Slr??

[TTT]

Do many people here use an SLR camera? I have a Canon Elan 7 and am an avid photographer top side. Now that I am certified I want to start some underwater photography. Do many people use SLRs under water? Where can I find a housing? Also what kind of techniques in regards to shutter speeds, and f-stops will have to change under water? Speed of film?

Thank you everyone!

cheers

Tommy

 

[James connell]

many use SLRs underwater.
check ikelite.com for a housing.
the basic rules of photography apply, add this one - when yopu think you're close enough, get closer.
same film speeds you'd use for a given light on the surface.

once your bouyancy skills are good you can get away with 1 stop less shutter hand held than on the surface.

 

[TheAvatar]

tons of people use SLRs underwater. they are the ultimate for quality if you do things right.

I would add to James' comments that most people use slide flim underwater because of its saturation. You also need a flash if you want more colors than blue (maybe you just want a monochromatic image). James would tell you that you would want to use filters as well though most people don't use filters u/w. B&W is another UW option.

I use an Elan IIe underwater with an EWA Marine hosuing. You can also look at Subal housings.

UW you generally want wide angle lenses (14-35mm) unless you are doing macro.

 

[TTT]

Hi there James and Avatar, thank you very much for your replys.

Just a few questions, for using regular film, what speed do you guys use? Also, I am not very familiar with slide film..does it develop the same?

Avatar that is the same camera I have, the Canon elan IIe How do you like your housing? What size lense would you want for macro? Also, I assume you can't chage lenses under water to go from macro to non macro....?

thanks guys!

Tommy

 

[James connell]

slide film is a different prosses than print.
you are correct - you can't change lenses under water( but than neither can a nikonos) but a short range zoom gives a lot of flexability. if you are 'really' taking photographs as instead of snapshots that doesn't matter - you shoot the subjects that fit lens you have then come back with a different lens for the other stuff .
one thing we both left out is lens lenght - anything over ~ 80mm is pretty much useless under water ( the exception is in macro work were a 1/1 105mm is a good lens). the problem is a lens has to fit the port you use.

 

[bdombrowski]

My experience with SLRs u/w

I've been using a Nikon N90S in an Ikelite SLR housing for 4 years now. The 60mm and 105mm are great macro lenses. The 20mm is wonderful for wide-angle and has a field of view equivilent to a very-expensive 15mm Nikonos amphibious lens. That's a big advantage of using top-side lenses in housings with dome ports.

I also have a 28-105mm zoom lens that allows flexibility of shooting a range of medium-wide-angle and macro on the same dive. The short coming of this lense on the macro end is it can't do 1:1 reproductions like the 60mm and 105mm lenses can.

I'm happy with all the control over the camera's functions you get using the Ikelite housing. The drawback is you need a separate port for each of the lenses mentioned above.

I use Fuji slide film ranging from Provia 100F to Velvia. 100 ISO is the only speed film I use underwater.

Regards,

Brian

 

[TheAvatar]

TTT once bubbled...
Hi there James and Avatar, thank you very much for your replys.

Just a few questions, for using regular film, what speed do you guys use? Also, I am not very familiar with slide film..does it develop the same?

Avatar that is the same camera I have, the Canon elan IIe How do you like your housing? What size lense would you want for macro? Also, I assume you can't chage lenses under water to go from macro to non macro....?

thanks guys!

Tommy

I use a Canon 17-35mm f/2.8 for underwater and a 105mm 1:1 Sigma macro.

My EWA Marine housing is basically a bullet proof plastic bag
It works. It is cheap. It is goot at preventing flooding even if it were to have a hole. Unfortunately it can cause bouyancy problems and controls can sometimes be hard to work through it. You also will have trouble using a strobe that doesnt fit to the your hotshoe with it. I used a 550EX to great effect.

If I was going to use a regular color print film underwater, I would use Agfa Ultra 100 because it has fine grain and super saturated color.