Oly C-750 Ultra Zoom - Tips for Underwater Filter

[Sylvie]

Hi

I'm looking for an underwater filter for my Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom. I've contacted the Olympus rep office here in Switzerland, but they were unable to help me. Instead they suggested that I contact Hama. The problem is Hama Switzerland doesn't know which of their filters is appropriate to use my with camera & it's Olympus underwater housing. Does anyone out there use the same camera model with a filter? It doesn't necessarily have to be a Hama product. I'm interested in knowing what filters fellow underwater photographers are using and how satisfied they are. Any suggestions would be most welcome, as I'm certainly not getting much help from photo shops, or companies here. I need to get the filter by next week, so any info I can get simplifies my choices would be great.

Cheers

Sylvie

 

[CUunderH2O]

See my reply to your other post. I believe all the olympus housings have 67mm threads, try doing a web search on UR/Pro Underwater Colour Correction Filter, they have filters for both blue & green water colour correction.

 

[Sylvie]

Hi

I looked up the links you sent thanks.

 

[ReyeR]

Hi

I'm looking for an underwater filter for my Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom. I've contacted the Olympus rep office here in Switzerland, but they were unable to help me. Instead they suggested that I contact Hama. The problem is Hama Switzerland doesn't know which of their filters is appropriate to use my with camera & it's Olympus underwater housing. Does anyone out there use the same camera model with a filter? It doesn't necessarily have to be a Hama product. I'm interested in knowing what filters fellow underwater photographers are using and how satisfied they are. Any suggestions would be most welcome, as I'm certainly not getting much help from photo shops, or companies here. I need to get the filter by next week, so any info I can get simplifies my choices would be great.

Cheers

Sylvie

UR Pro is a company that makes filters for UW photography but they are very pricey. Your other easier option is to source a FL-D or FL-B filter. These are filters used in land photography for shooting under fluorescent lighting and are a combination of magenta and a warming filter. Hoya and B+W make a 67mm thread FL-D filter and are easy to find at photography shops. FL-B filters are a little harder to source - Singh-Ray make one but it is a bit pricey. You could also try a Hoya FL-W but it has a very strong magenta component and is probably good for deep water.
Your choice of filter depends on whether you are deep or shallow and whether the water is blue or green. A general rule is the stronger FL-B filters are only suitable for blue water and moderate to deep depths. Use the FL-D type filters for green water or shallow depths.
Screw the filter on and use a white slate and do a one-touch white balance. You will need to white balance again as your depth changes.
Also be aware that these will make you lose 1-2 f-stops of light.

 

[DvrRick]

:06: Does anyone know if a Hoya Skylight filter would be useable for UW photography? I had a UV filter that was defective and the shop gave me a Skylight filter as a replacement. It says it is supposed to reduce bluish tones in outdoor shots.

 

[Sylvie]

Thanks Reyer

Your reply has been somewhat helpful. I'm relatively new to underwater photography, and still more or less in the experimental phase with the camera and settings etc. I knew that I need different filters for different water conditions. Since I primarily dive in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, or the Pacific, all of which seem blue to me; I was planning on getting a filter suitable for blue water. Since you asked I think on the average most of the dives I do are in the 20m-30m range. However I do of course make stops all look at things in other depths too. I had assumed that I’d need perhaps two different filters depending on the depths and none for shallow dives or snorkelling in great sunny conditions, i.e. a filter for say a wreck dive at 30m, and a different one for coral gardens in the 12-6m range. I also know about using the white slate and adjusting for white balance, as I’ve done that before. I just wasn’t just what exact filter to use under what conditions, and more specifically which one will work with my camera and underwater case. I was hoping someone had first hand advice with the same or similar camera model. I probably need to research this more so I can see samples of before and after shots, and get more shooting tips etc.

Cheers

 

[mwrager]

Instead of using an under water filter why not just calibrate the white balance? You can do this while you are diving, I do.

 

[Sylvie]

I do that already, but the deep dive photos are still too blue. Mind you I don't calibrate while diving.

 

[mwrager]

To save Money, try it once while diving, you will see a big difference. I thought it would not matter, but it does. I do it every 15 feet or if things change in the vis. I also was looking at some filters. I was trying some out it was hard. Ones that worked one day did not work the next and they would work in th emorning but later after noon they would not I would have had to have 100's of filters. So one day someone else showed me how to calibrate the WB under water and OH my the pic came out great. Even when the vis was less that 10 feet, but be carefull it does not work with a flash.

 

[Sylvie]

Thanks for sharing your first hand experience. I should give it a try and recalibrate the white balance while diving. It would give me more usage from my white writing slate. ;-)