Help - Honeymoon Camera: Canon A vs SD series

[isuchopper]

bliew-

I'm glad to hear that you've had good experiences with the SD series. I'm neither an expert at diving or photography, so I think I fit the bill as someone that can get by with only manual white balance. I'm actually fairly surprised by the comments that this is king. I was naively assuming that as long as you got the exposure and focus correct, you can take out the color shift via photoshop. Shows how much I know.

So far, it seems that everyone (well, two folks at least) has had pretty good luck with the autofocus and exposure provided that the operator knows what's going on. Anybody else ever have issues on this front?

I'm leaning towards the SD770/790 for the camera since it's much thinner than the others in the line and that means a lot to me above water.


Thanks again,

Mike

 

[alcina]

It sounds like you have your heart set on the SD range and that it has exactly the features you are looking for Make sure there is a housing availabl (it must be their WP range) for the model you want and just jump in! Virtually all of the SD range are very good - my mom still has and uses the 400 which does an awesome job on land and in the tide pools (only a shallow housing available, NOT the WP that you need).

Have fun shopping and post lots of photos when you get back!

 

[bperrybap]

After quite a bit of research, I got my wife a sd850is.
She loves it. She took some pretty nice shots on her first trip using a camera.
Here is a web link to her photos.
(Ok a few of these I took with an older SeaLife DC-500, most of those you can
identify by the slightly bluish tint in the photo)

Bill and Terrie's STCroix Favorites/

I've posted a few times about the SD series. I really like them.
(I just bought a SD850is for myself to replace my SeaLife).

Here's a link to one of the posts with some good info:
sd-850-vs-sd-870-would-you-choose-why

As far as manual goes, if you really want to play with all the manual stuff or shoot in
RAW, you can if you load the CHDK software on your camera to add those
features. It is now available for the sd870is as well as the sd850is.


To me, at this point in time, the SD850is and the SD870is are 2 of the
best bang for the buck Point & Shoot cameras out there, especially if you are wanting a compact
land camera as well.
The ability to add manual control and RAW capability to these
camera models using CHDK is true icing on the cake.

In comparison to a disposable point & shoot, the SD series will give you much
better shots, even if you use the built in underwater scene mode and don't do
the manual white balance.


--- bill

 

[Rynomar]

isuchopper,

We have had good luck with the Canon housings down to 130 feet. Just make sure that you keep the o-ring and the seating surface clean and use a little silicone grease on the o-ring. The Canon housing is not nearly as nice as the Ikelite housing and does not allow the use of some of the bayonet lens attachments but it is compact and allows access to most of the controls on the camera.

I agree that the 28mm lens option of some of the SD cameras is really nice underwater but it does tend to be a little soft in the corners. I have not really had any big problems with the auto focus on the SD cameras while diving. Canon point and shoots have a great depth of field and you should try to get as close to the subject as possible. Occasionally I have had photos with the subject out of focus, but it is not very common. The auto exposure also seems to work pretty well but shallow sandy pictures during the middle of the day can get overexposed pretty easily. With some practice, you will learn how to work with the camera and get good results.

If you can, I would suggest that you get the camera early enough to familiarize yourself with the controls. I usually toggle the flash, white balance, macro, and video setting during a dive and once you are familiar with the cotrols it is no big deal. Another thing to think about is turning off the photo review setting on the LCD. This will allow you to get a second picture of your subject much more quickly than with the photo review showing on the LCD.

Regarding the camera model, wider angle lenses are much nicer underwater and all of the SD cameras are pretty tiny. I have a SD800IS and it is smaller than a pack of cigarettes.

Good luck and show us some results when you get a chance.

Ryan

 

[isuchopper]

All-

Good news- the camera and case arrived today and they seem to be in good shape. I ended up going with the SD770 because I'm cheap and really wanted the small form factor. I opted for the canon case since I could order it from the same vendor and it was in stock.

Alcina- you hit the nail on the head. I really wanted the 770 or 790 but just wanted to make sure that I wasn't painting myself into a corner.

Bill- Those photos look great. I'll start looking into the CHDK software when I get back...if it's available for the 770.

Ryan- Thanks for reminder on the silicone. I was playing with the case tonight and noticed the warning in the manual as well.

Thanks for all the advice on which camera to get and how to use it. We're off to Bonaire in a couple of days and I'll be sure to post some photos when I get back.

One last question: the manual white balance works well... except when I use a piece of paper close up with the flash on. Is there a way around this or will I need to use the sand for my test piece instead of my dive slate?

Thanks again for all the help,

Mike

 

[Mr_Pyro]

A few words of warning!!

