Nemrod

[Julian55]

Hey I have been following your threads on the S90 as I just got one and would like to say thank you for all the pointers you have provided to everyone. I have a few questions I would like to ask if you don't mind.

1) in Macro I seem to be able to get some pretty decent pics, but in normal anything further than 3 ft away just goes black? is this due to no strobe?

I have the canon housing currently with no strobe

2) what software do you use? I have the canon stuff that came with the camera and although I am shooting in RAW I can seem to adjust much?

Any feedback would be appreciated, I have included the link to the photos I have taken so far

BC diving pictures by Gotham_2006 - Photobucket


Thanks Julian

 

[Mtdiver1]

I have just purchased housing for G10 and am getting it setup for upcoming dive. Instead of drilling a hole in my diffuser, can I use double side sticky velcro to "adhere" optic able for strobe? Thus not damaging my diffuser.

 

[Gilligan]

I have just purchased housing for G10 and am getting it setup for upcoming dive. Instead of drilling a hole in my diffuser, can I use double side sticky velcro to "adhere" optic able for strobe? Thus not damaging my diffuser.

IMO skip the diffuser. It's too big, may not stay on with a cable attached and not needed with a slave strobe. You need to totally block the camera's strobe so as not to have any "hot spots" in your photos from it.

I have a G10 with external strobe and made a simple and small Velcro attached device for the fiber optic cable. Instructions are HERE

 

[Nemrod]

Hey I have been following your threads on the S90 as I just got one and would like to say thank you for all the pointers you have provided to everyone. I have a few questions I would like to ask if you don't mind.

1) in Macro I seem to be able to get some pretty decent pics, but in normal anything further than 3 ft away just goes black? is this due to no strobe?

I have the canon housing currently with no strobe

2) what software do you use? I have the canon stuff that came with the camera and although I am shooting in RAW I can seem to adjust much?

Any feedback would be appreciated, I have included the link to the photos I have taken so far

BC diving pictures by Gotham_2006 - Photobucket


Thanks Julian

You are welcome of course but I never meant to set myself up as a expert, .

On the macro question, yes, my guess is a combination of limited strobe power and f stop selection are causing the black background, which, lol, many macro shooters desire. Strobes, even external strobes, used underwater have a very limited range, three feet with the internal strobe, underwater, that is too far.

On the software, well, here there are definitely other people with far more knowledge than me, I have an older copy of standard Photoshop, a new version of PS Elements and the Canon software. I am playing around with all of them and am in a learning mode probably as much as yourself. Setting up the layers and adjusting them from RAW is making me bite my fingernails and is one reason, why, seriously, I try to get the shot right from the get go or close enough that I don't need to do a lot of software magic.

The Canon software does seem a bit clunky or at least not as intuitive as PS.

Pufferfish has a lot of knowledge in this area, perhaps he deserves his own thread too .

James

 

[Julian55]

Thanks for the feedback, still playing around with settings but overall pretty happy so far. Thank you for all the advice you have given us all, greatly appreciated.

DO you know if you can get a strobe setup for a canon housing or if something else might be better.

Julian

 

[col4bin]

I will chime in on software. I use Lightroom 3 and Aperture 3, depending on the photo. Aperture is mac only, LR is PC or mac. With either application, you should be able to get the same results however one may be harder than the other depending on the photo. I find that Aperture does a much better job recovering highlights. Aperture is also a much better DAM. The only issue with Aperture is that you need a pretty powerful machine for it to run efficiently. I also use Photoshop CS5 if I need to manipulate pixels. Lastly, I also use the Nik plugin suite.

Both applications offer free 30 day fully functional trials. If you are not shooting RAW, I would not waste my time with either.

DPP is a fine program however it is not as user friendly as Lightroom which is not as user friendly as Aperture.

 

[Nemrod]

Thanks for the feedback, still playing around with settings but overall pretty happy so far. Thank you for all the advice you have given us all, greatly appreciated.

DO you know if you can get a strobe setup for a canon housing or if something else might be better.

Julian

Sure, you can install an external strobe on almost any housing. Either YS or Inon strobes would work well with most all Canon/Nikon/Oly cameras. The trick is that you will most likely have to do a little rigging on your own to adapt the optical sync cord to most of these housings. True, Inon does offer mounts for some housings, such as the Canon DC-12 and DC-35 and these lens mounts include the optical plug connection for Inon strobes. If, however, you go with a YS strobe or a housing which is not supported by Inon you may have to rig your own connector. This can be done using the Velcro connectors or several other means. Ryan at Reef can help there too.

My favorite solution, at least for Inon strobes on OEM and Ikelite housings, is to acquire any (as in any) Inon lens mount with strobe connector plug and remove the Inon strobe connector and attach it to the OEM housing strobe blanking plate in front of the camera strobe, connect Inon optical sync cords, go take pictures. Yes, it is that easy.

In this photo you can see a Canon DC-12 housing with the Inon lens adapter and strobe plug, an Ikelite housing with an Inon strobe plug mounted in a homemade strobe blocking plate and of course my then new FIX90 housing for scale:

Here you can see the FIX YS/Inon connector in place on the FIX90 housing, the two larger holes are for YS plugs, the two smaller holes are for the raw ends of the Inon cable to slip into:

Here you can see the Canon DC-35 housing with the Inon lens mount with strobe connector:

N

 

[Puffer Fish]

Puffer does not need his own thread... ever.. at all...never.

Regarding software, canon DPP, in it's latest version, is actually pretty nice. I use lightroom, DPP and PSP (which now does raw)..of the three, I find the image quality is easier to keep with the Canon software.. sort of made for the camera.

Difficult to explain in a single post, but the important thing to keep in mind is the histogram..and how to know when you are making the image better or worse.

If anyone wants to send me a raw file to my email (just PM me for it).. will be happy to show the steps, and let you see how they effect the image.

I have a before and after set of images, which were done just to show the difference one can make....

Before:

After:

The canon software is only difficult to use because the histogram is on a different page from the raw settings...but it does not take long to learn how to know what will happen.

 

[Puffer Fish]

I machine little blocks of rubber and then attaching them to the case...but I like your primary solution better.

Sure, you can install an external strobe on almost any housing. Either YS or Inon strobes would work well with most all Canon/Nikon/Oly cameras. The trick is that you will most likely have to do a little rigging on your own to adapt the optical sync cord to most of these housings. True, Inon does offer mounts for some housings, such as the Canon DC-12 and DC-35 and these lens mounts include the optical plug connection for Inon strobes. If, however, you go with a YS strobe or a housing which is not supported by Inon you may have to rig your own connector. This can be done using the Velcro connectors or several other means. Ryan at Reef can help there too.

My favorite solution, at least for Inon strobes on OEM and Ikelite housings, is to acquire any (as in any) Inon lens mount with strobe connector plug and remove the Inon strobe connector and attach it to the OEM housing strobe blanking plate in front of the camera strobe, connect Inon optical sync cords, go take pictures. Yes, it is that easy.

In this photo you can see a Canon DC-12 housing with the Inon lens adapter and strobe plug, an Ikelite housing with an Inon strobe plug mounted in a homemade strobe blocking plate and of course my then new FIX90 housing for scale:

Here you can see the FIX YS/Inon connector in place on the FIX90 housing, the two larger holes are for YS plugs, the two smaller holes are for the raw ends of the Inon cable to slip into:

Here you can see the Canon DC-35 housing with the Inon lens mount with strobe connector:

N

 

[Puffer Fish]

I went looking for an example of a non-flash image that is at about the limit of what one can correct, and found this:

versus this:

The fish color is ok, but there is some information lost...