How Often Do You Decide to Change Modes and Why?

[Cacia]

If you are drifting and meet up with some fast action, or you have been deep for long enough to feel fuzzy, do you change modes? What situations do you find yourself doing this? (entering a dark wreck, etc)?

Do you dive deep on air and shoot manual easily?

I know it is second nature to most of you, but so are the multiplication tables, and I know from testing myself at depth (over 100 ft) that my ablity to think through tasks involving numbers is greatly affected.

 

[Mo2vation]

as nearly all my dives are in SoCal - its rare when I see something new or completely off the map that would require me to change "modes" (presume Auto, Program, Shutter, Ap, Manual, etc - right?)

Shooting a DSLR is much more lens dependant, and keeps things pretty narrow. When I'm with the 105, I know I'm not gonna chase after that harbor seal. When I have the 10.5 fishy, all I can do is wave "hi" to that Nudi, etc.

I had the 60 on a few weeks ago when the squid run started. That was interesting, trying to make the 60 behave like a wide angle. I just adjusted it on the fly, back-kicked like a muthah, put the strobes on "full" and started shooting the cloud.

But the cam stays in Manual 100% of the time and I manage within the boundaries of the lens. If I was still shooting my 5050, things would be different, as the lens has a much wider range of shots it can capture.


How do you like the 200? I'm thinking of making the jump in a couple of weeks.


---
Ken

 

[alcina]

Change modes? Almost never. I almost always shoot in manual.

Change settings? When I make a dramatic change in what I want to do. Usually I only change one setting - such as aperture - the majority of a dive. The vast majority of the time it is "planned" and so I have ample time to decide to make the change, to change and to double check the change. Only takes a second really.

If you know you are going to shoot the exterior and then the interior of a wreck you will know that you will have dramatically different lighting. If you are unsure that you can task load to deal with that, start by simply choosing one and shooting it....don't try to do it all. Then when you know that works, next time add the next step. Great excuse for more dives!

A zoom lens, such as the Sigma 17-70, is probably going to see the need for the most dramatic changes as it is capable of macro and wide angle. Even when I shoot this, usually I only need to change one setting after I set up (for me, usually it's the shutter speed to control my water colour on the WA end and the aperture to control my DOF on the macro end). I can tweak both settings, but usually I don't want to.

Manual isn't hard or time consuming - just a bit daunting to jump in with. My get wet settings with the dslr are usually something along the lines of f11 and shutter 1/100 or 1/125 with my ISO as low as it will go (100 on the Canon). Your water is usually a darker blue than ours so these settings should be a pretty good starting place - then just tweak as conditions dictate.

 

[Warren_L]

I've always shot my D200 in manual mode. The other automatic or semi automatic modes like A or S just don't give me the flexibility and control I need. I do change the shutter speed and aperature quite frequently depending on the shot.

 

[mjh]

I mainly use Manual with the D200. But after reviewing some wide angle shots that had a lot of backscatter I realized I need to learn how to manually white balance and use the Magic Filters or up my ISO and get the strobes farther out.

 

[RonFrank]

If you are drifting and meet up with some fast action, or you have been deep for long enough to feel fuzzy, do you change modes? What situations do you find yourself doing this? (entering a dark wreck, etc)?

Do you dive deep on air and shoot manual easily?

I know it is second nature to most of you, but so are the multiplication tables, and I know from testing myself at depth (over 100 ft) that my ablity to think through tasks involving numbers is greatly affected.

I've been shooting mainly in M mode, but I do use A mode when the lighting is great. The problem with A mode is that if he lighting drops, the shutter is reduced potentially to the point that subject movement is visible.

This is an example of what can happen when the shutter speed drops (1/40 in this shot). The effect is kinda cool, but I quickly changed modes to M, and upped the ISO and shutter.

That said, if I was in M mode when shooting this, It would have been a nicely exposed turtle with a much darker background as the sun must have dropped behind a cloud.

 

[Cacia]

thanks...

Sometimes my dives are not planned until we are out there. Good point about the lenses though. I never seem to have the right one when something amazing shows up... a rare fish, etc.

I hope my new housing will not be as sticky on the dials. Anybody else have this issue at depth? The knobs grab intermittently sometimes.

 

[jarhed]

I shoot the d200 in manual always. the secret is to review and check the histogram for proper exposure. I sometimes miss the "emergent fast action shot" but less often as I get better and the shots I have time to set up for have vastly improved. Don't be afraid to adjust ISO along with shutter and aperature, then shoot and review. Read the histogram is your camera has it!!!

Have fun, John

 

[RonFrank]

thanks...

Sometimes my dives are not planned until we are out there. Good point about the lenses though. I never seem to have the right one when something amazing shows up... a rare fish, etc.

I hope my new housing will not be as sticky on the dials. Anybody else have this issue at depth? The knobs grab intermittently sometimes.

I've been using the Ike D200 housing for a while. Overall I'm happy with it. I think some of the alum housings have better ergonomics, but they are a LOT more expensive.

All the controls on the Ike housing work well with one exception. The on/off control is difficult to get set correctly so it functions easily. I bypass that by just turning on the camera when I put it in the housing. One can leave the camera on all day without battery issues.

Another thing to watch for is if you are changing modes, Exposure compensation, qual, ISO,or WB make sure the button that activates the control is not left depressed on the control. If it is, the camera functions, but one can not use the LCD to review histogram or images. This can be frustrating if one is not aware of the problem as it appears something is wrong. One needs to just move the control so it is not depressing the buttons on the camera. You can try this without the housing to see what I am talking about. Press and hold down the mode button, and try to review an image on the LCD... nothing.

I don't have problems with the Ike controls grabbing and operating the camera controls at depth. Last summer however Howarde did have such an issue with a loaner housing I believe. I think he was unable to control the front wheel that would control the aperture in A or M mode. He was able to mess with it to get it to work. I think his new housing worked fine.

If you are having issues, I'd send it into Ike for a checkup.

For lens selection it's really tough. I'm considering the Sigma 17~70mm lens as it offers a good zoom range for everything from wider views to fish head shots, and it can do macro to a reasonable level. It maybe the best choice for an all around lens out there. I don't have that lens, so if I have to decide on macro, WA with the 12~24mm, or semi~wide to normal with the 18~35mm. Many pro's carry two camera's down, I know Stephen Frink sometimes carries three (or he has others help him carry three). That is one downside to the DSLR, you have to pick your glass before getting in the water, and then live with the decision.

 

[jarhed]

Remember, prime lenses are almost always sharper than zoom lenses. Also setting up for a particular picture prior (W/A, Macro, super-macro...) will help you focus ona particular technique and make for better pictures. If you dive enough, then you will get the pics that you want. I don't own any zoom lenses that I take diving although I am considering the 12-24mm eventually for a little more length for sharks and other shy larger creatures.

Thare are dozens of ways to consider the objective, this is just one viewpoint...
John