I'm confused!! Red filter or not, auto WB, RAW, etc..........so much info!

[CoopAir]

I'll be using my Nikon Coolpix 7100 in Bonaire in a few weeks and am there is sooo much conflicting info about how best to shoot pics.....I think my head is about to blow up!

Just so you know, all the pics will be with natural ambient light.

Should I..........

1) Shoot RAW and just leave the WB on auto and do everything post?

2) Not bother with a red filter since you lose 1/2 your light and just manually adjust WB every 5 to 10 feet with a white slate?

3) Use a red filter AND adjust WB as in the 2nd example?

4) Just leave it set to AWB the whole time, but use a red filter?

I do not really want to do #1 as RAW takes up so much space and the post will be a PITA.

So is 2, 3 or 4 best? So much confilcting info!

Thanks!

 

[kelemvor]

I'll be using my Nikon Coolpix 7100 in Bonaire in a few weeks and am there is sooo much conflicting info about how best to shoot pics.....I think my head is about to blow up!

Just so you know, all the pics will be with natural ambient light.

Should I..........

1) Shoot RAW and just leave the WB on auto and do everything post?

2) Not bother with a red filter since you lose 1/2 your light and just manually adjust WB every 5 to 10 feet with a white slate?

3) Use a red filter AND adjust WB as in the 2nd example?

4) Just leave it set to AWB the whole time, but use a red filter?

I do not really want to do #1 as RAW takes up so much space and the post will be a PITA.

So is 2, 3 or 4 best? So much conflicting info!

Thanks!

I'm new to diving, but not photography. As such, I can't answer about the white balance as it relates specifically to underwater photography. The Coolpix 7100 (like my d90) supports output of simultaneous JPEG+RAW (NEF). Turn that on, and you get the photos processed by the camera in JPEG format to save you time in post while still having access to the unedited RAW data. I always shoot in JPEG+RAW regardless of what I'm shooting. I review my photos simply using windows explorer despite having a full CS6 license (I just don't dig bridge), and edit only the raws that need a little tweaking. If I shoot 200 shots in a day I might end up working on 10-20 of them in post. Bottom line, this mode lets you make that decision after the fact so if you do have a spoiled shot you can often save it with the RAW.

Maybe you can make RAW+JPG a #5 on your list?

Make sure you have a decent sized memory card (16GB or bigger) and set that and forget it.

 

[Gilligan]

1. IMO there is no substitute for RAW on non-strobe shots. It does not matter what WB setting you use as you adjust it in the program that came with the camera or some other program. If a camera does not have RAW the Custom WB is a must but requires re-calibration off a white card at varying depths and ambient light conditions.
2. As kelemvor mentioned, you can shoot (strobe shots) in JPEG + RAW but it takes up a lot of space on your memory card. As long as you have the space, especially on a dive trip, then no problem. If you are satisfied with the JPEG after some adjustments you can dump the RAW shot. Is it worth it? That is a personal preference. As for the WB setting, you can experiment with Auto, Cloudy and Daylight which applies to the JPEG's. The RAW is adjustable in post-processing regardless of the setting. I prefer "Cloudy" as it offers softer colors with the JPEG's.
3. A red filter comes in handy when shooting video clips at shallower depths since RAW is not an option. You should use the Custom WB and calibrate it with the filter ON or if not using a fillter. Some cameras allow for adjusting the brightness and locking it in the video mode. My Canon G12 does that.

 

[ConchyJoe]

1) Shoot RAW and just leave the WB on auto and do everything post?

Shoot RAW, set WB in post processing

2) Not bother with a red filter since you lose 1/2 your light and just manually adjust WB every 5 to 10 feet with a white slate?

See above

3) Use a red filter AND adjust WB as in the 2nd example?

See above

4) Just leave it set to AWB the whole time, but use a red filter?

See above

I do not really want to do #1 as RAW takes up so much space and the post will be a PITA.

Get a bigger card, they are sooo cheap now.

Like someone else said, the red will be good for video, as it does not shot raw video, and the red filter will help.

I also doubt scenes will affect raw either. what the real PITA will be is always adjusting WB with a card.

 

[Chocula]

In making your decision, you should consider what each of these options does for you, how valuable it is to you, and how much work it takes. I consider these to be 3 mostly independent decisions.

