I just got back from some cold water diving in Alaska. Had some good shots, but stuck with program on underwater shots. Got lucky some times, but will work on manual settings. I look forward to people responding to prefered personal settings. This was also my first time out with a camera.
New Canon A-620 & DC-90
- Thread starter 2Dive4fun
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Jamdiver
Guest
2dive4fun, there was a very informative thread you started and posted in a while back..
I think this is it - http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=128284
As for my personal settings, don't know if it will work quite as well for the sort of water you dive in.
But FWIW I shoot almost exclusively in TV/shutter priority mode with a basline of 1/160s, although I really should increase it to something higher if i'm shooting upwards and trying to get a darker blue to the water.
Before I shot almost using exclusively using the u/w white balance mode which to be honest isn't as bad as you might think, but nothing can compare to setting white balance manually at the depth that you're shooting at.
I've got some great results that way..., such as.
Think this is far better than anythig I could have done in Photoshop
As a starting mode, i'd move away from program/auto modes and try TV or AV modes, although I would recommend TV mode as the effect that changing shutter speed has on pictures is a little more intuitive to me at least than changing the aperture value.
Keep practicing and that's a very good photo of an urchin there.
I think this is it - http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=128284
As for my personal settings, don't know if it will work quite as well for the sort of water you dive in.
But FWIW I shoot almost exclusively in TV/shutter priority mode with a basline of 1/160s, although I really should increase it to something higher if i'm shooting upwards and trying to get a darker blue to the water.
Before I shot almost using exclusively using the u/w white balance mode which to be honest isn't as bad as you might think, but nothing can compare to setting white balance manually at the depth that you're shooting at.
I've got some great results that way..., such as.
Think this is far better than anythig I could have done in Photoshop
As a starting mode, i'd move away from program/auto modes and try TV or AV modes, although I would recommend TV mode as the effect that changing shutter speed has on pictures is a little more intuitive to me at least than changing the aperture value.
Keep practicing and that's a very good photo of an urchin there.
I was surprised at how difficult it was to adjust my settings underwater with heavy thermal gloves on. With water temp in the low 40's pulling my glove off was not a good option. Within a few minutes, my hand was numb. I should have posted this on the other site. Thanks for the advice.
O'Malley
Contributor
It's been nice to see the progression of your shots, Jamdiver...that shot is great! I'm excited about getting the camera back underwater in a few weeks but the local quarry conditions certainly will add new dimensions to choosing settings, composition. The benefits of diving often really have shown in your photos.
Jamdiver
Guest
Water is water is water....
Even with poor viz, i'd manually set white balance and taken some 'wide angle' shots.
I also imagine that it being cold, fresh water, that there might be some rather large fish in the quarry.
Am I right?
In any case, i'm sure you'll find lots of interesting subjects
.
Btw, have always been a fan of the dog in your avatar O'Malley.
Even with poor viz, i'd manually set white balance and taken some 'wide angle' shots.
I also imagine that it being cold, fresh water, that there might be some rather large fish in the quarry.
Am I right?
In any case, i'm sure you'll find lots of interesting subjects
.Btw, have always been a fan of the dog in your avatar O'Malley
.
O'Malley
Contributor
Yeah, she has come real close to becoming a thread in the classifieds section
,particularly yesterday when she got ahold of three Snickers bars, a bag of Chex Mix and a half bottle of Tums :l:
The quarry does provide some interesting photo opportunities...various wrecks, northern pike, catfish, muskie and the rarely seen, photographed paddlefish. The viz, often less than 10 feet, will be the most challenging...perhaps, adding a second strobe will be beneficial.
Does anyone actually use the underwater scene mode on this camera or more usually Av/Tv/P modes ?
ive not had the chance to take mine in the sea since december so only a few murky quarry photos since then in 2-3ft vis so hardly even worth trying.
What exactly DOES the UW scene mode do as well as setting white balance? Or am i better off using one of the manual modes with its in built or custom white balance ?
Generally im going to be using it without flash as i dont own a strobe so expecting to need to use shutter priority mode a lot if the SCN isnt that good.
... and yes ive found manipulating the buttons with 5mm neoprene gloves quite tricky - the cluster of buttons in the middle are quite close together and its often hard to tell which button you pressed, especially with numb fingers that cant feel anything.
Ive just about got the hang of the thing above water now managing some decent action shots and panoramas and am slowly getting used to only having a 4x optical zoom to play with (as opposed to the 8x on my previous camera).
ive not had the chance to take mine in the sea since december so only a few murky quarry photos since then in 2-3ft vis so hardly even worth trying.
What exactly DOES the UW scene mode do as well as setting white balance? Or am i better off using one of the manual modes with its in built or custom white balance ?
Generally im going to be using it without flash as i dont own a strobe so expecting to need to use shutter priority mode a lot if the SCN isnt that good.
... and yes ive found manipulating the buttons with 5mm neoprene gloves quite tricky - the cluster of buttons in the middle are quite close together and its often hard to tell which button you pressed, especially with numb fingers that cant feel anything.
Ive just about got the hang of the thing above water now managing some decent action shots and panoramas and am slowly getting used to only having a 4x optical zoom to play with (as opposed to the 8x on my previous camera).
Jamdiver
Guest
String:
String, just saw your post here.
Have a look at Alcina's post here http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1674681&postcount=6
Pretty much succintly explains why i'm not a fan of the u/w 'special mode' under the special scenes option...
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