Taking my Canon 550D to underwater !

[Ashlyak]

Hello All,

I have a Canon 550D with 18-200, 50 mm (1.8) and 40mm (2.8) lenses. Now, I am planing to try them under water. I am quite comfortable taking pic in Manual mode. The area where I dive, the max visibility is around 5 to 8 meters.


My questions are :

1) Which of these lenses would give me the best results?
2) If you think any other lenses would give me better results, (like a 100mm macro or a fish eye... etc) i can take them on rent. What do you suggest ?
3) I am getting confusing inputs on using a filter. Am not good in post processing, however, I think shooting in RAW will rescue my pics..am I right ?

Thank you !

 

[Ran Mozaik]

Hey there,

1) Those lenses are not very recommended for underwater. The 50mm might be ok for macro with a quality extension tube. I tried it our once and got pretty good results.
2) You would be much better off with an ultra-wide/fisheye such as the Sigma 10-20/Tokina 10-17/Canon 10-18. For macro the Canon 60mm and 100mm are recommended.
3) Filters are nice for video, but for quality stills either shoot RAW or get a strobe (and still shoot RAW )
A strobe is the most important piece of gear you can get for underwater stills. Especially if viz is low as you said.

Be prepared to spend $2000-$2500 on housing, port and strobe. If that is above your budget, get a good compact with housing such as the G16.

 

[danvolker]

Hello All,

I have a Canon 550D with 18-200, 50 mm (1.8) and 40mm (2.8) lenses. Now, I am planing to try them under water. I am quite comfortable taking pic in Manual mode. The area where I dive, the max visibility is around 5 to 8 meters.


My questions are :

1) Which of these lenses would give me the best results?
2) If you think any other lenses would give me better results, (like a 100mm macro or a fish eye... etc) i can take them on rent. What do you suggest ?
3) I am getting confusing inputs on using a filter. Am not good in post processing, however, I think shooting in RAW will rescue my pics..am I right ?

Thank you !

Your easiest /cheapest way in to the water with this, is for video as primary purpose.
As Ran said. you really want a different lens than any you have, and for video, the fisheye is probably your best bet. You want a fast lens that lets as much light in as possible, and if you don't want to spend another thousand to 2 thousand on lights, then video is your answer.

I do have a video light set up, but recently I have been experimenting with video --- with only ambient light....using post processing to handle the detail in the light spectrum....

Shot with a canon 5 d mark II and canon 16 to 35 mm lens ( its a fast 2.4 lens---lets lots of light in) ....no lights, and depth varries from around 115 feet deep when I am on the bottom shooting up at the ship, and then 80 feet flying up to about 40 feet while trying to shoot a big Manta Ray. Another great thing about A WIDE ANGLE lens like this, is a huge depth of field, meaning it stays in focus even with a large change in distance between subjects in the same shot...
[video=youtube_share;qHFkQrPtlJM]http://youtu.be/qHFkQrPtlJM?list=UUsM5Za9Kc3DbP7Qo3-Zmz9w[/video]

I used Cineform Neoscene in 4-4-4 color space, for the dramatic increase in apparent light you see in the4 video.....without the correction, it was very flat, undersaturated, and dark.

 

[LowVizWiz]

My questions are :

1) Which of these lenses would give me the best results?
2) If you think any other lenses would give me better results, (like a 100mm macro or a fish eye... etc) i can take them on rent. What do you suggest ?
3) I am getting confusing inputs on using a filter. Am not good in post processing, however, I think shooting in RAW will rescue my pics..am I right ?

Thank you !

Hello Ashlyak!

I shoot with a 650D and a Tokina 10-17 and the combination is fantastic. I then added the Canon 100mm 2.8 Lens and shooting RAW goes without saying.
The problem with the lenses you have is that you will have to rig ports, extenders and gears to try to use them underwater. You will spend a small fortune trying to do this and they will not give you the best results.

I suggest looking at the housing you're planning on buying then looking at the ports, zoom focus gears and lenses supported by that housing.

