Digital Camera Settings Advice!!

[NightRaven77]

Hello....

Here I am ...fiddling around with my new camera (Canon Powershot S1 IS)

There are so many little settings for shooting pictures....Im not sure what really each of them does.....I read the book and understand a bit of what they all do.....my question is...

Which settings will be best used underwater???

I have heard alot about how some pictures turn out with allot of blue in them because of how deep you are going.....is there anything I can do to customize my settings to get the best picture quality underwater??


How about the internal flash?? does it really make a difference underwater? I dont have a strobe ....

any help would be deeply appreciated...

NightRaven77

 

[GERRY2153]

me too, me too
as the proud new owner of an Oly C-750 PT-018
a general stating point might be helpful

thanks
gerry

 

[H2Andy]

ok, i'm a newbie, so take this with a grain of salt.

due to my limited knowledge, i keep my camera on automatic and set it to "micro."

that is the best way i have to take pictures of non-moving things from close range.

 

[Dee]

I'm not familair with the settings on Canon cameras but in general....

There's no magic setting that will be perfect for underwater. However, a general guide line is to start with a shutter speed of 1/125 and an aperture of f/4.0 to f/5.0 and adjust either from there. Auto mode will give you decent exposures but it also consistantly uses very slow shutter speeds.

There's also no setting to get rid of the blue cast in photos. The blue is a result of the loss of reds that are filtered out of water. However, if you can manually set your white balance, it will add red back into the photos. Using manaual WB, you have to remember to re-calibrate it every 10ft of depth, when conditions in ambient lighting changes, and if you decide to use the internal flash. If not, your photos will be too red.

There have been several discussions on this topic in the last few days so I'd suggest you search for and read them.

 

[Gilligan]

I'll second Dee's advice.
Manual settings will give you better results than the auto ones as respects underwater photography.
The built in strobe is good to about 2 to 3 feet max and therefore works best on macro mode shots.
Manual White balance has given me the best no-strobe results. That requires you to calibrate the white balance off a dive slate at the depth you are at. If you are in clear water you likely will not have to re-calibrate it every 10 feet or so.
Remember to switch back to auto white balance when using the strobe.

NightRaven77, Please give us some feedback on the movie mode of that camera since it has Image Stabilization.

 

[NightRaven77]

As for the movie mode....

This is my first camera I have purchased so Im not an authority nor have past expierence to dwell on..

As for the movie mode...it is one of the sole reasons I got it...I wanted to find a cheap way to shoot underwater video...

The movie mode works out really well....I have'nt filmed in the water yet but just tinkering around the apartment it seems to work great...I have a 1GB flash card which gives me about 30min of constant filming on its best setting.....

I looked at buying an underwater camera and housing and was looking at spending about $2000 for the one I wanted....I bought the digital camera + housing from Walmart and only spent $600...special order.....the 1 gb flashcard cost $149 which I ordered online www.zipzoomfly.com ...which is about the cheapest your gonna get...

The camera also records sound and the ability of the Image stabilizer is nice.....works well with the video....

I have 8 days till I break it in.....Cozumel....

Ill keep you posted or post the videos I film when I return...

NightRaven77

 

[NightRaven77]

Could you please explaing your last posting in regards to the white balance and the dive slate?

I want to say to point the camera at the dive slate and adjust the setting until the white comes back??? or am I just reading into it too much?

NightRaven77

 

[Gilligan]

Hold the dive slate in front of the camera so it fills the entire frame. Be sure no shadows are in it. Push whatever buttons your manual says to to record that white setting. That's all there is to it. Now you can toggle back and forth between manual and auto white balance as needed.
If you have any kind of shorcut or personal settings on your camera use one of them for getting to the manual white balance to save time.
I know I say this all the time but I'll say it again;
It is imperative to know all your cameras functions and to be able to toggle through them via the housing as quickly and efficiently as possible for whatever subject presents itself. Time is of the essence underwater.

 

[DesertEagle]

Do you really set white balance that often? I'm going to be diving with a strobe, so will I still need to reset constantly?

 

[Gilligan]

You don't use manual W/B with a strobe only on shots w/o.
I only calibrate my WB once on each dive for the clear waters here. I think if you were in poor vis waters then you may have to calibrate it every 10 feet or so of depth depending on the changes in the ambient light.