had some amazing dives and experiences which I didn't capture on camera or the shots were not first grade but who cares - these experiences will be with me forever and that is what diving is about.
Macro Mode
I keep my camera in macro mode always unless I know I am going to concentrate on really big guys, like manta rays or whale sharks. And even then I have been known to leave it on. I believe that basically what the macro function does is tell the camera to start looking closer for your focus...and since we always want to be closer underwater, seems like a good plan of attack to me. You might find something else works for you, but I'd say my macro mode stays on 95% of the time....
Strobes (Internal and External)
Be prepared to pay substantially more for a strobe than you did for your camera plus housing. They are not cheap and the "cheap" ones are mostly you get what you pay for. Once you have a look at the strobe finder above, do a search with the Advanced Search function here to find out details on each one.
If I could buy one strobe right now it would be Inon's D2000. I have the 220s and absolutely love it...would recommend it. I love manual control and the 2000 has even more settings for that plus what is shaping up to be good ttl-type control. Inons are small, lightweight and take AA batteries so I only have to drag one charger around.
But best option is to use the internal strobe and get close to what you are trying to shoot to avoid backscatter. This means mostly do macro work. When I say close I mean about a maximum of about 1 - 1.5ft. And as close as about 2in for something like a nudibranch.
You will get some great shots if you are patient get nice and close. I would get bogged down in manual mode just yet until you have some time to use the camera a bit more. But for a start just use the program mode (P) and half push to focus. This mode allows some settings - set the iso to 50, and the white balance to flash or daylight when using the strobe. Set the camera to use only the centre point for focus (ie turn off 9-point AiAF), set image quality to highest (large/superfine).
Hope this is a useful initiative, Tim
Great post, 2dive4fun lots of useful advice that you've found and put together for us.
I agree with most of the advice there, especially for a first time shooter, I have an A610 with the WP-DC90 housing as well.
Only point of possible disagreement is shutter speed, personally i've found 1/100s or so to be ok in freezing action, don't have much blurring with that on.
I use 'TV' mode which gives me the chance to control everything except aperture, don't quite have a handle on setting f stop yet, although I do understand it...
Shutter speed is sort of more straightforward and logical to me.
And if I could i'd like to pose a question to the original poster,
Alcina why 1/250s and not 1/100s do you notice a significant difference between these two settings?
One thing I would put in bold 2dive4fun, is don't use the internal flash unles the subject is really close!!
Lol, I have lots of pics where the only thing in focus and illuminated is backscatter!..
I'd also like to add that it's great practicing with your camera topside, you can get a good feeling for it's capabilities and build up your photography skills with practice.
I feel that composition especially is one of the first things you should get a handle on if you want to take good photos.
Rule of thirds, not making photos center heavy et cetera..
Also as with most things in life the more effort and time you put forth the better your results will tend to be, read books on photography, try to analyse u/w pics that you're fond of and see what is it exactly about them that makes them
good.
All of this doesn't guarantee that your photos will be good but will get you thinking critically and make the learning curve a bit less steep.
Anyway great post all around and i'm sure it'll be useful to a lot of people out there.
.
