You'll have a great time - we got back from Roatan (Coco View resort) just a few weeks ago. The a80 is a great starter camera for uw use - you can get a LOT out of that rig.
If all your shots are going to be at only 5-15' underwater, then just set your white balance only once - around 10'. No need to kill yourself setting it regularly. Or - do auto wb and then do a big batch process afterward to correct the colors. Otherwise - the rest of the info applies.
Here are "the basics of underwater photography". Please note that this framework of observations is designed for those with a decent compact camera and manufacturer's (inexpensive) housing. Also, shots will be taken for the most part between 10'- 65', and under relatively calm open water conditions. In other words ... if you are diving on Punta Sur in Cozumel at 110' and flying along in a 2-4 knot current this page isn't for you
1. Use a LOW ISO. Regardless of how nice your camera works on land, the rules are different underwater. Use ISO 100. I only use 200 now if my
shutter won't get fast enough to avoid blur. If I can't use 200 or better then I just skip the shot. If you use a higher ISO your shots will truly be full of nasty artifacts and grain - I promise.
2. Use manual white balance (also known as custom white balance). This will help your shots come out with nice colors, even at depth, without a strobe or light or flash. Otherwise, your pics will be tinted green, blue or green/blue. Ok - sure - you could do post-processing on all of them afterward but that's a fair bit of work since "one size" doesn't fit all.
Hopefully your camera supports manual WB. Even if it does, it may not be possible to set inside a housing - some Sony's are like this (big lcd but must use stylus to access various features).
2a. Ok, Jeff - so now that I'm sold ... HOW do I use custom white balance?
Get yourself a nice underwater photo slate, and keep it clipped to your BC, preferably with some kind of extender so that you have easy access and can't lose it. Technically, you could use any bright clean white plastic slate and get good results though. But if you do - do NOT write on the side that you use it for wb. I happen to use the PADI photo slate - it fits in my bc pocket and has a clip on it for my extenders.
Note: the PADI slate is white on one side and grey on the back. You CAN use the grey side or the white side. Though I usually use the white.
Tell your camera to "set manual white balance". Consult your manual for how to do this. On the Fuji it takes a few button pushes. Now, the camera will want you to depress the shutter to set it. Per the following illustration, hold your camera roughly horizontal and position the slate so that it just barely fills your lcd (your lcd should look all white, with no fingers poking into the "shot").
Ok - now hit your shutter button. If you have a decent exposure, you should get a message from your camera like "white balance set", or "ok" etc. This means that you are set for manual wb for the approximate depth that you are currently at.
So - let's talk about that now a bit. Generally, it will be to your advantage to keep diving around a certain depth (+/- say 5 feet), so that your white balance setting is pretty close for shot after shot. If you are constantly varying your depth, then either you'll need to keep resetting your wb - or your shots will vary in their quality of color. If I'm going to err in one direction though - I'd rather have a wb that was taken a bit deeper than where I am now than the reverse. The result will be a photo that is somewhat too vivid. To me, this is better than having muted colors and trying to add them back in (if at all). Picasa is really good at fixing this if you need (and it's free).
So, if I'm planing on following the reef along and staying between 40-50', then I'll probably set my wb around 45-47'. This wb is also appropriate if I'm at say 35-40 but shooting into deeper water. If I'll be diving between 35-45 then I'll do my wb around 40-45.
Sometimes, your camera (just like mine) won't accept the wb when you try to set it. This happens to me more often in dimmer afternoon light and at greater depth. You can just try it again once or twice. If that still doesn't work, then try changing your exposure to +2 and try it. Or - you can up your ISO to say 400 or 800 and then try it. The latter usually works for me. Just remember to set your ISO back to 100 afterwards or your shots will be grainy and have lots of artifacts. At relatively shallow depths, say down to 35', custom wb should take easily.
2c. Again - custom WB is so very important for getting accurate colors underwater - especially if you wish to avoid any post processing work. The only post processing that I am interested in doing is really generic - reduce size, rotate and crop. This is pretty easy, and can be done with bulk operations instead of one at a time. Multiple Image Resizer is very useful for this and is free. Picasa is also free and well worth looking at.
3. Avoid using flash - suppress that flash! If you have a good WB then the shots will have LOTS of really nice color in them. This will also prevent the backscatter effect of particles in the water. Note: if you have manual wb set and use flash also then the shots will be WAY too vivid.
Always set your WB to auto when using flash (and set back to custom afterwards).
4. Use Full manual mode This really is pretty simple - the camera does all the heavy lifting. Now some folks like using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture_priority"> Aperture Priority (AP) </a> , and some folks like using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_priority"> Shutter Priority (SP) </a>.
