My A620 is on the way...

[huskychemist]

I ordered it today, with the Canon housing. After reading a bunch online, I considered the Ikelite housing...but couldn't justify the extra expense for features (other than bombproof, from what I can tell) that I wouldn't necessarily use on my first UW camera.

So here are my questions to you A620 owners:

Any tips about the camera I just purchased? Things that you figured out at some point and wished you had known sooner? (Or is that cheating for me to ask? Hehehe.)

Do you use the extra weight to make it negative?

How do you attach/carry it when you dive?

What kind of pictures do you find it takes the best?

Any of you in cold water with low vis? If so...are you getting decent pictures without a lot of backscatter? Are these mostly macro pictures?


Thanks. For some reason, I think this may be the first camera purchase of many more to come...

Lowell

 

[Jamdiver]

Congrats on the purchase Husky .
To answer your questions..

Any tips about the camera I just purchased? Things that you figured out at some point and wished you had known sooner? (Or is that cheating for me to ask? Hehehe.)

- Not much really that are specific to the A620, the old standbys of get close... closer to the subject are always good. Try to shoot upwards for a nicer composition, internal flash is only really good for maybe an arms length if you don't want backscatter. I turn off the flash if i'm not doing macro shots.


Do you use the extra weight to make it negative?
- Personally I don't, it does float upwards a little but it's not a big deal to me. Your mileage may vary and all that.

How do you attach/carry it when you dive?
- I just use the wrist lanyard, but eventually i'm going to get a retractor for it.

What kind of pictures do you find it takes the best?
- Well the camera itself I think is capable of taking excellent pics in a variety of conditions. But the issue underwater is more complicated, lighting or the lack thereof are huge factors to how a picture looks. I meant you could have the greatest dslr in the world, but if you're shooting with just the internal flash you'll be pretty limited to the sort of shots that you can take and the conditions in which you can take good pictures.

Any of you in cold water with low vis? If so...are you getting decent pictures without a lot of backscatter? Are these mostly macro pictures?
- Nope, warm watter wussie here .
Best of luck to you.

 

[CompuDude]

Do you use the extra weight to make it negative?

How do you attach/carry it when you dive?

What kind of pictures do you find it takes the best?

Any of you in cold water with low vis? If so...are you getting decent pictures without a lot of backscatter? Are these mostly macro pictures?

Thanks. For some reason, I think this may be the first camera purchase of many more to come...

Lowell

I started off without weights, but later I ended up getting them because I got annoyed that the camera was never where I expected it to be. The Canon weights are not insanely priced, but it seems a bit more money than it should be. Try getting creative with a screw and a heavy piece of metal?

I use a very lightweight gear retractor clipped to the wrist strap that came with the housing. Too light to hold the camera on land, but works great underwater, where the weight is more neutral, and I don't have to fight to keep it extended when I'm using it, since the force is so low. See this thread for a recent discussion: http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=137308

A guy I know has an expression: "When the vis is low, just go macro!" There's a certain truth to that. You can still get SOME wide shots with poor visibility, but it'll be a lot tougher.

Backscatter is going to be a huge issue any time you use a flash, unless you are taking macro shots, until you buy a strobe. With a strobe you can point the light at an angle to the camera, minimizing the backscatter issue to some extent. Along with a host of other benefits. Start saving. ;-)

Until you get a strobe, you'll likely be restricted to macro work for flash shots (not as bad as it sounds... many people LOVE macro work, evn when they have other options), and natural light for wide shots. (which may mean only in shallow water, depending on just how bad the vis is)

 

[alcina]

One thing I've noticed on this combo is that you MUST use the diffuser on the housing or you will get a shadow on your images.

Have fun!

 

[Firefyter]

I use a Canon A80 with the Canon housing, and I love it. I second what everyone else has said, but I use a little sturdier lanyard to secure my camera to my chest D-ring. With this one, you can leave it attached to your BC, but still have plenty of flexibility when you get ready to take your pics.

Camera Lanyard

It's only $20, which is a small investment to keep the camera secure, IMO.

 

[Jamdiver]

One thing I've noticed on this combo is that you MUST use the diffuser on the housing or you will get a shadow on your images.

Have fun!

Oh yes Alcina is quite correct there lol, should have my new diffuser in a week or so .
I have ways around the missing diffuser plate though .

 

[huskychemist]

First of all, thanks to all of you that have offered tips.

One thing I've noticed on this combo is that you MUST use the diffuser on the housing or you will get a shadow on your images.

Have fun!

Oh yes Alcina is quite correct there lol, should have my new diffuser in a week or so .
I have ways around the missing diffuser plate though .

Forgive the newbie photographer wannabe question...but based on that, I'm assuming the diffuser is a separate purchase for the housing?

Thanks!

 

[Jamdiver]

No, no the diffuser plate comes with the housing!
Along with the wrist strap and a whole bunch of lanyards also..

 

[alcina]

The diffuser is a separate piece to the housing so make sure you secure it! It comes with the housing though.

If you don't have it, there are work arounds, but it's less limiting to make sure you don't lose it

 

[Enigmatic]

I'll 2nd, 3rd, and 4th everything mentioned above...

I also use the A620 with Canon housing. One thing I would add is to recommend taking a white slate with you diving. Set your white balance manually against the slate (very quick and easy with the A620) for non-flash shots. This camera takes phenomenal pictures with the white balance customized for a particular depth. They rarely need touching up afterwards.