Need MX5 parts ? or should i say pieces..

[canuckme]

Newly certified , on my way to my first warm water destination to dive , gotta have a camera right ?.
So i buy an mx5 .... bad move ?.. you bet !
A word of wisdom.... do not... i repeat.. do not buy a camera with on camera flash the results will not be worth the price of the film let alone the processing.
The amount of back scatter in most of the photos made me want to black out the auto flash and use faster film to compensate, Which i will try while i am saving up for a better alternative, after which i will toss the mx5 against a wall , its not fit to sell to anyone.

 

[herman]

Hi Canuckme,

Know the flustrations you are having, UW photograhpy is a big enough challenge even with great equipment but before you use a rock to disassamble it, here are a couple of things to try. First, get as close to your subject as possible while keeping the camera in focus and use the flash, I am assuming you have a minimum focal range of about 4 ft. This will minimize the backscatter and add a lot of color to the picture. This is the #1 tip even with great equipment. If possible, try to take picures in shallower water, 20 ft or less and not use the flash. A film that might be worth trying is Kodak Max, it's actually 800 ISO but if used on the 400 speed setting and no flash, it might give better results, I have used 200 ISO on 100 setting in a similar manner and had fair results. If all else fails, use the camera for above water shots while diving, on the boat for example. If you are like me, I like to take a few of the dive boat and my buddies but hate to waste film that I might need on the bottom. The MX-5 should do fine for that and if someone sets a tank on it well, no great loss. Hope something here helps.