1. RAW vs .jpg -- Shooting RAW allows you to store more information about what the sensor saw. In order to create a .jpg file, much of this information is discarded, meaning you need to get all of your settings right in camera as you simply have less information to work with after the fact.
2. Auto vs custom WB -- If you decide to shoot .jpg, then your white balance (WB) becomes very important as you lose additional information if you try to adjust it in post processing. For a RAW image, it just selects different information that was already stored in the RAW file when you adjust it later. Manually adjusting your WB as you dive helps you get more accurate colors in camera, and can reduce the amount of work needed in post.
3. Filter or no filter -- What the red filter does for you is reduce the amount of blue and green light your sensor sees, allowing your sensor more time to capture what red light there is. Ideally your histograms will have a nice full curve for each of the colors without chopping off either end on any of them. Without a filter, you should see more separation of the red, green, and blue limiting the amount of red light your sensor gets to see before it blows out all of your blues. Your camera now has much more useful data from which to create its file (either RAW or .jpg) from. If you were to use this filter on the surface or when using a strobe, it would create a similar problem to what it is trying to correct, except your reds would blow out before your sensor could capture enough blue light.

I view photography as art. If you like the results you get with AWB shooting .jpg with no filter, then that is what you should do. If using custom white balances gives you better results, then you should use custom white balances. I personally shoot everything in RAW whenever the camera supports it and try to get everything right in camera. I then create .jpg for only the ones I really like or want to share. Ideally I would not need to make any adjustments in post, but that is not always the case, hence the RAW file.

-Chocula

 

[PeterNBiddle]

I'm a huge fan of #2.

http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/peternbiddle/sets/72157631649455262/

 

[NAM001]

With the strobe shoot raw ans let photoshop do the rest.
no strobe. use the red filter and let photoshop do the rest.

 

[Interceptor121]

Pictures shoot RAW regardless the camera import program render the joeg automatically anyway
Video set custom white balance
No need for filter unless your camera does not set custom white balance and using a slate is not an issue, besides even with a filter you better custom white balance the filter does not remove the need for tuning

 

[CamC]

Plus 1 for shooting RAW+JPG, for everything, everywhere. I'm not familiar with this Coolpix, but if you can assign custom WB to a dedicated "shortcut" key then do that too. (That should be available in video mode too, although not changeable during a capture.)

 

[maria munn]

Hi Coopair,

There are so many options and everyone has their different ways which work very well.

If you are in very shallow water, between 0-5 metres, I would use the camera's underwater mode which will help replace the red lost so quickly as you descend from the surface. I would keep your ISO on 100 for a still subject to capture reef scenes and use your EV minus or increase your shutter speed to create reflections at the surface, or silhouettes if you are in caves, or looking up at the surface. You can also freeze rays of light coming through at the surface using this method.

The camera's custom white balance feature can work extremely well, but just be wary when you are shooting near the surface as it is easy to create a pink tinge at the top of your images where there is a lot of light. This also applies when you are shooting cave scenes, the rays of light would be pink instead of white. I would use the custom white balance for scene shots of divers, turtles and reefs. Otherwise, I would use your camera's built-in flash to really bring out the textures of your subject, ie anemonefish, christmas tree worm, pink corals, lionfish, etc. Manual white balance is great but even using the camera's own flash can really bring out incredible definition.

I have never shot in RAW with my compact camera, as when I started out in 2001 I never had the chance to use it, and even though I have shot with the Canon S95 and 100 recently, I still shoot on JPeG.

I have just created this afternoon a link through Flickr to illustrate how I took images of different subjects showing different lenses which were used or whether strobes were used or just the camera's built-in flash. There are a few images which have been taken in shallow waters just using the camera's underwater mode which worked in a similar fashion to a red filter. The one of the pier in Egypt won a Bronze Medal in Underwater Photography's annual competition a few years ago.

I hope that this link will help you, I've never used post-production for my images, and the only ones that I've altered slightly taking out backscatter are the shots of the Mimic Octopus and the one of the Schooling Fish in Raja Ampat. All of the others seen are exactly as how they came out of the camera.

Have a really lovely time and if you need any more help, just send me a message.

All the best,

Maria

Flickr: Compact Camera Mermaid's Photostream