Question TG-7 - What all do I need?

[Cisco_Pug]

Hello all! I am in need of advice.

Background: My husband and I dive 2-4 times a year. Diving=photography for me. For the past 2 years, I have used the SeaLife Micro 3.0. It has given me since great pictures and videos. It's time to step it up though.

I still enjoy taking pictures of big stuff, but recently, the macro stuff has become my jam. I love hunting for the blennies, etc.

I've been doing a lot of research over The last few months and it's honestly overwhelming. Since there are no actual brick and mortar shops to go in and actually talk to someone, it's even more difficult. I don't know much about photography with ISO, F-stops, etc.

I am leaning most toward the TG-7. So, obviously I need the camera body and housing, tray and strobe. I am looking at the RCI TTL converter to get the right exposure with the strobes (from review on Underwater Photography Guide). Is this an actual useful piece of equipment?

What else do I need to have to begin?
I know i need fiberoptic cables - which kind are the best?
Is there a big difference in housings? Do any allow wet lenses that I can change on the fly underwater?
Is 1 strobe enough or do I need 2? Can I do a light on one side and a strobe on the other? Any specific brand of strobes that stand out over others?
Any other helpful advice?

Thank you for any help anyone has to offer!

 

[js1221]

Welcome to the rabbit hole. Starting off, any basic photography book/youtube video/class can teach you about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, white balance etc. It does not need to be underwater specific either, you just want a basic understanding of what they are and what they do for you.

Getting into equipment is a lot like buying a new vehicle, it's about what do you want it to do and how much do you want to spend. Personally, I like the Olympus housing for the TG series cameras. It is a quality housing, that lets you use strobes, wet lenses etc and is affordable.

Strobes are determined by your needs. If you are plan is to focus on macro, then something like the Backscatter MF-2 might be what you want. It is designed for the Olympus cameras, utilizing the camera's RC function, and therefore no converter is required for TTL. With macro, you can use a single strobe and get outstanding pictures. If you want wide angle, then you might want to larger strobe but normally you'll want two of them.

For optical cables, I recommend ones that have 613 core because they allow better light transmission. As far as make, I get mine from Amazon and they have always worked fine but YMMV.

The Olympus housing allows for the use of wet lenses. There is the M52 Air Lens which provided 81 degrees of view, the M52 Wide angle lens which provides 120 degrees of view. I had the M52 Air Lens and left it on all the time. It gave me a wider field of view and still allowed me to shoot macro. If you want to use a true wide angle lens, you can just screw it off and on as you need to but it is a large lens to carry around if it is not on the camera.

You can use a single strobe and a video light, especially for macro.

If haven't already, check out Backscatter.com. They have a lot of videos about the TG series and are a great learning tool. You can also call them, or call the folks at Reef Photo and they will be glad to help you out.

My focus here was on Olympus because it's what I know. There are other great systems out there, like Nauticam, Ikelite, Fantasea, that will work for you too but I haven't used them enough to provide an informed opinion.

 

[Cisco_Pug]

Welcome to the rabbit hole. Starting off, any basic photography book/youtube video/class can teach you about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, white balance etc. It does not need to be underwater specific either, you just want a basic understanding of what they are and what they do for you.

Getting into equipment is a lot like buying a new vehicle, it's about what do you want it to do and how much do you want to spend. Personally, I like the Olympus housing for the TG series cameras. It is a quality housing, that lets you use strobes, wet lenses etc and is affordable.

Strobes are determined by your needs. If you are plan is to focus on macro, then something like the Backscatter MF-2 might be what you want. It is designed for the Olympus cameras, utilizing the camera's RC function, and therefore no converter is required for TTL. With macro, you can use a single strobe and get outstanding pictures. If you want wide angle, then you might want to larger strobe but normally you'll want two of them.

For optical cables, I recommend ones that have 613 core because they allow better light transmission. As far as make, I get mine from Amazon and they have always worked fine but YMMV.

The Olympus housing allows for the use of wet lenses. There is the M52 Air Lens which provided 81 degrees of view, the M52 Wide angle lens which provides 120 degrees of view. I had the M52 Air Lens and left it on all the time. It gave me a wider field of view and still allowed me to shoot macro. If you want to use a true wide angle lens, you can just screw it off and on as you need to but it is a large lens to carry around if it is not on the camera.

You can use a single strobe and a video light, especially for macro.

If haven't already, check out Backscatter.com. They have a lot of videos about the TG series and are a great learning tool. You can also call them, or call the folks at Reef Photo and they will be glad to help you out.

My focus here was on Olympus because it's what I know. There are other great systems out there, like Nauticam, Ikelite, Fantasea, that will work for you too but I haven't used them enough to provide an informed opinion.

Thank you so much for all the great info. I did just order "The Underwater Photographer" by Martin Edge, as it has been repeatedly recommended. I will check out the videos on Backscatter.com. I appreciate the advice that I can call them too. Sometimes it's nice to just talk to someone

 

[Edward3c]

Hi, I use a TG6 in its housing.

Although I have two lights on a tray, I just use the camera and housing as a point and shoot. The faff of taking the setup was distracted to much from the diving.

Although, the TGs can do video it eats through the battery. So I tend to stick to stills. Some shots are on my FB page.