Newbie with Canon S410

[uberspeed]

Hey folks, awaiting my Canon PowerShot S410 (4MP) to come in, bought the WP-DC800 housing and it looks quite sturdy. Also bought a 512MB card to go with it. any suggestions as to the settings I should use? I know I need to become very familiar with it especially the controls and just shoot a lot of pics. Any tips would be appreciated. I have read up quite a bit here but having my own thread makes it convenient.

 

[subtidal]

First off, you'll love this camera. For underwater settings I use Manual Mode, largest image size available, Vivid, Cloudy for murky water or when I'm deeper than 20ft. in clear water otherwise Sunny, Auto ISO. I don't have the camera in front of me, but that is what I remember off the top of my head. Also, turn that annoying focus feature off that displays 9 green boxes when you press the shutter halfway. The camera has a hard time figuring out underwater images and will rarely lock onto what you want to shoot. Instead, use the feature that keeps the focus box in the middle of the display. I also enjoy using the Movie Mode underwater. For recent images of my Belize trip, look here: http://subtidal.smugmug.com/gallery/480809.

Enjoy!

 

[uberspeed]

I'll try those settings immediately, thanks!
Great pics by the way.

 

[SunMari]

subtitle: if you took all those pics with the s410 in Belize I can't wait for our trip! Hubby just got the camera today shipped to his job and is probably playing with it as we speak, while I'm at work suffering!!!

 

[uberspeed]

Indeed, I am playing with it right now.

 

[subtidal]

You folks are quite welcome and thank you for the compliments! If you have any further questions, I would be more than happy to help. Some further info: I have never used desiccant inside the housing and I have never had a problem with condensation. Keep your o-ring clean and greased and only load it into the housing in an air-conditioned environment to help keep out moisture. Also, if your camera didn't come with it, buy an extra battery.

SunMarie: Have fun on your trip. If you are going to Belize and would like to read my trip report on the Rodales board, you can find it here: http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=2991

 

[uberspeed]

I thought about the extra battery, will be looking into it soon. I have small packets of silica gel (desiccant) that I was thinking about dropping one in for "just in case". I'll heed your tips and hopefully it'll work out as well as it has for you. Thanks once again!

 

[uberspeed]

By the way, do you know what you set the flash to? red eye reduction or no? Auto?

Appreciate the help.

 

[subtidal]

Ah, this is a very important lesson I learned the hard way. On previous trips with the camera, I have always used "auto flash", but a lot of times it wouldn't fire. I was confused by this and after ditching many pictures that would have been great if the flash had fired, I figured it all out. A lot of what you would take a picture of underwater doesn't have very detailed lines, like a coral reef. If the camera can't figure out what to focus on, it doesn't fire the flash. So instead of using "auto flash", I switched it "force flash" so it fires every time. The results are what you saw in my Belize gallery. It made all the difference in the world! Always force the flash on unless: 1) Your subject is too far away for the flash to do any good. 2) You are shallow in clear water where there is a lot of sunlight penetration. Additionally, I aways use the supplied flash diffuser.

I hope I just saved you a couple of dive trips worth of frustration

 

[jbb]

I've got the s400 and another tip is to keep the display off as much as possible when underwater. It will eat up battery life and heat up the camera so you get condensation on the inside of the case. the desicant can't keep up with this condensation. Also you can blow some dry tank air into the case as you are closing it. And do get some extra batteries - at least two and extra flash cards for trips. You don't want all your images on one card if your case should flood.

Do either of you know how to get a new gasket for the underwater case?

Thanks.

Jason.