Looking for a little advice on G10 in Auto mode

[markster33139]

Can anyone offer a little advice on how effective the G10 is at taking pictures while snorkelling. Specifically if left in the Auto/Underwater mode with perfect water conditions high visibilty, and depth less than 10 feet. Also would it be recommended to turn the flash off in these conditions.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

I might suggest at least Av or Tv mode to give you some other exposure control options but if it has to be Auto well, what the heck. The flash could be problematic depending on actual distance to the subject. You didn't say what housing you have so I'll presume Canon's WP-DC28, which causes shadow problems when you use flash on a wide angle setting. Since you will be setting it in UW mode you might want to turn the flash off, especially if you are in "perfect" conditions (like w/ some sun). You could also try a few Daylight or Cloudy balance shots and settle on the best color. If you are staying shallow, an UW balance may or may not be the best option (though of course if you shoot RAW files, no problem).

Since you sound like you don't want to mess w/ a lot (no offense) you might try at least an ISO of 200, possibly even 400 but take a look at some shots above water first and see if you can live w/ the "grain" (noise) of higher ISO speeds (some folks can't). I'm suggesting the higher ISOs because if you zoom out, aren't steady, don't know what shutter speed is being set etc. the camera is more likely to give better results (I mean sometimes conditions aren't always perfect...) because it will probably be stopping any movement you are likely to get by selecting higher shutter speeds.

After you mess with things a while maybe dig into the Users Manual and figure out more shooting options if you aren't happy w/ initial results or just feel like tweaking things. Have fun! // ww

 

[henno777]

Hi Mark

It all depends what you want to do. Do you want to take makro or wide angle photos. For snorkeling purposes you will obv be close to the surface with enough natural light and the flash will almost have no influance. What i do is using the C1 and C2 settings as the canon housing does not allow you to make changes to shutter speed and aperture as there is not a control for the wheel. C1 I set to shutter speed priority 1/80 for wide angle. if the exposure is then to low I adjust the iso (max to 400). C2 will be makro with aperture priority set to f8 for max DOF. Here you probably need the flash. Put the defusor on and try it. I have two external strobes but is a overkill for makro. One is ok.

Hope this helps

 

[markster33139]

OK so I have been doing some reading both the camera manual and also the professional reviews. I have to agree with the OP that probably TV mode would be a better choice than underwater mode, however my question is this; in TV mode if I set the ISO to say 400 would the camera continue to adjust the ISO up or down with a limit of 400 or would every shot be at ISO 400?

 

[under water]

OK so I have been doing some reading both the camera manual and also the professional reviews. I have to agree with the OP that probably TV mode would be a better choice than underwater mode, however my question is this; in TV mode if I set the ISO to say 400 would the camera continue to adjust the ISO up or down with a limit of 400 or would every shot be at ISO 400?

If you set the ISO to 400 it will be 400. If you set the ISO to Auto it will change according to what it thinks is best.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

The Canon WP-DC28 housing for the G-10 DOES allow you to change exposure settings in Manual, Tv or Av. In fact, whatever you would normally do w/ the control wheel can be done this way:

(From p.14 of the WP-DC28 User Guide)
1. When you want to turn the control dial clockwise, press the right arrow button (ie--the Flash button) while pressing (and holding down!) the Shorcut button. (The button all the way to left of the eyepiece.)
2. When you want to turn the control dial counterclockwise, press the left arrow (ie--Macro button) while pressing the Shortcut button.

So for example, if you are in Tv and want to raise shutter speeds, hold down the Shortcut button and press the Flash button ("rt. arrow button"). If you press the Flash button once, it raises one speed, hold it down it just keeps cranking them up, same as rotating the control wheel would.

These are not the most noticeable instructions in the user guide and a lot of folks miss seeing them but they are a simple work around. Simpler than it sounds anyway, especially if practiced a time or two above water. This approach offers more options than using up C1 or C2 for something that can be easily adjusted as the situation calls for. Hope this helps. // ww

 

[Dave C]

Markster, I'm certainly no expert and I have a much less sophisticated camera than yours (mine is a Canon PowerShotA630), but I would not use ISO 400, or even ISO 200 for that matter. These high ISOs result in far too grainy an uw photo for my taste. I only take underwater pictures when snorkeling (don't scuba dive). Here's what I do for my pics on the A630: set to Av mode, set ISO to 100, and leave everything else to the camera's defaults. Here are some of my better pics:
Snorkeling - a set on Flickr
(The pics before 2007 were taken with an older 3 mgp camera.) I am pretty happy with how they have turned out.

You should be able to get some good pictures when snorkeling in clear tropical waters with abundant sun. Just remember to get down in the water column; snorkeling pics from the surface looking down never turn out very good. For this reason, I consider a weight belt essential for a snorkeling photographer. Also, to bring out all the colors in the pics, I highly recommend use of a simple auto-fix command in a photo editing program (e.g., "auto levels" in PhotoElements).

 

[under water]

.. Here are some of my better pics:
Snorkeling - a set on Flickr
(The pics before 2007 were taken with an older 3 mgp camera.) I am pretty happy with how they have turned out.

You should be able to get some good pictures when snorkeling in clear tropical waters with abundant sun. ..

Dave, Those are indeed great pictures and point out the value of having plenty of available sunlight in shallow water and how useful photo editing tools are.
It is obvious that these are not photos taken from the surface looking down (for the most part) so as you suggest, snorkeling for you includes a little shallow free-diving as well. This is something I think I will practice a bit in my next trip.
Love the pix!

 

[markster33139]

I agree these pictures are amazing, and definitely shows me the potential I hope to achieve. Dave C can I ask why you choose Av mode over Tv mode?

 

[Dave C]

Mark and under water, thanks for the nice comments. Mark, I can't remember exactly why I started to use the Av mode vs Tv. I think I read a post on this board recommending the use of Av, and this was the first thing I tried when I got the camera. I was happy with the results, so I have kept on using it ever since. I consider my vacation time so important, I am reluctant to experiment much with the camera settings for fear of missing out on a good photo. I guess I should try some other things sometime.