Stylus 400 white balance

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TravelDave

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How do I adjust the white balance on the Stylus 400 for UW shooting, assuming I decide not to get a filter? Will I get better results with a filter or adjusting WB?

Dave
 
TravelDave:
How do I adjust the white balance on the Stylus 400 for UW shooting, assuming I decide not to get a filter? Will I get better results with a filter or adjusting WB?
As Leesa notes, the 400 doesn't have a manual WB function. I tried a Red 25B filter with a Stylus 400 and 410, but didn't have much success. Although it brought the red channel up compared to blue and green, it cut out so much light that the camera couldn't autofocus on a lot of shots, and on the ones that it did, the shutter times were so long that camera shake and subject movement became a problem. I only used the filter for 2 or 3 dives before giving up.

There are other filters out there, such as the Magic Filter, that may work better, but I haven't gotten around to trying them out. It looks like the Magic Filter doesn't block as much of the blue and green, so the autofocus and long shutter time problems wouldn't be as severe as with the pure red 25A filter.

The only real alternative is using a program like Photoshop to adjust color cast after the fact. Not an ideal situation, since you have so little red channel info to start with that it adds color noise and banding to the photos, but it's the best solution. The shots in my gallery are all either Stylus 400 or the very similar Stylus 410, both in the PT-016 housing.
 
If you are looking to take natural light pics with the Stylus 400, then get an Auto Magic Filter this is a filter designed for use with cameras that have no manual white balance adjustment. I have used them extensively and have had great results in depths up to 18 metres in clear conditions, the colours are very natural. Read the instructions carefully as post editing is quite important.
 

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