Underwater Camera

Niall M

Hi there, im looking to buy an underwater camera, any ideas where to purchase and price range. Thanks...:)

mint man

Niall M wrote: »

Hi there, im looking to buy an underwater camera, any ideas where to purchase and price range. Thanks...:)

try camerasunderwater.co.uk
and you can spend massive amounts if you want!
try get something you can set the white balance you self

acmj2007

Thanks for posting this, I was just going to ask the same question!:)

fmcc

now old but have the f31 fuji and housing and very hapy with it. if i had the money to spare a fisheye would be th next buy for it. depends on your camera prowess i point and shoot so it suits me fine. videos not bad either. some pics on my blog here.
http://irelandsocean.blogspot.com/
and the vids are on youtube bar above it.

rabii

you can get one in aldi for 130 to stare with, i have a canon A95 with housing, and i just got the one from aldi for fun it's good enough

Niall M

Hi there, i got a camera and underwater camera for christmas, What now? Heading to Lanzarote in March, going to use it there. Should i be practicing on how to use it etc....Do i need any accesories, ie a flash, etc.

Niall M

http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/d_stills/epok/index.html#ehd800, sorry this is the camera i got if anyone can give advice.

mint man

Niall M wrote: »

Hi there, i got a camera and underwater camera for christmas, What now? Heading to Lanzarote in March, going to use it there. Should i be practicing on how to use it etc....Do i need any accesories, ie a flash, etc.

you could do a padi digital underwater course.
see if the camera can have the white balance set manually , mine cant but supposably it helps to get more colour , if it can be ,you set it on your dive by taking a pic of say a dive slate, basically saying to camera this is white.
make sure you get use to the functions too

tedshredsonfire

Niall not a pro so all i can say is usually dont use the flash as the backscatter is too much and get as close to the subject as you can. the only accesorie i would like is a wet wide angle fish eye lens as it opens the scope a lot more.
Also get rid of the scuba tanks and you will see and get closer to more fish.

stiophan

Start simple- look for a compact with good low light reviews. Massive zoom will be wasted as the case will not accommodate the full zoom. Most makers of compacts sell their own cases. Note the cases are specific to the camera so break the camera and as compacts are changed every 6 mths and the case is useless.
Some come with additional accessories like weights to keep the case from floating away. Avoid touchscreen phones. Buttons work best underwater unless your vision is 20-20 with scuba gear and looking through a mask!

As to preparing for one, get to know the controls (almost blindfolded) try testing with a pair of sunglasses on. Practice at your swimming pool with a small objects . The key is to work on buoyancy. Everyone can get better at keeping perfectly still. As to extras, unless the water is like an aquarium, you will get backscatter from crud in the water so a flash gun is worth looking at later. Some cases and makers offer wideangle lenses to add to the case and since most Pros who show these amazing shots using them, they might be worth the extra later. Make sure you know how to use White balance as this helps alot. The F31 is a good start. I like the Fuji compacts. Good battery life helps also so an extra battery or a compact with normal batteries

joeKel73

I'm no pro but I'll give what advice I can here too...

Cases are quite expensive and there are fewer around... so keep an eye for good deals then get the camera to match later. I got my case on adverts.ie for €40, then picked up the matching camera (Canon a570is) for another €40 on eBay. I'm very happy with the setup for €80, got some photos up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36224551@N04/sets/72157623301040292/detail/

You really want a camera with manual control modes. My previous camera didn't have this and it drove me mad. I always use shutter priority on a dive... set the shutter speed as fast as you can while still letting in light. This will mean opening the aperture as wide as possible to allow in the light, try not to bump up your iso though, it's an easy solution but you'll loose quality in the shots.

Shoot Macro! If you're using compact camera with on-board flash then close up shots are your best bet, use the macro setting - flower icon. The less water (so less suspended particles) between you and the subject the better. Stay zoomed out, and bring the camera right up to what you're shooting - you'll need to approach fish slowly and calmly! A big advantage is having a big diffuser on your flash, this will cut down on harsh shadows and scatter-back. If one doesn't come on the camera you could probably fashion one out of a milk carton.

If you want to shoot wider scenes (camera over say 40cm away from subject) then you really need a slave flash. This will flash when your onboard flash goes off, but from an angle either side or above/below... the harsh reflection off particles in the water then doesn't "scatter back" directly to your lens.

Fast Auto-Focus is also a big advantage. Have a look on dpreview.com for indepth camera reviews, that'll be covered in most of them.

When you arrive at the dive site, assuming it's a cold pier and cold water (safe bet here), then open the case and leave in a cool shaded place. Don't leave in a warm car or direct sun light... otherwise the inside will fog-up as soon as you hit the warm water. Putting a silica gel dessicant in the housing is often advised too... haven't tried that yet but i've a few in the post!

Then a few fairly obvious tips would be to dump your air and get steady on your knees to take the shot if it's not too silty. If there's any current, stay down-stream of it so silt/sand doesn't flow into the shot.

Most of that's fairly obvious but might be helpful!

melekalikimaka

as regards white balance. shoot in raw if the option is available. wb is irrelevent then as the raw file retains more info than jpeg allowing you to adjust the wb after

joeKel73

If RAW isn't available you can change it a lot on the computer after anyway! I always shoot JPEG as the delay writting RAW just irritates me! Prefer to take two JPEGs, increasing the chance of hitting the focus bang on, than one raw! If you have the software, play around with Curves to correct the exposure, that works best for me...

RAW vs JPEG is a whole other debate though! :-)

melekalikimaka

delay is usually a 15 shot burst. the inernal buffer prevents any real delay til it fills?

Ratsathome

I got one of these from Santie http://cgi.ebay.ie/INTOVA-8-0-CAMERA-iss2000-STROBE-KIT-COMPLETE-BUNDLE_W0QQitemZ390139221973QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDigital_Cameras?hash=item5ad61c17d5.Very easy to work.

joeKel73

If any of you are in the market for a good underwater camera, I'm selling the one I used for the photos I uploaded recently.

It's for sale here.
(Sample images from the last month)

Niall M

I got my camera and just back from holidays and used it. will post some pics up, they came out great! thanks to all for the advice.