I was wondering if anyone can tell me what the best setting is for underwater photography with the Olympus Stylus 300? I live in the Pacific Northwest so I dive in dark, cold waters... Anyone help?
Settings for Olympus Stylus 300
- Thread starter Duncan Campbell
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You're going to want to get close, whatever settings you use if your waters are dark!
If you are only using internal flash, then this is one of those times when you are going to have to figure out which sacrifices you are willing to make as you won't be able to use the same settings as those in clearer water for a lot of shots.
When you are close enough to your subject that your internal flash lights the whole scene, then all the settings you have seen around the forum should be a good starting place: ISO 100ish, f4.5 or higher (I like f8 when I am really close to stuff!) and shutter of 1/100 or higher. REember, all your light is coming from your flash in these shots. This is going to give you the best colour and depth to your photos.
For those shots that are farther away, you are going to need to bump up the ISO to 200 or 400 and/or open up your aperture and/or slow down your shutter speed. Dropping your shutter invites unwated movement and blur; opening your aperture may give your photos a "softer" feel, even if they are in focus; upping the ISO may cause more noise to be visible in your photos.
It's going to be a matter of experimenting (settle in for a test session - shoot the same scene at a variety of settings then compare on the computer...delete nothing underwater!) and finding which settings work best for you!
Please let us know as there are quite a few divers up there - hopefully some will chime in with what they use to get you on the right path!
If you are only using internal flash, then this is one of those times when you are going to have to figure out which sacrifices you are willing to make as you won't be able to use the same settings as those in clearer water for a lot of shots.
When you are close enough to your subject that your internal flash lights the whole scene, then all the settings you have seen around the forum should be a good starting place: ISO 100ish, f4.5 or higher (I like f8 when I am really close to stuff!) and shutter of 1/100 or higher. REember, all your light is coming from your flash in these shots. This is going to give you the best colour and depth to your photos.
For those shots that are farther away, you are going to need to bump up the ISO to 200 or 400 and/or open up your aperture and/or slow down your shutter speed. Dropping your shutter invites unwated movement and blur; opening your aperture may give your photos a "softer" feel, even if they are in focus; upping the ISO may cause more noise to be visible in your photos.
It's going to be a matter of experimenting (settle in for a test session - shoot the same scene at a variety of settings then compare on the computer...delete nothing underwater!) and finding which settings work best for you!
Please let us know as there are quite a few divers up there - hopefully some will chime in with what they use to get you on the right path!
OP
Thanks very much for the informative reply. I will let you know what I find out...
tkring
Guest
I have an Olympus Stylus 400. Just took an underwater course with Tim at Coco View Resort in Honduras. This is what I learned.
We need to decide to do "flash" or "ambient" lighting. You will use flash if you are 3 feet or closer. Otherwise, turn off the flash when shooting your picture - this slows the shutter speed down but your colors will be better. You have to learn to be still when taking these pictures.
Our cameras (at least mine doesn't) do not have a manual white balance so we should use the "cloudy" White Balance setting which will push more red into the picture. Also, there is a red filter that screws onto the housing which helps with the color. You can get this from your local dive shop. For the Stylus 400, I would use a 46MM UW CC UW Pro.
Also, play with your exposure compensation. This can help lighten your pictures.
And of course, when all else fails there is always Photoshop
Hope this helps.
Terri
We need to decide to do "flash" or "ambient" lighting. You will use flash if you are 3 feet or closer. Otherwise, turn off the flash when shooting your picture - this slows the shutter speed down but your colors will be better. You have to learn to be still when taking these pictures.
Our cameras (at least mine doesn't) do not have a manual white balance so we should use the "cloudy" White Balance setting which will push more red into the picture. Also, there is a red filter that screws onto the housing which helps with the color. You can get this from your local dive shop. For the Stylus 400, I would use a 46MM UW CC UW Pro.
Also, play with your exposure compensation. This can help lighten your pictures.
And of course, when all else fails there is always Photoshop
Hope this helps.
Terri
OP
Thanks..that is helpful. I did my first dive with the camera and used the cloudy setting. I got some good shots..but I still need a bit of practice.
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The stylus is a pure point and shoot camera.
No way to change the iso and no manual controls. The only thing you can do is select a mode and have the flash on or off.
Select macro mode for the close up stuff and try the other modes like sport or cloudy for the far away stuff....
No way to change the iso and no manual controls. The only thing you can do is select a mode and have the flash on or off.
Select macro mode for the close up stuff and try the other modes like sport or cloudy for the far away stuff....
scubaskip
Registered
Isn't Tim a great teacher? When I had my point & shoot I set my white balance by shooting at a white slate he sold me. The ambient lght technique worked beautifully.
scubaskip
scubaskip
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