S90 - Presume I am an Idiot

[medic5]

OK, so I know that to take a picture you point the lens at the subject and then push the button. I also know that there are lots and lots of buttons, knobs and setting on the camera all of which I never use. I have heard of an F-stop but in my vocabulary that is what I use when a police officer pulls me over after I have driven through a stop sign.

I am going to French Polynesia next month and would really like to get some good pictures while snorkeling and diving. The S90 with either the Canon or Ikelite housing has been recommended to me. My goal would be to have half a dozen great shots that I can enlarge for my office wall while not breaking the bank. Some have suggested that the plain jane S90 and Canon housing, without any additonal lens or strobe will work fine.

I have looked at this site extensively and there are many posts with recommended settings for the camera. A lot of this presumes that I know what an F-stop is, what white balance means (is this racist?), etc. I do not.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Kukuisa]

Medic,

Maybe you can start by reading the Guide to Underwater Photography. When done you're almost an expert.
Underwater Photography Guide
and start at the chapter "Beginner's Guide"

Hope this helps,

K.

 

[HerraduraDivers]

Medic5,
you are not a idiot, just lack of photographic knowledge.
Read the articles posted above, buy a generic book about photography and maybe one about underwater photography.
Takeing pictures under water often pushes modern cameras on their limit and they may not work very well as on land using automatic settings.

Without the proper knowledge of basics of photography you may take some nice photos, but if you encounter difficoult conditions you get stuck and don't know why.

A lot of us are photographing for a very long time (almost 40 years in my case), spent days and nights in the dark room to develop films and paper copys, so we have a quite deep knowlege of how things work.
But don't get frustrated, the basics to know are not soo much and you will learn how to use your camera quick. A good thing to practice is doing a lot of "dives" in the pool to try out the different settings, how they work together and how you obtain the best results.

Chris

 

[Nemrod]

I would get a more simple camera or just set the S90 to Program and let it do the walking and talking. You just aim and push the big button.

N

 

[scottfiji]

Medic,
I created a page based on your request, I hope this helps - it goes over f-stop, white balance, etc.

Camera basics

Let me know if some things still aren't clear

 

[HerraduraDivers]

Excellent write-up Scott!

 

[medic5]

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Puffer Fish]

medic5,

Knowing what something means and being able to effectively use it takes some dedication and practice.

From someone that both teaches photography and has taken a few, I would suggest you just put one in program or auto or some simple format and let the camera do it's thing (Nemrod's excellent suggestion).

If you don't like what you see, and want to learn, then expect it to take some time and practice. If you like what you get...excellent.

 

[Nemrod]

Don't put it in Auto, use Program or Av. N