Check out these pages so you get a sense of what is available for the 550D, 650D and 700D cameras:

http://www.nauticam.com/images/attach/dslr_port_system_chart.pdf
http://www.ikelite.com/images/products/housings/general/dslr-port-charts.pdf
SEA&SEA

Here are a couple of recent samples from my set up:
Yes it's a shameless plug

 

[Ashlyak]

Hey there,

1) Those lenses are not very recommended for underwater. The 50mm might be ok for macro with a quality extension tube. I tried it our once and got pretty good results.
2) You would be much better off with an ultra-wide/fisheye such as the Sigma 10-20/Tokina 10-17/Canon 10-18. For macro the Canon 60mm and 100mm are recommended.
3) Filters are nice for video, but for quality stills either shoot RAW or get a strobe (and still shoot RAW )
A strobe is the most important piece of gear you can get for underwater stills. Especially if viz is low as you said.

Be prepared to spend $2000-$2500 on housing, port and strobe. If that is above your budget, get a good compact with housing such as the G16.

Thank you !!! Since I have limited options (ie : strobe is out of question ! etc ), i think I will glue to Canon 10-18 or Sigma 10-20. Will keep you updated !

---------- Post added October 28th, 2014 at 10:35 AM ----------

Your easiest /cheapest way in to the water with this, is for video as primary purpose.
As Ran said. you really want a different lens than any you have, and for video, the fisheye is probably your best bet. You want a fast lens that lets as much light in as possible, and if you don't want to spend another thousand to 2 thousand on lights, then video is your answer.

I do have a video light set up, but recently I have been experimenting with video --- with only ambient light....using post processing to handle the detail in the light spectrum....

Shot with a canon 5 d mark II and canon 16 to 35 mm lens ( its a fast 2.4 lens---lets lots of light in) ....no lights, and depth varries from around 115 feet deep when I am on the bottom shooting up at the ship, and then 80 feet flying up to about 40 feet while trying to shoot a big Manta Ray. Another great thing about A WIDE ANGLE lens like this, is a huge depth of field, meaning it stays in focus even with a large change in distance between subjects in the same shot...
[video=youtube_share;qHFkQrPtlJM]http://youtu.be/qHFkQrPtlJM?list=UUsM5Za9Kc3DbP7Qo3-Zmz9w[/video]

I used Cineform Neoscene in 4-4-4 color space, for the dramatic increase in apparent light you see in the4 video.....without the correction, it was very flat, undersaturated, and dark.

Thanks a lot for sharing the video ! 5d mark II with a 2.8 !! aahh..that is dream configuration ! Thanks for the inputs, will keep you updated !

---------- Post added October 28th, 2014 at 10:37 AM ----------

Hello Ashlyak!

I shoot with a 650D and a Tokina 10-17 and the combination is fantastic. I then added the Canon 100mm 2.8 Lens and shooting RAW goes without saying.
The problem with the lenses you have is that you will have to rig ports, extenders and gears to try to use them underwater. You will spend a small fortune trying to do this and they will not give you the best results.

I suggest looking at the housing you're planning on buying then looking at the ports, zoom focus gears and lenses supported by that housing.

Check out these pages so you get a sense of what is available for the 550D, 650D and 700D cameras:

http://www.nauticam.com/images/attach/dslr_port_system_chart.pdf
http://www.ikelite.com/images/products/housings/general/dslr-port-charts.pdf
SEA&SEA

Here are a couple of recent samples from my set up:
Yes it's a shameless plug

View attachment 196131View attachment 196132

Fabulous pics ! LOVED them ! I can't wait to jump in to water and click !

Thanks for the inputs. I am considering 100mm as well. Need to test that first. Thanks again, and will keep you updated.

 

[darook]

If you only have a few bucks use the 18-55mm kit lens, I got some great shots with it and you can move from WA to macro with it. It is better than what you have. Telephoto underwater is not the way to go. Too much blue and junk in the water to get good shots. A strobe like an Inon S-2000 will allow you to do TTL metering and produce impeccable shots as you see above. Next up get the Tokina 10-17, unbelievable lens. After you have those get the macro lens, EF-S60 mm. I have a 100mm L Macro but underwater prefer the 60. I use the 100mm topside more for people than nature.