First Photos With an XZ-1!

[Randallr]

I just returned from a week at Sunset House in Grand Cayman; I posted a full trip report here. At the end of it are several shots I took with my new Olympus XZ-1, in the Olympus PT-050 housing, using the Olympus UF-1 strobe. This was only my second time diving with a camera; I went to Sunset House specifically to take lessons from Cathy Church's operation, and am I glad I did! My teacher, Tee, was fantastic - an enthusiast and a natural-born educator.

I had a fantastic time learning from them, am very happy with the camera (although, admittedly, I have little to compare it with, other than the Sealife DC-1200 I rented on Saba last summer), and feel I got a great start (not to mention VERY competitive pricing) from Tee and Cathy Church. I'm eager for any critiques of my work (I've got a thick skin) and even more eager for suggestions of where to take this Olympus rig next!

 

[herbdb]

I just returned from Bonaire today, my first trip with my XZ-1. I really liked using it in the Oly housing. Having clearly marked buttons makes it easy to use. I won the weekly photo contest at Capt Don's Habitat with a night photo, a first for me. I am very pleased with the camera. I will try to put up a trip report with photos after I get them sorted.

I would like to attend a photo clinic someday. Did you feel you got personal instruction?

 

[Wisnu]

Randall,
great shots - love the cowry
xz-1 is nice camera, you may share cathy's recommended setting here

 

[herbdb]

Hey Wisnu, I used your settings on my trip and they worked well, especially for night macro work. The only adjustment needed was slight tweaking of strobe setting. The only real issues I had was with white sand backgrounds. Thanks for your input.

 

[Randallr]

Herb, I took private lessons with Tee at Cathy Church's place - it wasn't a formal class. I believe they do offer multi-student classes, but I'd booked the private lessons before I got down. Tee's bio is here. He charged $60 an hour, and each class ran between 2-3 hours including the dive. It was SO well worth it I can't even describe. It wasn't just the workings of the camera and theory of underwater light and photography; it also included underwater animal behavior, and the physical mechanics of pursuing subjects without scaring them off. I would do it again in a minute. It was - well, it was like a great class with a great teacher.

Wisnu, I said I was a newbie, and here I will reveal that in spectacular fashion: When you ask me to share Cathy's recommended settings, what kinds of info are you looking for? I was working with camera set manual mode, ISO 100, shooting mostly with the aperture at 5.6 and shutter speed at 1/125, and at f8.0 with shutter at 1/250 for closer in work. Anything else I should be providing?

 

[Randallr]

Hey, while I'm in newbie mode, let me ask you a question: I've been learning Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop Elements, and I'm sending a few of my best shots out to get printed. Is it possible to say what an "average" appropriate file size is for a JPEG sent out for print? I'm printing them in 8x10 and 5x7. When the RAW file is copied and manipulated in Photoshop, its size rediced by well more than half - from an 11mb RAW file to a 5.5mb JPEG, which after Photoshopping drops to maybe 2mb. Is this normal? Am I losing too much print-worthy detail in the way I'm saving? Is there a better way to save files for printing than in high-qual JPEG?

 

[Wisnu]

Randallr,
thanks - I just want to know her recommended setting and compared with mine.


herbdb,
indeed, I also don't like white sand background - however with manual, it just matter of experience
So, go to Lembeh for nice blacksand background and amazing critters

 

[vossroad]

I'm in Cayman Brac w/ my XZ-1, Nauticam. Lots of juvenile fish here. Coral, reef, walls are all in excellent shape. Here's a few of my first pics.......

 

[Mark Derail]

8 x 10 @ 300 dpi, JPG at 80%, 5 megs would be about right.

However, it depends on the total number of colors used. If a tiny critter with a huge "blue" background, not too much "different" information, file size will drop.

FWIW, you can do everything you need just with Adobe Lightroom. I only use Photoshop for HDR or layering, like adding fish from multiple shots into a combined "impossible" UW image, like a mosaic.