Few basic questions before 1st photo dive trip

[H2ODoc]

A few questions about camera operation before we head off to Cozumel. This will be my 1st time using our camera underwater and I've never taken a photography class, so your help is appreciated:

1. I will try my A610's auto underwater white balance for at least one dive to see how that works - sound good?

2. To do a manual white balance, what do you all use? Small dive tablet? How small can it be?

3. Do you leave the camera in the housing the whole trip?

4. If not, do you re-lube the gasket each and every day?

Thanks!

 

[alcina]

1 - Sure! A lot of finding what works for you is just trying things. You may find you are happy enough with the results of Auto. And if not, simply change it up - the canon housings are easy to use.

2 - A slate or the sand will work. The key is to make sure the same light is hitting whatever you use as is hitting the subject you want to shoot.

3 - Nope. I download my images usually after every day of diving. I use this method to review and decide what I want to shoot the next day and also to make sure that I only have one day of diving potentially lost should something bad happen to the camera.

4 - Nope. I regrease when the oring needs it. I only remove the oring when it needs it. I closely inspect it and the groove every single time I open/close the housing, every time before I hit the water, every time after someone else handles it (you just never know and it only takes a few seconds to double check nothings been dislodged).

I keep my oring slick and supple. Never put too much goop on it and always check for any hair or debris etc.

Number one tip: shoot lots and lots and have fun!!

 

[fppf]

I use the sun for manual white bal.

 

[justin-branam]

I use the sun for manual white bal.

id be careful doing that. digital image sensors are fairly sensitive, and can be damaged by extremely bright lights like the sun. also, this wont help too much at depth.

when i set white balance. i do it with a white slate (5x9 inch), and try to do it holding the slate at the distance i will be taking most of the pictures. if you can zoom in to fill the frame with the slate, it will work a little better.

 

[Dusty2]

Suppose you could leave it in the case the whole trip if you have a huge memory card and you don't experience any condensation.

However you risk losing the whole trips photos if anything happens and your batteries probably wont last that long. Going down with used batteries is like forgetting to put in a new roll of film. Better to download every night and recharge those batteries!

My answer to the maint thing is I always take the o ring out and clean all surfaces and give it a light greasing every time I remove the camera from the case. It takes only a moment to do and it's very cheap insurance. if done properly you won't stretch the o ring or over lube it and your fingers can see things your eyes can't. That little tube of grease will last forever if you just place a drop on your index finger, rub the finger against the thumb and then slide, not pull, the oring Thru until it's lightly lubed all over. You should not see the lube when you finish or you've used to much. this is one case where more is not a good thing.

and if the subject looks good take 3 or 4 shots never just one. You can always erase the bad ones but you can't go back and do it over! That's the joy of digital there is no wasted film only lost opportunities! Enjoy! a camera will add a whole new dimension to diving

 

[H2ODoc]

So, do you download to a laptop each night? I don't really want to bring the laptop as we have too much to carry the way it is, plus I'd hate to risk losing my work laptop. Maybe use the hotel computer and e-mail them or put them on a USB drive????

 

[Warren_L]

Sand is ok for white balancing - but it depends on where you go. Cozumel should be fine, but remember not all areas are blessed with white sand.

As for the laptop, if you can, I'd bring it. I always like bringing mine, since it gives me the ability to work on a few choice shots that look interesting. I can download pics each day and burn a CD if I want to, plus I can show some pics to others while on the trip.

 

[Dusty2]

No need to risk the laptop. Most photoshops can dump them to cd's for you or you could carry a portable hard drive if you think you will have access to a computer. There are some dard drives that have a card slot and can download direct. I the email idea would require a huge account to hold all those pics. You could sign up for one of the online photo sites to download to.

 

[sharkbaitDAN]

If I don't have a laptop w/ me, I download pictures to my iPod. You need an adapter, and obviously space on the iPod (and needless to say, an iPod). I don't know if you can do it w/ other mp3 players. I actually travel w/ two iPods, a mini for music and a 20gb for photos.

 

[H2ODoc]

Ooooh - I like the iPod idea. I have a 40 gig iPod that I'd bring with me anyway. It's not a photo iPod, but if I can get an adapter to store them, that's ideal.

If not, we have a POS Averatec laptop at my office that I could bring with. It's small and light and worth about $20, but it should be able to get pictures and burn a CD.

Thanks!