Just bought S90 now what? (newbie)

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orenbvip

Contributor
Messages
539
Reaction score
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Location
Montreal
# of dives
500 - 999
I just bought an S90 and are upgrading from a point and shoot. I was wondering if anyone knows any links or guides of how to use it or any manual camera? Right now the camera is a little bit intimidating....
 
Well, I would recommend getting a supplementary guide like Magic Lantern for your camera. The manual that comes with the camera can be a bit opaque.

Secondly, I would recommend that you just go out and take photos with your camera out of the water just to get used to controls and what the camera can do.

Third, I would recommend that for your diving photos to always shoot RAW. So learn how to use the RAW processor that Canon gives you with the software that comes with the camera.

For underwater photos, I would recommend running as near to base iso as you can.

There are 3 modes that you can use underwater: shutter priority, aperture priority and full manual. On shutter priority, you choose the shutter speed and the camera supplies the F stop. On aperture priority, you supply the F stop and the camera chooses the shutter. On full manual, you supply both. The camera has a little bar graph that tells you if you are close to exposing your shot correctly. Manual is probably the best way to go, but it can be a little intimidating at first.

Before diving, put your camera in its housing and learn how to use the controls all over again and take some shots.

Before diving the first time, put your sealed housing in a bucket of water and weight it down. That is to see if it is indeed water proof. If you have a pool, weight it down to the bottom of the deep end.

Finally, when you are going out to shoot, put your camera in. Make sure everything is properly latched. Check the controls to be sure that they work.

Also, get as close as you can to your subjects. The photos will have far more crispness is you do.
 
Your camera is a P&S and the Owner Manual that comes with it is excellent, I would start there.

Whys is it "intimidating" as all you do is turn it ON, Point in the direction you want a picture and then Shoot by pressing the shutter button.

The S90 is NOT a "manual" camera but instead an auto everything camera with manual controls including manual/auto flash, manual/auto exposure, manual/auto/custom WB, manual/auto focus etc.

The easiest way to shoot the S90 for surface snaps is to put it in P (Program) mode and assign the front ring control to +/- exposure compensation. I like 100ISO, Auto white balance.

Also turn off the:

Safety focus
Safety exposure
Red eye reduction (enable for people pics)
Focus assist light

I like center/spot focus and center weighted exposure.

For underwater I like:

Av mode
Camera strobe to Manual control and 1/3 and external Inon/YS strobe
Camera strobe to Auto (for shooting without external flash)
WB to fish or cloud (unless shooting RAW)

Front ring control assign to +/- exposure control
Rear ring controls f stop

Also turn off the Power Saver function, set LCD to go dark after 1 minute, rolling the camera or touching a button brings it back up right away.

I am not much into shooting full manual except for special shots it is easier to set up sometimes, otherwise, I use Av mode most of the time.

N
 
wow thanks for all the input! this is a lot to take in at once. I've yet to get a case. is the Ikelite one worth the extra $140?
 
wow thanks for all the input! this is a lot to take in at once. I've yet to get a case. is the Ikelite one worth the extra $140?

I don't know the answer to that but the FIX housing is worth the additional 600 dollars. I take a system approach and look at capability vs total cost of the system. When I look at the fact I have around 1,600 dollars in strobes alone, then the 140 dollars is not going to work me up either way.

For casual shooting, learning, shallow water use and considering the one notch above disposable quality level of the Canon housing, yeah, just get the Canon DC-35. If you want something a bit more durable and which can be overhauled, get the Ikelite, if you want a camera system that is as good as it gets without jumping to a dSLR (and accompanying huge cost, size, weight) the FIX is a killer dealio.

N
 
wow thanks for all the input! this is a lot to take in at once. I've yet to get a case. is the Ikelite one worth the extra $140?

Let's face it, Ikelite clearly has about the best support of any maker. A plus for Ikelite. But if you really want to save money, the Canon DC35 is a good bargain. The Canon DC35 is much smaller, you can slip it in a BCD pocket.

To me, the main technical advantage of the Ikelite housing is that it has 67mm threads on the lens port. That lets you screw on a 67mm macro lens and some wide angle lenses without having to buy something else to mount them. That's convenient and it saves money. For the Canon DC35, Inon makes an adapter for its 28AD lenses ($100). Dyron makes a 67mm adapter for the DC35, about $75, but it's hard to find. If you buy the deluxe FIX housing, not only do you pay $600 more, but the adapters are another $180, without lens. So having an adapter "built in" is a cost advantage for Ikelite, if you can want those add lenses. For me the Ikelite is easily worth $100 more. I have a lot of 67mm macro, wide and red filter accessories -- so I want that growth path. If you never want to do that, it's obviously not worth much to you.

I trust Ikelite more. Some of the Canon housings leak due to mold release lines at the O-ring, and some say the buttons get sticky over time. That's been reported here and on Amazon reviews, so you would think Canon would address it - nope, not yet! No big deal, I smoothed the mold release lines on mine, no leaks ever. And I work all the buttons in the rinse tank after each dive to flush any salt water for all my housings. With Ikelite, they stand behind everything and would rebuild a sticky housing if needed. Canon just blows you off, fuggedaboudit, buy a new one.

Regarding lens adapters for the Canon DC-35, Inon makes a 28AD version and Dyron makes a 67mm and an AD version. Reef carries the Inon. I found the Dyron at CamerasUnderwater in UK, at about $75 plus shipping. Dyron also have a very compact 20mm wide conversion that fits it, and is much smaller than any other similar conversion lens.
http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/general/lenses/index.html

I have not been able to find a US supplier for Dyron but I'm curious enough about it to order from the maker if it comes to that. Dyron has a manufacturer's discussion group on this board, check it out to see what they have. I heard a rumor that Backscatter was considering carrying them, but no reply yet to my query about that.

It is possible to make an adapter for the DC35, similar to ones others have made here. I'd rather buy than make if I can find something reasonable.

Unfortunately the flash on this camera is blocked by every housing, and it's weak anyway. You will probably want an external flash before long. See the discussions here about what your options are.
 
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The internal flash is not blocked with the FIX housing, except perhaps for macro but even there I think it works fine.

N
 

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