Jump to content

  • These forums are for "after booking" trip communications, socializing, and/or trip questions ONLY.
  • You will NOT be able to book a trip, buy add-ons, or manage your trip by logging in here. Please login HERE to do any of those things.

Photo

Underwater Cameras & Equipment - general subjects


  • Please log in to reply
9 replies to this topic

#1 Racer184

Racer184

    Everyone knows me

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 946 posts
  • Location:Clearwater, Florida
  • Gender:Male
  • Cert Level:Former Open Water Instructor S.D.I.
  • Logged Dives:>500

Posted 15 October 2009 - 01:53 PM

I didn't see a 'general subject' thread about underwater camera equipment... so I started one. My concept for this thread is not for the stuff that professional underwater photographers want to discuss with each other. I am starting the discussion on the level of 'we shoot underwater photos for fun only" kind of stuff.

I recently got a Nikon L-18 with Ikelite housing package, then last week got the 0.56x wide angle lens. No strobes (yet).

The camera itself fits in a shirt pocket, nothing "fancy" by today's standards. It EATS AA alkaline batteries like crazy. I am now using lithium cells and they definitely are worth the extra $$ Housing is easy to use. Slightly positive buoyant.

Adding the wide angle lens makes the package definitely negative buoyant. It is a "wet" lens. ("wet lens" means that you shall have water between the wide angle lens and the camera housing. The advantage being that you can remove and replace the lens underwater. The disadvantage is that if you assemble the system in air you will need to let water in before taking pictures.) The wide angle lens came with its own diffuser for the internal flash. I tried it out on land and decided that I should keep the flashed turned off. The wide angle lens blocks nearly 100% of the internal flash, so until I get external strobes, I will just live without flash when using the wide angle lens.


  • I woud like to hear thoughts on lens cover(s) (leave it on the boat?)
  • Do you attach your camera to your BCD? to your wrist?
  • Do you "burp" your wide angle lens after getting to the reef? Pre-fill it with freshwater on the boat?
  • Any hints for protecting the lens ? (with this wide angle lens, the glass surface is right out there where it will get scratched if you let it drag across something)

Edited by Racer184, 15 October 2009 - 01:55 PM.


#2 Moose

Moose

    Everyone knows me

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 765 posts
  • Location:High Bridge, NJ (Hunterdon County)
  • Gender:Male
  • Cert Level:Numerous
  • Logged Dives:Fg = (m x D) m10^-2

Posted 15 October 2009 - 02:08 PM

  • I woud like to hear thoughts on lens cover(s) (leave it on the boat?)
  • Do you attach your camera to your BCD? to your wrist?
  • Do you "burp" your wide angle lens after getting to the reef? Pre-fill it with freshwater on the boat?
  • Any hints for protecting the lens ? (with this wide angle lens, the glass surface is right out there where it will get scratched if you let it drag across something)



One thing I do is make sure that the lens covers are "dummy corded" to the camera rig. In fact, I make sure that each peice is some how tied to the rig. That way, no little pieces go missing.

I have a quick release that I use to connect the camera rig to my BC. It is a self coiling ratchet, so it works great.

I leave my lens off while getting in and out of the water. Then I wave my hand in front of the lens to ensure there are no bubbles before I put the wet lens on.

Again, use the covers.
Moose
Everything I know about knots, I learned from Alexander the Great.

#3 Landlocked Dive Nut

Landlocked Dive Nut

    I need to get a life

  • Inactive
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 6,543 posts
  • Location:Kansas City, MO
  • Gender:Female
  • Cert Level:SSI Master Diver
  • Logged Dives:448

Posted 15 October 2009 - 02:32 PM

Yep, what Moose said! Definitely make sure your little pieces are lanyarded to the rig.....because they WILL go missing at some point.

After my soon-to-be-ex let go of a brand-new digital uw camcorder on the very first dive he took it on - and it was so positively buoyant that it was never seen again - that taught me to ALWAYS 1) try to make my rig as neutral as possible, and 2) clip it with a specialty strap to my BC after it's handed down to me.

I got the Canon Powershot G10 with uw housing. I just use the diffuser on this rig right now, although I do have a tray, arm & one light (not a flash/strobe).

I'm definitely still in the learning stages, but I'm having fun watching my pics get better with each trip!
Posted Image

#4 Scubatooth

Scubatooth

    I spend too much time on line

  • SD Partners
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,682 posts
  • Location:Plano, Texas
  • Gender:Male
  • Board Status:Omnes Qui Errant Non Pereunt!
  • Cert Level:Rec: DM -- Tec: Ext Range
  • Logged Dives:500+

Posted 15 October 2009 - 02:36 PM

To answer your questions

* I would like to hear thoughts on lens cover(s) (leave it on the boat?)

I always take the lens cover with me on the dive and i stuff it in my thigh pocket. Same goes now for my dome port cover. I do this mainly for when im on the line or going through people still on the line i want to protect that glass as a scratch ruins the len/port. On the bottom i might put it on if im taking the wet lens off but in that case i will put both caps on.

* Do you attach your camera to your BCD? to your wrist?

on my PnS camera i had a lanyard on the camera tray that was clipped to my BC. It was clipped to the left shoulder during the dive and then my butt d-ring when not in use or when on my stops unless im taking pictures and then its still connected to my chest dring. With my new DSLR i havent finished how im going to clip it, but probably pretty close to the same as before

* Do you "burp" your wide angle lens after getting to the reef? Pre-fill it with freshwater on the boat?

