TG 4 and shutter speed

[bluespotted]

Hello world,

I got to test my new TG4 in the poorly lit, 10 meters tube of the local indoor dive center and I was really disappointed. I tried the 2 underwater modes but both of them only gave me totally blurred shots. Not a big surprise, because the camera used a shutter speed of about 1/20 to 1/40.

Ok, so I took the camera to the indoor swimming pool (swimming down to 4 m, taking pics in poor light) and tried again. It seems that the 2 dedicated underwater modes are totally useless. The only way to get a sharp image in low light conditions was by forcing "high ISO" in P mode and picking the fish for my white balance. For reasons totally beyond me, this camera doesn't let you set the shutter speed manually. And you need at least 1/200 to get a sharp image when things are moving ...

Does that mean I will need a light setup to get decent shots out of this camera? How you do manage shutter speed with your TG4?

 

[Skeptic14]

Did you use macro, uw1 or uw2?

The TG-4 has a very small sensor so low light conditions will challenge it. I don't mess with the iso, in fact I think you want to keep the iso as low as possible so you don't introduce noise. I don't think it's uncommon that a compact doesn't give you full manual options, but yeh, TG-4 only allows aperture priority to my knowledge, not shutter speed. I typically use the uw1 and macro.

I use a ys-03 (except snorkeling) and that makes a difference in deeper lower light scenarios. That said, @deeper thoughts uses a tg-4 setup without strobes I believe in the keys and produces great shots. My wife uses a tg-3 without strobes and has gotten some great stuff as well at medium depths (30-40 ft).

Here's a few results at differing shutter speeds:

f/6.3 iso200 1/200
[url=https://flic.kr/p/PpoKw6][/URL]
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/PpoKw.../photos/skeptic14/]Skeptic14[/url], on Flickr
f/4.5 iso200 1/100
[url=https://flic.kr/p/KrQ1TY][/URL]

f/3.5 iso200 1/80
[url=https://flic.kr/p/NVUxVE][/URL]
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/NVUxV.../photos/skeptic14/]Skeptic14[/url], on Flickr
f/3.5 is200 1/60
[url=https://flic.kr/p/KJhJkd][/URL]


If you are new to UW photography, there are a couple things that will improve your results dramatically even if you aren't using high end gear. Get closer, took me a while to learn this, you need to be within 1-2 feet. Shoot up, shooting down hurts the lighting and composition. And good buoyancy is crucial, you need to be really still so you aren't multiplying the motion of the subject with your own movement.

 

[fmerkel]

It's an extra expense, and more trouble, but, get a strobe. It's ALL about lighting. Yeah, you can dink with settings and carry around a strong focus/hand held light, but you'll get better, and more reliable shots sooner with a strobe.
You need light. When the camera can't get enough, you get poor pictures.

Suck it up, get a strobe. I really didn't want to go there either. The first outing with a strobe my successful shots went up like 10x, plus I could take shots I simply could not manage without the strobe. That opens up a lot of opportunities.

 

[bluespotted]

@Skeptic14 These are great. Did you use flash or a strobe with these? Could you show me a couple of shots that were taken without any extra light? Also: At what depth did you take these? And which housing do you use? Still need to get one ........ Yeah, it looks like at some point I will have to fork out more $$$ and get a light too.

 

[fmerkel]

My wife dove for years with a PnS compact (Nikon 5000). It took pretty good pictures, when it took pictures. It had serious problems focusing without a lot of light.
I used to be her 'light man' with a 30A incandescent, which helped a lot. That was , before I took up a camera. She was pretty much limited to macro with that setup. Without my help her success rate went way down. Saying that, over years and several thousand pictures she got some really nice ones.

Now she uses a 4/3 Olympus and a strobe. Recently she borrowed my DS-1 (top $600 Sea and Sea), and promptly went out and replaced her YS-02 since it was a better strobe and improved her lighting even more. She does refuse to carry 2 strobes even though she has 2 now. She primarily does do macro.

You can do it without a strobe, you'll just be handicapped and frustrated. Get a strobe, be frustrated in a whole different way.

 

[Skeptic14]

@bluespotted Thanks.

The first shot (octopus) was about 15ft depth and with my ys-03 strobe firing and about 1 foot away from subject.
The second shot (toadfish) was about 50ft depth with ys-03 strobe firing and about 2 feet away from subject.
The third shot (reef scene) was about 80ft depth with ys-03 firing and using my uwl-04 fisheye lens and about 2 feet away.
The fourth shot (loggerhead) was about 50ft depth with ys-03 firing and my fisheye lens again and about 2 feet away.

f/3.2 iso100 1/200


That's my wife's shot with her tg-3 no light source, flash off, uw1 mode I believe at about 18ft depth.

f/2.8 iso100 1/100

Another of my wife's tg-3 no light source at about 20ft depth.

f/2.8 iso100 1/500

Tg-3, no light source about 40ft depth.

I'm using the pt-056 housing from olympus.

 

[Skeptic14]

I dug up another good example of with and without using a strobe.

Where I dive locally on good days visibility can approach 50 feet but average days can be 20 feet or less and it can swing quickly. There also can be a lot of particulate in the water so I sometimes depending on the shot I'll take one with the strobe firing and than without.

Also, my local diving is pretty deep, a lot of the good sites are greater than 75 feet, there are few places to dive in the 40-50 feet depth locally where you can still get away without using a light source.

I think physics tells us that at 33 feet of depth most visible light has been absorbed (especially reds), and from my experience this seems pretty accurate. My wife has gotten some decent shots approaching 40 feet without a strobe but things are getting pretty blue/green at that point and the underwater modes can't work their magic as much anymore; the sensor has to have light. Of course in better water/visibility it'll be better than worse visibility.

Anyway, these two shots were at around 65 feet, tg-4, ys-03 and uwl-04. First one with the ys-03 firing, second one it's off. Both shots were basically the same angle/proximity, probably 1-2 feet away at most.

f/3.5 iso200 1/80


f/3.5 iso800 1/80


The camera in uw1 mode turned up the iso since there wasn't any light and well...

There are always caveats, but lighting is very important for uw photography. In good water and great proximity and shallower depths ambient or the internal flash might work but an external strobe really makes a difference from my experience.

 

[diveallthetime]

Skeptic 14, Thanks for the great info. Just got at the tg-4 with pt-056 housing.

I have a tray and video light with articulating arm. No strobe yet.

Question do you use a red filter? I did get one when i purchased the housing. Will be using for first time in Belize in a few weeks.

 

[Skeptic14]

@diveallthetime I don't use any filters since I use a strobe.

Did you get multiple filters or just one? Did it give an approximate optimal depth for the filter?

If your dives are shallow the filter + uw modes/white balancing may work really well, but I'd be interested to see how it works at deeper depths in low light.