canon S95 advice

[pughio83]

I am fairly new to underwater photography and have previously used a canon ixus with ikelite housing as a point and click and have had reasonable success with that. But the camera broke and have since bought a canon S95. Does anyone have any tips for general underwater use as i have a 3 week philippines trip in a few weeks. I will have by then the WP-DC38 housing for it as well. There are a lot more fucntions to the S95 and its a bit confusing.

Any ideal settings for macro use to start with? general tips for decent results? I will not have a strobe for this trip but will get one this year.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

cheers

 

[Peter_C]

There are a couple of YS-110 strobes for sale on this board.

 

[Indigo Scuba Africa]

Hi

Congratulations on buying a great camera! You are going to love the results, once you have mastered the camera.

Don't worry though, it is not that daunting.

Just remember to shoot in RAW so that you can make adjustments to the white balance, lighting, contrast and sharpness afterwards, using the software provided with the camera. You can then convert and save your photos to JPGs (and other formats).

I don't use any strobes or internal flash and our water here varies from bright to dark with lots of particles in the water.

I've found that shooting Manual has provided me with the best results.

For bright water, I use ISO100, speed 200 and F5.6 or F8. The speed is quite high as it helps to stop the blurring I used to get when I first used the camera.

If the water gets darker, I adjust the focal point to F2.8 and then increase the ISO if necessary. I don't adjust the speed.

I also adjust the white balance using the S on the back of the camera regularly (but you can adjust this easily in the software provided by choosing the "dropper" and clicking on something light grey/white in the photo).

When taking macro shots, get as close as you can, half depress the shutter so that the camera can focus on your object then fully press the shutter. Take a few photos and one of them will turn out. It does take practice but I promise you it will get better!

Have a look at the Canon corner for more recommendations.

Also get to learn how to use the front ring as it is a great help when wanting to change ISO and Focal length, exposure and speed.

Don't give up! You will get some good shots! Just remember, there is nothing more important than safe and enjoyable diving! Photos are just a great add-on!!

 

[pughio83]

Thanks for the info, very useful. Cant wait to start using it in a few weeks. hopefully will post a trip report with some nice pics!! cheers again!