Ok ... so what do I recommend? What should YOU do? Well ... it depends.
4a. If the conditions are nice and calm and the light is good, then my preference is to use AP, set my F-Stop to f5 or f5.6 and let the camera choose my shutter speed. But ...
4b. If there's a little bit of surge or current, then SP can be the way to go - set to 1/125 and your shots will usually be in focus. This can also be good if you're trying to freeze action with fast moving fish - you may need to go faster - 1/250 or perhaps even quicker.
4c. But ... what do I really do? I like to take a shot of macro shots and like to vary my F-stop, play around a lot with depth of field and composition. So, even when the conditions aren't the best I usually use just AP.
5. Keep your lens zoomed-out all the way Don't zoom in unless you can't get closer to your subject.
5a. If possible, disable digital zoom entirely . If you can't disable it then simply do not use it. Digital zoom quality is terrible. Ok ... on that zoom rule - sometimes it's not a bad thing to zoom in just a little bit but initially I'd recommend the following instead:
6. Get closer to your subject! You are probably not as close as you think you are!
7. Take LOTS of shots of anything that you want to get. Many times a shot will look great on your camera's lcd and then later look pretty bad on the laptop. So long as my subject is willing I try to take at LEAST 5 shots of anything that looks interesting. Change up your angles and compositions.
Many times I'll take 7-10 shots to get one that I really like. This really doesn't take much time but then you'll get a much higher percentage of "keepers".
7. Pre Lock Focus (when useful) . Many subjects underwater are skittish by nature and most divers are pretty scary - except me but I've got a really uber-cool mask w/ black silicone. So, it's useful to pre-focus your camera on something with a halfway depression of your shutter - like that piece of coral over there. Now, keep holding the shutter halfway to keep the focus locked, and compose your intended shot with the fast mover(s) with the bright colors, then depress the shutter to completion.
8. Macro is your friend! Macro photography underwater is very rewarding. You will be able to take a much higher percentage of very keepable shots. It's also great when the water isn't so clear ... like when Hurricane Dean decides to swing by and really stir things up.
8a. All decent compact digicams have a single "enable macro mode" button. When you want to take a great close-up, hit this, then shoot away.
9. If possible, try to shoot horizontal or slightly upwards, not downward if you can reasonably help it - use that extra ambient light. Same applies for shooting w/ the light coming from behind you, rather than your subject - though for silouettes this doesn't apply.
10. Review and Adjust Perhaps the best part of digital photography. When time permits, please try to offload your shots to a laptop etc and review your shots regularly. This way, you can see what worked out really well, and where you need to make adjustments for next time. But, hey - it's a vacation - so don't kill yourself just to review your pics mid-day. Enjoy your diving, take a nap, eat, dive, and review your pics after dinner w/ a beer in hand.
11. Turn your camera off when you are not actively using it. This is to keep the case from fogging up in front of your lens. If you just leave your camera on the whole time it WILL fog up - almost without a doubt. Just in case - I keep my auto-off timer on 2 min, and this seems to be a good setting for me in case I get distracted and forget.
12. More on anti-fogging. Some people advocate keeping a silca gel packet inside the camera case while diving. Silica gel are those strange little white packets that come with electronic stuff, shoes, purses, etc. Essentially they are a type of clear clay that absorbs moisture, and the wrapper is usually tyvek.
Silica gel has only so much capacity (20-40% of its weight), and eventually can't absorb any more. Please note - if these are left out in a hot moist tropical climate they will reach capacity VERY rapidly and will be useless. I keep quite a few with me - all of them inside a plastic zip-lock, inside a second zip lock.
Anyway, use of these inside the camera case while diving can be good. However, you need to be VERY careful! If the slightest bit of the wrapper gets caught against your o-ring, it will wick water right in (and goodbye camera). So, if you are going to use these inside your camera case then make darn sure that it is tucked away deep down away from your o-ring.
Even if you do use silica gel - this is not an excuse to keep your camera on the whole time
Technically, you can "recharge" silica packets - heat them in an oven to over 220F, for about 45-60 min. Be careful as the tyvek wrapper will be damaged at 250 F and above.
13. Spare Battery. Get one off eBay, etc. Enough said
14. Spare Memory Card. Get one off eBay, etc. I recommend at least 1 GB. 2 GB is even better. The last thing that you need while on a dive is to waste time making room for more shots.
15. Optional Gear. Inon AD mount and Inon UWL-105AD Wide Conversion Lens. WOW - man I LOVE mine. Best $300 add-on and super compact.
Regards,
Jeff
jkling@nac.net
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