Here are the settings I have found most effective for point and shoot cameras, including the XZ-1, which I had a chance to try out earlier this month.
General tips:
1) Set your ISO to a very low setting--I leave mine at 80. This reduces the digital noise that appears in underwater photos, especially in the darker parts of the image.
2) Use f8.0 for macro shots and f5.6 for wide angle and adjust your shutter speed within those apertures to get the right amount of light into the lens.
3) Shoot up to get more light in, and if you are not using a strobe, be careful to use the diffuser with the internal flash, and cover it with duct tape if you are using a strobe.
4) Watch the light meter readings and dial up/down the shutter speed until it's at -1.7 to -2.0 when shooting wide angle landscape shots that you want blue water backgrounds for. This gives you the best blue without the water looking light or dark gray.
5) If you are not using a strobe, adjust your White Balance manually for best color with the least need to do a lot of digital darkroom work. If you are using a strobe, set your WB to Auto.
6) If you are using a strobe with a fibre-optic cable that is triggered by the internal flash, you need to set your internal flash to fire with every shot. IIRC, the "slow sync" setting is the one you want.
Strobe specific questions--I don't use the Sea and Sea strobe, so I'm less familiar with it than I am some other brands, and maybe another person who actually uses the S&S strobe can correct/add to my understanding of how it works with non S&S cameras. But since you have an Oly camera with a S&S strobe, you may not be able to plug the TTL cable into the camera itself (at least not without a converter), so you may have to sync it with the internal flash instead. If that's indeed the case, you don't want to set anything on TTL since the strobe won't be getting any information from the camera's computer regarding the light entering through the lens (TTL means "through the lens"). Instead, you can either set it to some fraction of full power and leave it there, changing shutter speeds to adjust the amount of light entering the shutter, or you can use the manual power settings and dial up or down while leaving the shutter speed set. However, if you do have a way to plug the strobe into the camera to use the TTL function, set the strobe to fire at Full power--the camera and strobe will communicate so that the strobe fires only as long as necessary for the lighting conditions.
I have just ordered an XZ-1 with housing and will have it at the end of the month. Until then, I'm still shooting with my G11.
General tips:
1) Set your ISO to a very low setting--I leave mine at 80. This reduces the digital noise that appears in underwater photos, especially in the darker parts of the image.
2) Use f8.0 for macro shots and f5.6 for wide angle and adjust your shutter speed within those apertures to get the right amount of light into the lens.
3) Shoot up to get more light in, and if you are not using a strobe, be careful to use the diffuser with the internal flash, and cover it with duct tape if you are using a strobe.
4) Watch the light meter readings and dial up/down the shutter speed until it's at -1.7 to -2.0 when shooting wide angle landscape shots that you want blue water backgrounds for. This gives you the best blue without the water looking light or dark gray.
5) If you are not using a strobe, adjust your White Balance manually for best color with the least need to do a lot of digital darkroom work. If you are using a strobe, set your WB to Auto.
6) If you are using a strobe with a fibre-optic cable that is triggered by the internal flash, you need to set your internal flash to fire with every shot. IIRC, the "slow sync" setting is the one you want.
Strobe specific questions--I don't use the Sea and Sea strobe, so I'm less familiar with it than I am some other brands, and maybe another person who actually uses the S&S strobe can correct/add to my understanding of how it works with non S&S cameras. But since you have an Oly camera with a S&S strobe, you may not be able to plug the TTL cable into the camera itself (at least not without a converter), so you may have to sync it with the internal flash instead. If that's indeed the case, you don't want to set anything on TTL since the strobe won't be getting any information from the camera's computer regarding the light entering through the lens (TTL means "through the lens"). Instead, you can either set it to some fraction of full power and leave it there, changing shutter speeds to adjust the amount of light entering the shutter, or you can use the manual power settings and dial up or down while leaving the shutter speed set. However, if you do have a way to plug the strobe into the camera to use the TTL function, set the strobe to fire at Full power--the camera and strobe will communicate so that the strobe fires only as long as necessary for the lighting conditions.
I have just ordered an XZ-1 with housing and will have it at the end of the month. Until then, I'm still shooting with my G11.
