D300 Optimal Setting for UW

[funkcanna]

Hi,

I have been shooting land photography for years now and using my D300 for almost 1 year. I shoot for stock agencies and therefore have camera settings toned down (i.e. sharpening off etc) so I have full control over what is done, which is always the bare minimum for stock.

Now, I am no photoshop whizz and can barely manage the basics so am wondering what in camera settings people use for UW photography to obtain the best in camera results? Im not shooting UW for stock at present as im still learning.

So the question is what settings do you use for you D300 underwater photography?

Thanks

Lee

 

[Mariozi]

Shooting mode: M, or A, occasionally S, almost never P although I triedP
For macro: AF-C (maybe in dynamic w/ closest subject for fish) or AF-M for macro and super-macro.
For WA: AF-S
I like it Vivid, specially for macro. Might tweak the sharpening.
For WA it changes a lot. As the water condition.
Every first WA dive at a location I shoot RAW, then at night I try to find the best setup in Capture NX2 from that RAW file and use it to shoot JPEGs.
I go back to RAW if I think the water changed, or I might shoot RAW if I find a nice subject.

This is something I would like to hear from other people, I think I have a lot of room for improvement in this!!! Thanks for the thread!!!

 

[funkcanna]

Thanks Marcelo, I will give Vivid a go but always shoot RAW so can change it in NX2 if needed

Speaking of which, why is NX2 extremely slow compared to CS3? I have noticed this with both NX software. My PC is pretty decent and way more than enough run this. Im stumped!

 

[Mariozi]

I use a MacBook, it runs OK.

 

[scottfiji]

hey lee

which settings are you referring to? The d300 takes great photos right out of the box..JPEGS look great, especially with the vivid setting... occassionally I have to up the contrast in the raw editor.

my settings are similar to Marcelo's. In addition, I use a small focus area for macro, the largest for WA.


Scott

 

[Christian]

Shoot RAW and none of the in camera settings matter. They are all 'switched off'. No WB, no sharpening, no colour program... That's what you need if you intend to sell to stock agencies. Get a RAW-converter (ACR, Lightroom, Aperture etc.) and learn how to use it. It's not hard att all if you understand the basics of photography. And it's fun.

Jpegs are great for newspaper work, when speed is more important than image quality.

/c

 

[Eskasi]

If you use NX2, all the settings set in camera will show up in the RAW file too. I also use Vivid and add a bit of sharpening, but always shoot in M mode.

Apart from everything else others have mentioned here, I also use TTL for macro.

On a side note however, I also believe that strobe placement is more important than in camera settings (which can be tweaked in post). Poor strobe placement will cause too much backscatter. It will also cause you to overexpose even with TTL for Macro. Your control over light (and thus colour) is handled via how you control/angle the strobes...... lack of understanding of how light transmits and behaves underwater is the primary cause of bad UW photos I believe. It isn't easy factoring all that in before adjusting metering. I will readily admit that many of my better shots are a result of multiple shots fired at different settings before getting it right. It is rare that I get the lighting excatly as I wanted first time round.... I hope that will change with more experience and practice. I take my hat off to those who shoot film!

 

[simonmittag]

This is a lengthy subject, i'll try my best on the essentials. My D300 is set up like this:

ISO: 400-800
Mode: M
AF: S or C
D-Lighting: off (it hurts shutter times)
macro: f/16-22
wide angle: f/2.8-8
shutter: 1/125s or faster usually

that's the most common ones.