contradictory camera advice

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Crush

Contributor
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Location
Western Canada
# of dives
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Hello all,

I am not an underwater photographer - I am a diver that dives with a camera. I use a camera to document what I see and to show my kids to interest them in scuba. I chose my camera based upon reviews at backscatter.com - I think that it is a Canon Powershot 1100 SD or some such. At any rate I don't use an external strobe.

In a few recent posts I have read of people bashing Canon for its small sensors in P&S cameras. I find this difficult to rationalize with Canon's consistently good performance on backscatter.com. Why the apparent contradiction? FWIW I may be looking for a new camera. I may add a strobe. I am still interested in keeping the camera and strobe compact and cheap.

Thanks for any illuminating comments.

Cheers,

Crush
 
In most cases you need a strobe for good underwater photography no matter the camera or sensor size. The P&S you purchased is a great starter camera and will get great starter results with the addition of a strobe. I learned the old fashion way, I kept buying equipment. Started with a Olympus P&S in an Ikelite housing, shots sucked, Added a strobe a lot more keepers but still not quite there. Went to a Canon T2i with Ikelite housing, kit lense. Geeting better. Added WA dome and Tokina Lens, much better, added another strobe and "The Eagle has Landed". Next Trip "Wow what kind of focus light is that?, how much?, really is that all and it works as a video light too......

Stick with it, if you can't afford a strobe try a "Magic Filter" works very well in shallow water.
 
Crush,

Canon makes some really nice point and shoot cameras. Do you like the results of a point and shoot camera for topside photos? That is the big question.

Technically speaking small sensors are not as capable as big sensors. Large sensors allow better high ISO performance, less noise, less diffraction and more dynamic range. All of that comes at a cost in dollars, size and complexity. However, if you are not asking too much of them, small sensors are fine. Now l started with a Canon G11. It took some nice photos. I am now using a Nikon D7000 and I like that much better. But then again, I shoot a DSLR topside. So my goals are different than yours.

For your purposes, I think a DSLR would be huge overkill. When I travel, my camera gear is as much weight and bulk as my dive gear. I am a sherpa in the airport. I don't mind. But I just don't see that kind of system to be worth it for someone like you.

I would think that you would want to get a camera that handles RAW files (that way you can fix white balance in post processing). I think Canon has a little RAW processor that comes with the camera if not Adobe Camera RAW comes with Photoshop Elements. Heck, even fooling with RAW files might be more aggravation than what you want. I would think that you would want an external strobe. But for your purposes, I think a Canon S100 would be more than enough.

If you want to talk to someone about it, I have found the people at Backscatter and Reefphoto to be quite knowledgeable.
 
Different strokes for different folks. There are lots of people taking superb pictures with Canon compacts. As previous poster mentioned ISO levels might be a factor, especially on deep dives. The big question is, how are you viewing the pictures. Any of the compacts on the market will make beautiful 5x7's or look great on your phone or laptop. If you want to look at pictures in poster size or on your 60" TV, pixel count and sensor size might matter. I've found that the most important factors in getting good pictures are the ability to autofocus quickly with minimal light, the ability to be adjusted manually to suit the conditions the picture is taken in and the consistency of color reproduction and white balance. After that, it's the ability of the shooter to hold still in the water column, get the light on the correct side of the camera and frame the picture so that everything works together.
 
Thanks, all. I will be taking a "continuing education" photography course to try to improve my skills in terms of composition, etc.. There is a good chance that I will add a strobe in the next while. Beyond that and continuing to work on buoyancy control I hope to improve my shots.

Cheers,

Crush
 
I have been using Nikons SLRs for years but the compact in my pocket is always a Canon.

My daughter uses one also underwater and has been getting better with more practice. Once you know the limitations and work within them you can get some pretty good shots, however at some point you are going to want to graduate and move forward like I did when I used Nikonos II / V cameras
 
I dove for 30 years without taking underwater photos. It just looked like too much trouble.

I succumbed to friend and family pressure last year and bought a housing for my Canon A1000IS. At first, the photos were awful. But I learned to adjust white balance several times on a dive and how to use editing software (GIMP and Graphic Converter) to fix bad white balance and other errors. I'm now happy with the photographs I produce. They are not great photos, but they serve my purpose: to preserve memories and to share my experiences. Almost all my photos end up as 640x480 shots posted to my website or blog. No prints. No large format viewing. And, no external strobe. Way too bulky and too much trouble for my purposes.

However, the geek in me wants to experiment a bit. I've installed CHDK on my camera so that I can save RAW images. I'm practicing with the UFRAW plugin for GIMP and Raw Photo Processor, both on a Mac.

I'm not sure if playing with RAW images will result in much of an improvement, but it does keep an old many busy.

I have thought many times about buying a better camera. I may yet give in, but not yet.
 
They are not bashing Canon points and shoots with small sensors but all cameras with small sensors, it is a scubaboard thing.

Your camera has a very tiny sensor, review this diagram here:

300px-Sensor_sizes_overlaid_insidesvg.png


I believe your camera has the smallest size, the 1/2.5. The G and S Canon cameras the 1/1.7 I think it is, much larger but still very small. If you upgrade now and still want a small camera with a LARGE (relative) sensor, that is the new Sony RX (sensor between 1/1.6 and the M4:3) with perhaps a Recsea housing. I think you would also enjoy a Canon S series, I prefer the older S90 or even S95 but the newer S100 seems to be getting good reviews even with the accessory lens users.

N
 
They are not bashing Canon points and shoots with small sensors but all cameras with small sensors, it is a scubaboard thing.
N

I now have sensor envy...
 
Things that determine the quality of underwater photos, in order of importance:


1) Good diving and buoyancy skills

2) Composition skills

3) Understanding of ambient light (for wide angle)

4) Strobes

5) Lens quality

6) Camera body design, housing, sensor size, RAW capabilities



I put a lot of items into number six, since even combined they are about the last things to worry about for the vast majority of people taking pictures underwater. If you have optimized 1-5, your photos will be terrific, and then you can make the professional leap to higher end photo gear. If you haven't optimized 1-5 (or even 1-4), shooting RAW with the biggest sensor in the world won't make any difference...

As to the OP's question, Canon makes fine gear. Get an external strobe and work on your photo technique. If you find that you really enjoy UW photography, and feel limited by your rig in the future, you can always upgrade... Your kids will be much more interested in the underwater world if you show them good shots!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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