S95 pictures

[Interceptor121]

As you rely on it you need to know your enemy
Canon metering is source of frustration even for DSLR users
Obviously once you are in manual that becomes more a guideline

 

[lenny26]

This is the first canon camera I own
Been a nikon dslr shooter all my life.
Anyhow, the big question is, I wanna kill 2 birds with one stone here, I wanna be able to shoot video and photos on the same dive, should I get the strobe and forget about decent video or I can get a more powerful video light and see if I can get away with using that for both?

 

[Interceptor121]

My opinion? If you want to lit your subject you need two video lights for anything that is not macro

I have given up on that idea and I use a filter, with a flat lens and 100 degrees in my view you have all you need. Without a filter you will need to white balance (actually you need to do that with a filter too)
Personally I would not buy anything just yet except a push up red filter and see what results you get

 

[maria munn]

Hi there,

I've always used Aperture Priority when using my Canon S95 with my wide angle lens and have always loved it. Keeps things nice and simple for a beginner and even for me having been shooting for 10 years now with compacts.

If you don't have an external flash, then using the camera's manual white balance for reef scenes works really well. Choose an ISO of 100 if you have a wide angle lens, as the lens itself will let in some light. I would choose an aperture of f5.6 for reef scenes, or an aperture of f8 when using a wa lens in shallower water or where there is a lot of light.

With an external strobe, I would choose a lower ISO of 80 or 100 and again a small aperture of f5.6 or f8 depending on the available light and time of day that the photo is taken.

This attached photo was taken with a simple Canon Ixus 980 (called Ixus 990 in the States). I used the camera's macro button which changed the aperture to f8 whilst in forced flash mode and then chose an EV of minus 2. This helped to reduce the sunburst behind the reef scene.

Hope that this helps a bit. At the end of the day, whether you are on Programme Mode, AV, TV or Manual mode it is all about having fun and enjoying the dive. Even in Underwater Mode I've produced some award-winning shots! The important thing is to come back with photos that you like

Maria

PS Personal Tips for your Compact Camera set-up as well as my book especially for Compact Camera Users are available on my website at http://www.oceanvisions.co.uk

 

[Interceptor121]

This attached photo was taken with a simple Canon Ixus 980 (called Ixus 990 in the States). I used the camera's macro button which changed the aperture to f8 whilst in forced flash mode and then chose an EV of minus 2. This helped to reduce the sunburst behind the reef scene.

The Ixus 980 does not have an IRIS and therefore has no aperture control. The F8 is not real the camera always shoots at fixed F2.8; when you click the aperture button the camera uses a Neutral Density filter that takes -3 F-Stops from the picture.
Again this is just a filter, the depth of field or anything else are not affected, the ND filter is taking away the excessive luminance.
The EV of -2 with forced flash also does nothing at all to the shot when you use forced flash, in fact the Ixus 980 shoots pretty much always at 1/60.

The canon S95 of the op instead does have an IRIS and offers real aperture control however using the internal flash effectively disables the exposure compensation. You can set to +2 or -2 in aperture priority the camera will still shoot at 1/60 in most cases. So your suggestion of EV+forced flash to change the brightness will not do anything.

However the op is using a video light not a strobe and has the flash set to off. In his case the exposure compensation will work fine, the camera will start bracketing the shutter speed as the EV compensation is changed

One thing is enthusiasm the other is incorrect information

Technology is wonderful and people can take decent (but not great) pictures knowing very little about the underlying principles that operate the camera and get away with it however it is never good to disseminate incorrect information

 

[maria munn]

Interesting points Interceptor - I'm a little disappointed at your comment "One thing is enthusiasm the other is incorrect information" - I don't feel that it is necessary to make this comment.

At the end of the day I am only trying to help - yes the knowledge for technology is great and I wish that I knew as much as you do, but I meet a lot of people who are just trying to get to grips with the basics without being overloaded at the start. They simply want to take nice photos in an easy-to-understand way which is what I've always strived to do.

I remember writing for Peter Rowlands' UWP Magazine a few years ago giving exactly the same information as the above and never received any complaints. I've also contributed to Amateur Photographer, Wanderlust UK Magazine, Sport Diver UK amongst others and also helped ReefPhoto, Nauticam US as well as DivePhotoGuide. My work earned me a DIVER Magazine award last year and have a distinction from the Royal Photographic Society for my photographs. Wetpixel have also commended my work when they reviewed my book.

I don't really need to say the last paragraph, I'm always shy of what I have done over the years, but I've never been accused of giving incorrect information before Interceptor .

Some people like me just like to learn underwater photography in a simple way when they are starting out and that is what I have loved doing the past 7 years teaching on a weekly basis

All the best,

maria

 

[Interceptor121]

Maria
I have had the Ixus 980 and I have an S95 I know what those devices can or cannot do
What other magazines write or not is not my issue I am not making any comments here what I have presented are facts as I have tested it myself.
What I say can be easily checked by reading the camera specs and doing tests in your living room, you don't even need to put the camera in the housing and dive to understand what the camera does or doesn't and can or cannot do.
I am sure there are a lot of people that benefit from your books and your sessions and they are happy with the results you definitely are the kind of person that people are not afraid to ask and that is a good thing
Still the recommendation you put in this specific post yield no outcome for the specific i have commented. The same results can be achieved by someone shooting in auto.

PS when you mention the macro button on the Ixus 980 I am sure you meant to say the minus button with the camera in M mode. The macro button does nothing to the aperture. In fact it does not show in your capture of iphoto. I can see that the camera said F8 but means nothing that camera has no IRIS as I said already. Also I notice it has 1/80 as the camera is 36mm equivalent has to choose between 1/60 and 1/70 as 1/70 does not exist it chooses 1/80/. -2 EV on the display means absolutely nothing. That diagram only shows how you set the commands

 

[Layla]

@ Interceptor

I'm am absoutlely blown away by your knowledge on camera settings and how the camera works
Sometimes I read your posts and think I am reading an alien language as my understanding is pretty much zero in comparision

You have used all types of equipment, some I have never heard of
I can't imagine what your house looks like, do you have a dedicated room for all your photography items

How did you get so verse with photogrpahy and the theory?

 

[Interceptor121]

I read books and did wrong purchases because of the errors in them
After that I started experimenting
It doesn't take an engineer you just have to master three or four basic concepts and then is down to practice
Unfortunately most people do little effort of their own and pretend to get best results

 

[Layla]

Thanks IC

Is there a book you recommend over the others, or maybe you should try publishing your own
you seem to have so much knowledge

Do you have all the kit you talk about?