UK Cannon 100 for UW pics...?

[Scuba-Quebec]

Hi everybody!

I'm new on this forum wich I found amazing!

I have a canon A60 with the wp case and since I've read all kind of message over here...it looks like that an external flash is quite necessary for taking good uw pics.. But I've heard that putting a UK Cannon 100 dive HID light on the arm of the wp case could be a good option for taking good colorful pics because of it's intensity....the same way that they do for uw videography. I know that a fitting adaptor already exist to mount the light on any arms...I could have a dive light at the same time..!!

Since I'm a very beginner in uw pics...I would like your opinions about it..

Thanks

 

[SimonJ]

Hi Scuba-Quebec,

Personally I would go for a strobe and not a dive torch. When I first started taking pics u/w, I used a UK DR4 to add light u/w but have now bought a strobe and the difference is enormous. The issue with the torch is not so much the intensity, but that they create hotspots of colour within the picture. Here is an example from earlier this year.

One of the pieces of advice that I picked up from here, was to buy a small torch, such as the UK Mini Q40, and attach it to the bottom of the camera. I tried this recently on a night dive, and it worked great, I had no need for another torch.

Hope this helps.

Simon

 

[Gilligan]

I don't use either at this point and don't plan to. The internal strobes on the digital cameras are quite powerful so long as you stay within 3 or 4 feet of your subject. Having said that, the Light Canon should come with a diffuser to eliminate hot spots but it can't compare to the light from a strobe on still photos. Turning that Light Canon on and off during a dive to take pictures can be quite an inconvenience. One of the things I have learned as an amateur underwater photographer with my digital camera is to use the manual settings for taking pictures. The quality of the pictures is greatly enchanced.