Recommendations for e330 without strobe

[dvleemin]

Hi,
I just got an Ikelite housing for my e330, and in a few days I'm heading to the Mayan Riviera for a week, and Cozumel for 9 days. I do not have a strobe yet for my camera, and will be using the 14-45 lens.

I was hoping I could get some opinions on what settings I should be setting my camera to initially given my setup.

Thanks!

Darryl

 

[jlyle]

Know anyone you can borrow a strobe/arms from?

Shoot at the wide end of the lens.

Use manual focus and preset the focal length to about five feet, for starters.

Use shutter priority (1/100 sec).

Set the EV to -2.0.

You are not going to get much color in you shots - everything is going to be blue. In post processing, you can change the images to black and white.

Do you know anyone you can borrow a strobe/arms from?

 

[rjsimp]

Hi,
I just got an Ikelite housing for my e330, and in a few days I'm heading to the Mayan Riviera for a week, and Cozumel for 9 days. I do not have a strobe yet for my camera, and will be using the 14-45 lens.

I was hoping I could get some opinions on what settings I should be setting my camera to initially given my setup.

Thanks!

Darryl

Yikes! 9 days in cozumel and no strobe. Unfortunately, all the dives there are going to be pretty deep (60' +) and there isn't much natural light at that depth to take good natural light photos. If it was me, I would put a magic filter on the camera and shoot raw. That allows you to white balance in post and still get your nice blues while bringing out some pretty good color.

The settings on the camera will need to be at a higher ISO number than what I would normally use. Maybe ISO 400 would be a good starting point because you need to have a fast enough shutter speed to keep your photos from being blurry. The aperture should be mostly open, but be careful of trying to open it all the way because if you do, the water color will become an ugly cyan.

You'll have to play around with your camera settings because every camera / lens is going to have its settings based on how sensitive it is and its ability to control noise. The number one thing I would do though is get a magic filter and shoot raw. Once you white balance the photos, they will look pretty nice.

 

[dvleemin]

Thanks.

Where can I get a magic filter from?

 

[rjsimp]

Thanks.

Where can I get a magic filter from?

You can get magic filters here.

They will say to white balance your camera, but I have found it much easier to just do it in post while shooting raw. Even though the pictures will look funny when you take them, just focus on composition, light, exposure. Take care of white balance later and it will look good.

Oh.. and I wouldn't use Auto on my white balance setting. that will make your work harder in post. Just pick one like cloudy or something so they are all the same.

 

[dvleemin]

Thanks.

Unfortunately we're leaving on Thursday, so no chance to get it.

Does anyone on Cozumel rent strobes? Ikelite strobes would be even better.

Darryl

 

[rjsimp]

You could get them from Reef Photo.

Have them shipped overnight since they fit in an envelope.

Not sure about the rental of strobes in Cozumel. The camera availability there is limited.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Thanks.

Unfortunately we're leaving on Thursday, so no chance to get it.

Does anyone on Cozumel rent strobes? Ikelite strobes would be even better.

Darryl

Call Reefphoto.com and ask them to overnight you a strobe. Seriously. Even one strobe is fine. The improvement of one strobe over no strobe is critical. By adding another strobe, you will get another noticeable, but less critical, improvement. You will have no fun without strobes. Forget the magic filter and invest the money saved in strobe(s). A magic filter is like fixing a head injury with tylenol when what you really need is surgery. If you think you'll be happy to shoot with available light only, for example, when close to the surface, you could get nice wide angle shots. Don't even bother with macro subjects if you don't have a strobe - it will be a waste of time. Another last-ditch possibility to get by without strobes is shooting wrecks in black and white. Whatever you do, the number one rule when shooting without strobes is wide angle only, and the widest angle possible. Good luck and have fun!

 

[dvleemin]

Thanks Guys,
Unfortunately being from Canada means that there's little if any chance that it would get here by Thurs. Overnight to Canada still has to go through customs.

My own fault for delaying all this ;(

Darryl

 

[rjsimp]

Call Reefphoto.com and ask them to overnight you a strobe. Seriously. Even one strobe is fine. The improvement of one strobe over no strobe is critical. By adding another strobe, you will get another noticeable, but less critical, improvement. You will have no fun without strobes. Forget the magic filter and invest the money saved in strobe(s). A magic filter is like fixing a head injury with tylenol when what you really need is surgery. If you think you'll be happy to shoot with available light only, for example, when close to the surface, you could get nice wide angle shots. Don't even bother with macro subjects if you don't have a strobe - it will be a waste of time. Another last-ditch possibility to get by without strobes is shooting wrecks in black and white. Whatever you do, the number one rule when shooting without strobes is wide angle only, and the widest angle possible. Good luck and have fun!

I TOTALLY disagree about the value of a magic filter. I do agree that strobes are great and should be used if possible especially on macro. However, if budget doesn't allow or if you are trying to get natural light shots, magic filters allow you to get a shot that is just not possible without.

If you haven't shot them before, look at their web site that I posted a link to above. With a comment about them being a bandage, that is just a lack of understanding on what they do and how they work to make photos that aren't possible with strobes. You just have to change your way of thinking and your subject matter in some cases.