New to Underwater Photography - Need Help with Canon G11

[xcel730]

Hello All,

This is my first post and first day on Scubaboard. I'm very new to scuba diving. I went only once in Curacao last year and I absolutely love it. I am planning a trip to Hawaii in six months for a period of two weeks and I'll be doing some more dives. I really want to take some underwater photography but I'm overwhelmed and confused with what I need. Below are some of my questions. Please assist me anyway you can. Thanks in advance!

1. I know Canon have their own camera housing for a reasonable price and there are other makers such as S&S and Ikelite which are more expensive. For a beginner and someone who probably won't have too many diving opportunities, should I stick with Canon's housing or go with the more expensive ones? Also, I'm an avid photographer, so I usually upgrade my camera gears quite frequently.

2. Do I need to buy strobe light? I'm probably not going to be diving more than 20 ft?

3. If I do need strobe light, please recommend me something that's reasonably priced. Ideally, I only want to spend a couple of hundreds for the strobe if possible, but will paid more if necessary.

4. Finally, if I need strobe light, please let me know what else I need to get. I know I have to get an arm to attach the strobe light to the housing and I don't know the names or parts that I need.

5. Anything else you guys think that I should consider getting?

Thank you very much again!

 

[FrankPro1]

1. Personally, I went with the Ikelite setup because I wanted something more rugged and dependable then the Canon housing. But for someone which changes their camera gear regularly, the Canon housing would be the most economically sound choice.

2. Unfortunately a strobe is almost required with the G'series cameras. There is a horrible lens shadow when using the internal strobe, which can be partially solved by using the provided diffuser, but you will still come into some issues when trying to shoot macro. The good thing about strobes is that you can transfer them over to future setups. If you pick the right strobe to fit your needs now and take care good care of it, you will not have to buy another for a long time "if ever".

3. Again, I chose to go the Ikelite route. But if I was to have purchased the Canon housing for my G10, I probably would have gone with the Inon S2000 or something from Sea&Sea.

4. To attach a strobe you will need a base, arm and an optical cord. As well as the strobe mount itself.

5. After you become familiar with your setup, you might consider getting a wet lens. The G'series lacks wide angle capability but there are some on the market which provide a decent FOV. Macro capabilities is the G'series strong point, so getting a macro lens would make sense. There are various ones on the market including inon, subsee and epoque.

 

[diver 85]

IMO for starting out, no ext strobe needed......

click in my sig to see some of my results with no strobe, some to 100+ ft.....

 

[under water]

I'm not sure how many dives you have yet, but to do UW photography you need to have a pretty decent handle on buoyancy and general diving awareness. If you want to start taking pictures with very few dives under your belt, I would recommend getting the Canon housing and no strobes to start.
I have a G9 and use both the Canon and Ikelite housing. You will eventually need a strobe and what you get will depend on how much you get hooked on UW photography. My guess is that if you are using DSLRs you will likely want to get an UW setup for those eventually.
If you are not going to use an UW housing for 6 months, I would not rush out to get anything. Read through all the relevant posts here on SB and you will get a good handle on the pros and cons of different configurations before you decide anything.
You can get awesome pictures from just a G11 in just the Canon housing.
You will, however, need a strobe (or 2) if you want to pursue the hobby.

PS. Please fill out your profile. It will help us respond.

 

[xcel730]

FrankPro1, thank you for your very thorough answer. I may opt for the Canon housing but a better strobe because as you said, I could use my strobe for future cameras.

Under_Water, I only have one dive so far. You are right ... I still need to learn the general diving. I'm not rushing to buy anything at the moment, so I'm just doing research so I could be well-informed prior to my purchase. Since I'm going to stay in Hawaii for two weeks, I'm expecting to do a good number of dives. Maybe for the first dive or two I will not use the strobe just so I'm more comfortable with holding a camera and snapping photos while trying to stay alive.

 

[pitdvr]

As a new diver I started with a Canon a620 in a Canon case. This was small enough to slip in a pocket for entry or just let go of (it was tethered) when I needed to concentrate on my diving. I then added a strobe but still sometimes did not bring my camera because of task loading on night dives. I have recently switched to a dSLR and will eventually add another strobe. But I am more experienced at diving now (will hit 200 dives in another week). This was a good way for me to be a safe diver and a photographer.

 

[highdesert]

I just returned from a liveaboard trip where a couple had two G11's. The guy had an Ikelite housing, the woman had the Canon housing. The woman has excellent results on a continuous basis throughout the trip. She reviewed her shots nightly on her laptop, and I was very impressed. Razor sharp, and very good exposure values on most shots.

Particularly for someone who is starting out, and who changes equipment fairly regularly, and who is planning to dive fairly shallow, I think you would be very happy with your results with the Canon housing ... and I second under_water's remarks, both about equipment selection and task loading.

 

[oly5050user]

FrankPro1, thank you for your very thorough answer. I may opt for the Canon housing but a better strobe because as you said, I could use my strobe for future cameras.

Under_Water, I only have one dive so far. You are right ... I still need to learn the general diving. I'm not rushing to buy anything at the moment, so I'm just doing research so I could be well-informed prior to my purchase. Since I'm going to stay in Hawaii for two weeks, I'm expecting to do a good number of dives. Maybe for the first dive or two I will not use the strobe just so I'm more comfortable with holding a camera and snapping photos while trying to stay alive.

go for the ikelite housing..with the canon housing you cannot access the built in feature the camera has-ttl via the hotshoe/sync cable..Ikelite you can..you wrote that you very often upgrade,get the ikelite.Also get the wideangle dome for the housing.
As for strobes I prefer the ikleite ds160,it is $$. I would not bother taking a camera in the water without a strobe...Yes I know all about adjusting the white balance trick but I like to "paint"/highlight subjects with the strobe.