G9 users

[andydob27]

I was wondering if anyone out there takes consistant quality shots with their G9 in a wp-dc21 housing; without any stobes or extras?

I finally got the housing for my last trip a couple months ago. I'm still pretty new to diving and was just having fun with the camera. I mostly used the underwater scene mode; with not great results.

I'm taking another trip soon and was thinking of switching to shooting in AP or just P mode. Assuming that:

I usually shoot in Vivid on land; does it come out well underwater?

Where do you usually have the exposure comensation set at? Is it possible to change it after the camera is inside the housing?

And do you use the "underwater" whitebalance? I read that using "cloudy" when you are deep and "sunny" when shallow works well?

I was having trouble capturing a sharp focus when I wanted to get a close up of small nudi or something. Do you often use manual focus to get it perfect?

Any and all advice would be appreciated. My next trip is going to be much shorter and there will be less time for trial and error.

Thank you for your time and help.

Andy

 

[scottfiji]

hey Andy - these are all good questions, and are applicable to any compact camera user, not just G9 users.

Take a look at my page on underwater photography for beginners, especially item #13, for how to consistently get quality shots with your setup and how to set your white balance. It's important to focus on the type of shots your camera setup is good at - fully flash-lit macro shots, and shallow sunny ambient light shots.

I often shoot vivid underwater and like it, but it's really a matter of your personal taste more than other's opinions. I normally don't set the exposure compensation unless I'm getting bad ambient light exposures, or use manual focus.

I'm sure others will chime in with their experiences.

hope this helps,
Scott

 

[xariatay]

I always use Vivid too because I prefer the rich colours.
Learn to use the manual white-balance for the w/a shots, it really helps.
If you like macro shots, do consider getting macro lens...
Get to know the camera, get to know the camera when it is inside the housing, then take them u/w...
If you need inspiration abt what G9 with just the Canon housing (w/o strobes) can do, just look at Brian's photos at Flickr: BrianMayes' Photostream He never fails to inspire me...