EPL2 14-42mm too slow underwater?

[MrMagica]

Hi Mel, thanks for that. Great photos - what is the fish in BHB0091.jpg? Amazing.

---------- Post Merged at 03:49 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:21 AM ----------

Last question, all your replies have been very helpful.

Is there any good reason not to shoot in Aperature Priority mode. Everyone says manual, but if I lock my flash sync speed between 1/60 - 1/180. Flash to fill, ISO set to 200, then expose through aperature whats the problem? What do I gain by going to full manual?

 

[deeper thoughts]

interesting

 

[Peter Guy]

Is there any good reason not to shoot in Aperature Priority mode. Everyone says manual, but if I lock my flash sync speed between 1/60 - 1/180. Flash to fill, ISO set to 200, then expose through aperature whats the problem? What do I gain by going to full manual?

I can only speak of my experience with the EPL-1 which syncs with the between 1/60th and 1/160th (or something like that). Assuming you don't have that much ambient light (i.e., not a shallow tropical shot), on Ap Priority, you will get a shutter speed of 1/60th. That might allow for enough ambient light to show your background -- and if you want that, great. But, if you want the background to be dark/black, you'll need a higher shutter speed along with your small aperature and for that to happen you need M mode to control both the shutter speed and aperature.

For me, with my EPL-1, I tend to shoot M mode for macro and P mode for BIG wide angle (that is, beyond the effective range of my strobe). Many may say that's cheating and not good practice, but I'm OK with that!

This picture is a stitched image of the wreck using the EPL-1 kit lens. You can see the diver at the bottom of the wreck -- using P mode and for kicks in sepia tone. F4 & 1/80th



This was taken with the kit lens and in M mode to get the background neutral given the amount of ambient light. F14 and 1/125th

 

[deeper thoughts]

I can only speak of my experience with the EPL-1 which syncs with the between 1/60th and 1/160th (or something like that). Assuming you don't have that much ambient light (i.e., not a shallow tropical shot), on Ap Priority, you will get a shutter speed of 1/60th. That might allow for enough ambient light to show your background -- and if you want that, great. But, if you want the background to be dark/black, you'll need a higher shutter speed along with your small aperature and for that to happen you need M mode to control both the shutter speed and aperature.

For me, with my EPL-1, I tend to shoot M mode for macro and P mode for BIG wide angle (that is, beyond the effective range of my strobe). Many may say that's cheating and not good practice, but I'm OK with that!

This picture is a stitched image of the wreck using the EPL-1 kit lens. You can see the diver at the bottom of the wreck -- using P mode and for kicks in sepia tone. F4 & 1/80th

View attachment 139294

This was taken with the kit lens and in M mode to get the background neutral given the amount of ambient light. F14 and 1/125th
View attachment 139295

?? sometimes when I shoot m I cannot get the light meter to go to zero. I have to drop down the shutter speed where the pix blurs. Any reason or suggestions thnx.

 

[MrMagica]

I can only speak of my experience with the EPL-1 which syncs with the between 1/60th and 1/160th (or something like that). Assuming you don't have that much ambient light (i.e., not a shallow tropical shot), on Ap Priority, you will get a shutter speed of 1/60th. That might allow for enough ambient light to show your background -- and if you want that, great. But, if you want the background to be dark/black, you'll need a higher shutter speed along with your small aperature and for that to happen you need M mode to control both the shutter speed and aperature.

For me, with my EPL-1, I tend to shoot M mode for macro and P mode for BIG wide angle (that is, beyond the effective range of my strobe). Many may say that's cheating and not good practice, but I'm OK with that!

This picture is a stitched image of the wreck using the EPL-1 kit lens. You can see the diver at the bottom of the wreck -- using P mode and for kicks in sepia tone. F4 & 1/80th



This was taken with the kit lens and in M mode to get the background neutral given the amount of ambient light. F14 and 1/125th

That makes great sense. Shoot in manual mode to have the choice to "under expose" the ambient lit background, and strobe light the foreground. Ok so Peter: your P mode for non strobe wide, do you turn off the fill flash on your camera settings? Otherwise the shot will end up underexposed in P mode, as it thinks the flash is effecting the shot, when in fact it is not...

 

[SEMO Scuba]

?? sometimes when I shoot m I cannot get the light meter to go to zero. I have to drop down the shutter speed where the pix blurs. Any reason or suggestions thnx.

If you are using a strobe your exposure/light meter does not have to be on zero. If you are not using a strobe, and you have to use such a slow shutter speed that your photos are blurred, then you need to increase the ISO until you can use shutter speeds from 1/80 to 1/125. At 1/60 or slower shutter speeds you are likely to have blurred pictures.

 

[deeper thoughts]

If you are using a strobe your exposure/light meter does not have to be on zero. If you are not using a strobe, and you have to use such a slow shutter speed that your photos are blurred, then you need to increase the ISO until you can use shutter speeds from 1/80 to 1/125. At 1/60 or slower shutter speeds you are likely to have blurred pictures.

Thank you

 

[Peter Guy]

Ok so Peter: your P mode for non strobe wide, do you turn off the fill flash on your camera settings? Otherwise the shot will end up underexposed in P mode, as it thinks the flash is effecting the shot, when in fact it is not...

That is not my experience. IF the W.A. shot (subject) is sufficiently far away then it appears the flash just doesn't have that much effect on the total exposure.

 

[jetlife2]

In fact for anything beyond a few feet (Your mileage will vary depending on your strobes) it is often better to turn off the strobes entirely as you risk filling the water with backscatter. I make this my standard now on wrecks unless I am doing a closeup. (2x Z240's)

I have an EPL2 and I shoot full manual camera, RAW, with strobes on TTL. Sometimes I dial in -1 or -2 stops on the strobes.

I would suggest S priority is better than A for non-strobe usage, if you dont want to go full manual. Keep the shutter speed to 1/60 or higher to minimize motion blur, shoot RAW and fix it later. There is an interesting mode you can set up where you put it in S priority, pick a shutter speed and either fix ISO at your choice or let ISO be Auto. You can even adjust the max "auto-ISO" to a lower value like 600 to prevent it going to the really grainy high ISOs if you want, and just force it to under expose. Sort of a constrained semi-P mode but not allowing the camera to choose combinations you don't like. Did I mention shoot RAW. It is so much better than any jpg. Good luck! By the way, shoot RAW.