While using the CHKD hack, trying to change the aperture of my Ixsus 860 (SD870). I found out that the SD/IXUS line of cameras lack an adjustable aperture diaphram. They are pretty much constant set to an aperture of 2.8.
To simulate an aperture change Canon uses a ND filter that gives an aperture of aprox 8.0, mostly used for very sunny conditions.
So its either an aperture of 2.8 or 8.0, nothing in between :-(

Second the CHKD hack uses the print button for activating the CHKD functions.
So quick axcess to manual whitebalance might be tricky unless you can reasign the CHKD activation function to an other button than the print button. I havn't found any way to do this yet, besides there is very few button to sacrafise.

On the bright side:
The shutter speed, ISO, and the ND filter setting (ON/OFF) can be overided by the help of CHKD. It's a bit mezzy and buggy to use but it's possible. This might make it possible to use an external flash in manual mode with the SD line of cameras. Depending on the amount of preflash...

CHDK for Dummies:
CHDK for Dummies - CHDK Wiki

Latest CHKD Allbestbuild:
Index of /hdk/autobuild/

Info on lack of aperture in IXUS/SD line fo cameras:
Build #51-462 Override Aperture?


Hope it helps
/Mr_Pyro

 

[alcina]

Mike - most don't use the flash AND manual white balance. Turn the flash off, then set your MWB. I often use sand as I often forget a slate LOL

 

[bperrybap]

A few words of warning!!

[ ..... ]

Second the CHKD hack uses the print button for activating the CHKD functions.
So quick axcess to manual whitebalance might be tricky unless you can reasign the CHKD activation function to an other button than the print button. I havn't found any way to do this yet, besides there is very few button to sacrafise.

/Mr_Pyro

You can still use the canon assigned function assigned to the print button.
Hold the print button down longer. A quick press enters <ALT> mode for chdk
and a longer press, will activate the function assigned to the print button.

So if you want to assign the custom white balance to the print button you
can still do this and use it when CHDK is running,
you just need to hold the button down a bit longer.
(its like 1-1.5 seconds)

BTW: the longer press works without CHDK too, so if you get into the
habit of holding down the print button, it will work with the normal canon load
or when CHDK is running.

I hold down the button until I see the screen blank, which is when the white balance
is being done.
This is how I do it on my sd850is.

--- bill

 

[bperrybap]

Mike,

Currently, there is no CHDK support for the sd770is camera.

As far as white balance goes:

I'm not sure how the sd770is works but the SD series I've looked have some
odd things to keep in mind when using the custom white balance function
and different flash modes.

Alcina is right in that normally you wouldn't use custom white balance
on shots taken using a flash because a manual/custom white balance
isn't normally needed if you use a flash.

However, canon did a really dumb thing on the SD series cameras I've seen.
You cannot force a flash when using the cameras "auto" mode.

This means that you have to be in "manual" mode to force a flash.
In "manual mode", once you enable custom white balance, that
white balance mode stays in effect until you
change the white balance mode to something else like back to auto white balance "AWB".

To complicate matters, the camera saves the white balance mode *and* the last
white balance setting until you change it. It even remembers your last white balance
after powering the camera off and back on again.

This will be very obvious if you shoot some shots down at 40-50 ft using manual
white balance and then later take the camera out of the housing for some land shots.
If you don't change anything, you will get some very red photos.

So to get a proper white balance underwater when using flash you have a few options.

- If you know that the flash will go off, then you can flip the camera mode back
to "auto" and let the flash fire. With the flash there is no need to manual balance.

- You can keep the camera in "manual" mode and go through the menus to set the
white balance mode back to "AWB".

- You can do the manual/custom white balance against a white slate or white sand.

If you want/need to force the flash, you cannot use auto mode and you
will have to do one of the lower two options.

I tend to go ahead and use the custom white balance even when using
the flash to avoid having to go through extra menus or flip the mode
switch, which I think could put extra wear on the switch.
Plus I like to set the camera to "force flash", when I really want a flash.

What I do is always leave the camera in manual mode.
(Unless I'm somewhat deep and know the flash will be firing every shot,
then I might use "auto" mode).
I set the camera to either force the flash or disable it depending which I prefer/need.
Always use the diffuser on the housing.
I then use a white sand bottom or a slate to set the custom white balance
using the <print> button.
When using a slate, hold it out a ways. It doesn't need to be right up
super close to the lens. A foot or 18 inches out will be fine.

And just to be clear, this custom white balance stuff is not necessary
for land shots. For land I tend to leave the camera in "auto" mode or disable
the custom white balance.


--- bill