Canon A70 advice for newbie

[LI Diver]

Okay gang I'm drawing on your expertise once again. I recently bought a underwater housing for my canon powershot a70. Did I waste my money or will this thing take decent u/w photos? Are there any accessories that I should get right off the bat and which ones ? Strobe? Slave type? what is most compact etc. So far took pictures in my swimming pool only.I bought a book on u/w digital photography and now I am more confused!!! What settings should I use? I know how to use a slr in manual but I can't see the settings on this camera without my glasses on above water never mind the image on the lcd. PLEASE HELP!
Thanks,Ed

 

[hvulin]

Accesories to think about: WA lens, macro lens (Inon makes them) + adapter (if you go this way think about external strobe + tray) but maybe you should just enjoy it as it is for some time (it will make very good photos even without any extras)

As for mode of use: I generally use P and check with histogram if camera got it right (it is quite good when using flash), if that fails use Tv or Av and check results with histogram... If that fails too use M (I don't know if A70 has it) and set everything manually (get yourself a mask with diopters that fit you right and you should be able to read of of LCD)
Use flash only for macro photos or very close ones and everything else without flash, set white balance manually (with white slate) when not using flash (set it often, every time you change depth) and you'll get amazing results...
... or just use it as standard point-and-shot untill you get used to the controls
Dive a lot with it and you'll get better

 

[kapula]

Hvulin pretty much summarised it all. Get close, even closer and yet a bit closer. Don't use zoom if you aren't in very shallow waters. Don't use flash if water isn't very clear and you are shooting macro. I have a bunch of photos from my thailand trip. They're all taken with a70 and mostly with manual white balance and no flash. I used flash very seldom with a70. Actually only times when I did use it was under 25 metres or so. Mostly those photos ended up with alot of backsatter since the flash is at the same level with your camera. If you have an external strobe it's a whole new ball game.

So dive alot get close enough, shoot, get closer and shoot more

 

[alcina]

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1103341&postcount=4 There are some Getting Started Tips that may help.

The A70 does have manual mode and I would push you to try it...it'll help you learn what works and will also give better results than the programed modes in a lot of underwater situations.

Learning to use the manual white balance will also help when you are in conditions that will create a lot of backscatter from the internal or when you do want to shoot something a little further away than the internal can cope with.

I had this camera for a long time and adored it. It got stolen and replaced with the A75. I found on both that I had to lower the internal flash intensity by one little click or I would blow out the foreground and very light subjects when shooting at the closest macro distance. I simply left it on this setting all the time.

Get to know your camera and what it can do. Figure out which types of underwater shots you really like to take and then think about accessories. A strobe will help tremendously with eliminating backscatter as well as giving you more control in your compositions and subject choice. Add-on lenses are great, too. I added macro first as that is my passion. I also have WAL and learned to really like it...but macro remains on top for me!

Ask away as you have questions!

 

[LI Diver]

Thanks H I'm going to print that out and take it with me on vacation,very informative. As far as the mask I'm going to order one from sea vision but I don't think I'll get it in time for my next trip (2 weeks)
Thanks, Ed

 

[LI Diver]

Thanks Kapula and Alcina you guys are great at least I know the camera is capable of good work,now it's a matter of the indian and not the arrow!
Ed

 

[tedtim]

What Alcina said!

I have an A70 too and find that is good for what I need. Besides, I can't afford a DSLR plus a case. I bought an Ikelite DS 50 stobe with the EV controller and a tray. The controller works just fine. To reduce/eliminate the backscatter I replaced the plastic diffuser card for the case with a black one. Like Hvulin said, try it in different modes. I seem to get the best results using P.

The movie mode works well underwater too if the light is right. You even get sound through the case.

 

[alcina]

Oh yeah, I never remember I have movie mode, but a friend has this same camera and he's gotten some great stuff with it! Definitely make sure you have a good sized card and a spare set of batteries.

I can do three longish dives with everything on off one set of AA rechargeables, and I have the older ones, with power left over. Not sure how much juice the movie mode takes...

 

[kapula]

I've got a set of 1800mAh rechargables and you can do 3-4 dives with one set. I didn't leave lcd on when not taking pics. The 4th dive was nite dive so I left the lcd on for the whole 30min dive. That sometimes killed the batteries but in general you can easily do 3 dives with one set of rechargables. If you have bigger batteries it'll ofcourse last longer

 

[LI Diver]

Thanks again guys and great pics everyone !