What is a good underwater photography starter kit?

[divenutny]

You should have no trouble finding a camera and UW case that works at 60 feet and beyond. My canon UW case is supposed to be good to 125 ft. I have had it to 110 ft without any issues.

Do not let the digital cameras scare you. They are built to be easy to use. Yes, there are several buttons and menus. Buy one, you will not regret it.

Search thru the SB photo threads. Olympus, Canon and Sony have point and shoot cameras with
UW cases. The Olympus, Canon and Sony cases are cheaper than Ikelite, just not built to go as deep as the Ikelite. I am partial to Canon.

Try to take photos six feet or closer. Photos from longer distances are tough to capture. Check the reviews regarding flash recovery time and picture delay time. The picture delay may be longer underwater as the camera might have a tougher time determining distance, contrast and color. Remember, there is a digital program involved.

Before checking the SB reviews, I would build a list of the available cameras. No reason to read about a camera that is no longer being sold.

Happy Shopping. Tom

 

[divenutny]

Forgot to add - Consider getting a camera that allows you to adjust the white balance. Particularly if you do not plan to use a strobe, basically, use available light. When you learn how to adjust the White Balance, your photos will dramatically improve.

As you go deeper, light is lost. Reds are gone at about 20 feet. By adjusting the white balance for the depth you are at, the camera will add red and other lost colors to the photo. Since you are nervous about menus/buttons, you may not use this initially. Over time, you may want this option. - Tom

 

[bureau13]

Most of the modern digital point&shoot cameras can be very simple to operate...don't be intimidated by them! Just make sure you're comfortable with the camera itself (i.e. on land) before you try to sue it underwater. The last thing you need while 60' under is to be trying to figure out the basics of your camera. This is also the beauty of digital in general...you can do an infinite amount of experimentation essentially for free, with immediate gratification/feedback on your results. Can't get that with film.

jds

 

[Larry C]

Don't even think about film! Most of the digitals that are popular underwater have automatic presets for UW use. My Olympus, for instance, has 3 UW scene settings:
UW wide, UW wide 2, and UW macro. These work quite well in relatively shallow water with good light. When you get used to it, you can start doing manual adjustments, using the information you got by checking your best pictures taken with the presets. Make sure that you don't get an auto only camera, though. In six months, you'll wish you had one with full manual settings. The better you get, the more you'll want to set to your own taste, so...my menu:
Manual aperture settings, manual shutter speed settings, manual and auto presets for white balance, flash settings for internal or slave flash, +/- adjustments for autoflash, presets for underwater photos, a readily available UW housing, a place you can go for advice and service, large enough or plentiful enough batteries to last about 2 hours of continuous shooting, at least. I recommend something with lithium batteries. I've recharged mine constantly for two years with zero problems. My AA rechargeables have leaked in the strobe, failed to fully charge, died within weeks.....and I only buy the best and most reputable type. My camera uses either aa's or CRV3 lithium, so I have a choice.

 

[alcina]

A very important point to remember re: how you feel intimidated -

turn camera on, press shutter. That's ALL there is to shooting digital if you want to go that way. They all have Auto or Program modes that make all of the decisions except pushing the button to actually take the photo. Easy.

I would recommend that you get one that can grow with you, but that could be something as very simple as the SD series - they don't have aperture and shutter controls, but they do have white balance. So not perfect for underwater, but still capable of some very nice photos. Double check that the housing for the model you want is rated for diving, not just snorkelling...they are coded (Canon) with WP if they are OK for diving.

HTH

 

[sharky60]

Thank you, folks. I'll look into the digital cameras, though I'm very intimidate by it. Having enough troubles using it on land, you know. The menus and a buncha buttons. I'm just a certified open water diver, shouldn't be that hard to find a camera system that works around 60 ft. right?

Kind regards

Kris

Don't let digital imtimidate you. It's the same thing, but really much easier once you start using it.

I can't explain it and don't really want to try, but I shoot much better pictures underwater than I do on land using the same digital camera. (Sea & Sea DX5000G)

I shoot in a point-n-shoot mode with pre-set settings underwater most of the time with the only major adjustments being the strobe, focus and macro for the most part.

When your starting off this is the best method, belive me you have your hands full enough just holding the thing still in the current and surge, getting your strobe in the right position and setting, deciding whether to zoom in a little or use "human zoom", (use human zoom by the way), getting that darn focus crosshair to turn geen before you loose your shot and just getting the subject in frame, let alone working on composition. AND doing all this while having enough patience to not scare your subject away but still getting it done before you loose your dive buddy as he swims off down the reef!:11: and that's during the day!

Save the manual mode until you get comfortable with doing the process & study the light in other's photos, it's all about light.

one other point to make about digital is "Photoshop is a wonderful tool!" or whatever photo software you choose to use, (hey poet and don't know it!).

You can take a semi-good pic or even a flat out bad pic and with a little practice you can have a nice photograph.