First dive with 520 tomorrow

[Benzonar]

Well after using my trusty old C-5050 for the last 7 years I finally splashed out on the housing etc for my E-520. So will finally be getting it wet tomorrow (after a quick leak test in the pool tonight).

So the main question is...........should I use the underwater macro scene setting or go with something else? I have a focus light and UFL-2 strobe to help out, and will be using the 50mm macro lens.

 

[AndyT]

For macro work I usually use manual setttings - ISO 100, f 9 - f 15, shutter at 1/125 or higher with the 50mm. I am not familiar with the strobe you are using, hopefully someone else will chip in as well.

Good luck, remember to post some pics !!

 

[davelew]

There's no single best setting on the camera. There aren't really even "right" or "wrong" settings, although if I had to pick a single setting for underwater, I would go with Martin Edge and say "f/8, three feet, and be there!"

In other words, "A" aperture priority, f/8, and get some practice underwater. Set ISO to around 100 or 200. Play around with what happens with different aperture values (f/5.6, f/11, f/16, etc.), especially with the colors of the background water. I find the water gets too light with low f-stops, too dark with high f-stops, and f/8 gives a nice rich blue color.

 

[Benzonar]

Thanks guys.

Andy, The UFL-2 is the newish Oly strobe - gives full TTL function via the optical cable.

 

[slowhands]

Well after using my trusty old C-5050 for the last 7 years I finally splashed out on the housing etc for my E-520. So will finally be getting it wet tomorrow (after a quick leak test in the pool tonight).

So the main question is...........should I use the underwater macro scene setting or go with something else? I have a focus light and UFL-2 strobe to help out, and will be using the 50mm macro lens.

Wow, exciting. You can certainly try that scene, but I prefer total manual control. I'd be interested in how well UW Macro scene mode actually works, given that you have the Oly flash too -- they should coordinate well. (That 8 second recharge on the flash sounded slow, is it an issue?) If you can, try some manual settings, and let us know the effect.

Did you mount the focus light on the cold shoe? I can't bring myself to do that, afraid some boatman will take it for a handle or some such calamity.

I have mine set on -1EV exposure compensation without flash, seemed like I was blowing the highlights at 0 comp. Could be my particular setup. Can you confirm what EV setting works for yours? I'm using the 14-42 at the moment on dry land in the housing with that result. Interested in hearing what works for you.

I'm getting psyched for Dauin Beach and parts unknown in JULY!!!

 

[Benzonar]

Wow, exciting. You can certainly try that scene, but I prefer total manual control. I'd be interested in how well UW Macro scene mode actually works, given that you have the Oly flash too -- they should coordinate well. (That 8 second recharge on the flash sounded slow, is it an issue?) If you can, try some manual settings, and let us know the effect.

Did you mount the focus light on the cold shoe? I can't bring myself to do that, afraid some boatman will take it for a handle or some such calamity.

I have mine set on -1EV exposure compensation without flash, seemed like I was blowing the highlights at 0 comp. Could be my particular setup. Can you confirm what EV setting works for yours? I'm using the 14-42 at the moment on dry land in the housing with that result. Interested in hearing what works for you.

I'm getting psyched for Dauin Beach and parts unknown in JULY!!!

Well in the end I didn't try the UW MAcro scene mode, may do it this Friday though. Was mainly shooting with A-priority and playing around with the f-stop. I did tend to get a few blown highlights though so will probably step the EV setting down next time. All shot in RAW so managed to recover to some extent, but not great. I actually found the fully automatic mode worked best, may be something to do with the flash communication.

Recharge time was a lot better than 8 secs, had Lithium batteries in which obviously helped.

Focus light was indeed on the shoe mount, was very particuler when passing upto the boat driver. Going to try mounting the strobe on the shoe for this weekend though and leave the focus light in the bag. The viz is pretty good at the moment and the sun is so strong here that the focus light wasn't really needed.

I'm off to the Daymaniyat Islands in Oman in a few weeks so will give it a full and proper workout then. Pics I took are on the main UW Photography page titled Musandam.