I burped my on my descent so i was ready to go once i was on bottom

* Any hints for protecting the lens ? (with this wide angle lens, the glass surface is right out there where it will get scratched if you let it drag across something)

Be careful of where you are in the water when the lens cap isnt on. situational awareness is a big part of it. just like making sure your buoyancy is tack on when shooting so your dont hit the reef or other items on the reef would be my advice


A Novus Dies Has Adveho.... Occupo Dies

Where in the World is Tooth? ... Catch Me It You Can!

Traveling the World, Diving, and Photography, on my days off from saving lives as a Paramedic


#5 Racer184

Racer184

    Everyone knows me

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 946 posts
  • Location:Clearwater, Florida
  • Gender:Male
  • Cert Level:Former Open Water Instructor S.D.I.
  • Logged Dives:>500

Posted 15 October 2009 - 02:53 PM

This brings up new questions.....

If the covers are connected by a lanyard to the housing.... how do we keep them from floating in front of the lens? Does velcro work underwater?

If I decided to remove the wide angle lens.... I am going to need a bag or a BIG pocket to stow it. Any suggestions?

Buoyancy... I can't imagine it is possible to change the buoyancy of the wide-angle by itself. If I did something to the housing to make the system neutral with the wide angle lens, then I would have something very positively buoyant once the wide-angle lens is removed.

While at the "beginner" stage of underwater photography I am going to use the philosophy that the entire dive will be with the wide angle or the entire dive will be without the wide angle lens (it's on the boat).

#6 Landlocked Dive Nut

Landlocked Dive Nut

    I need to get a life

  • Inactive
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 6,543 posts
  • Location:Kansas City, MO
  • Gender:Female
  • Cert Level:SSI Master Diver
  • Logged Dives:448

Posted 15 October 2009 - 03:10 PM

Velcro works anywhere, and a little bit would do for what you're thinking. You thinking of sticking it to the tray or something, to keep the lens out of the way?

Personally, I would just use a very long lanyard on a lens cover, and just flip it behind the rig or off to the side, tucking the string under a finger maybe.

I've seen lightweight stuff like that float out of people's unsecured pockets.
Posted Image

#7 peterbj7

peterbj7

    I spend too much time on line

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,068 posts
  • Location:San Pedro (Belize) & Oxford (UK)
  • Gender:Male
  • Cert Level:Instructor
  • Logged Dives:over 4000

Posted 15 October 2009 - 03:55 PM

I only use a compact camera these days, and though I have strobes with arms I never use them. I have taken SLRs underwater and friends of mine still do. I can say from their experiences that housing domes are very expensive and very fragile. A friend diving the deep south Red Sea had to use his housing to beat off a rather frisky Tiger shark, and though he escaped unscathed the housing didn't. Cost him a new dome, at what he told me was thousands of $.

That guy these days uses two or three D700s, and the results he gets are truly remarkable. He does a lot of professional work (though it's not his main source of income) and he is staggered at the low-light performance of the D700. He regularly takes publishable pictures at over asa 6000. If anything were to make me jump ship from Canon to Nikon it would be the D700.

I have a G10 with the Canon housing, which I assess as "OK". For some reason I didn't have the flash diffuser when I first got it, and the flash performance then was "quaint" and unacceptable. Although it's not listed as an available part some nice guy at Canon sent me one, and I've now used it for two dives. Early days, but I think I'll probably be leaving the G10 topside and going back to my old Casio EX-Z55 - I've always been very impressed with the way that works underwater, and the results it gives. I'm considering a change to the G11, which supposedly gives much better low-light performance.

A note on batteries. I've only ever used compact cameras that used proprietory batteries. Those on my Canon S500 were less than impressive in life, but the one in the EX-Z55 just refuses to go down. My record is seven dives with lots of flash photographs, yet the battery indicator still showed full at the end. My G10 looks like being the same - I've only charged the battery twice in the last 3 months, yet I've taken hundreds of photos. Every camera I've come across which uses AA batteries eats them, and I would automatically steer clear of them.

#8 Landlocked Dive Nut

Landlocked Dive Nut

    I need to get a life

  • Inactive
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 6,543 posts
  • Location:Kansas City, MO
  • Gender:Female
  • Cert Level:SSI Master Diver
  • Logged Dives:448

Posted 15 October 2009 - 05:11 PM

A note on batteries. I've only ever used compact cameras that used proprietory batteries. Those on my Canon S500 were less than impressive in life, but the one in the EX-Z55 just refuses to go down. My record is seven dives with lots of flash photographs, yet the battery indicator still showed full at the end. My G10 looks like being the same - I've only charged the battery twice in the last 3 months, yet I've taken hundreds of photos. Every camera I've come across which uses AA batteries eats them, and I would automatically steer clear of them.


I agree. My first camera (Sea Life) used up AA batteries the way I can go through chocolate. My Canon G10 has a proprietary battery, and it lasted 4 days in Roatan diving 3 looooong dives per day & hundreds of pics, and it didn't really require charging for day 5, but I figured "better safe than sorry"!
Posted Image

#9 Scuba_Dad

Scuba_Dad

    Meeting folks

  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 184 posts
  • Location:Melbourne, FL
  • Gender:Male
  • Cert Level:Master Scuba Diver Trainer
  • Logged Dives:400+

Posted 17 October 2009 - 07:19 AM

Leaving my lens cover on the boat has always been a concerned. My Olympus housing came with a string on the lens cover, but my wide angle lens on my video camera does not. It has a loose soft plastic cover. Any thoughts on how to attach it?

My wide angle lens is a wet lens. I always jump into the water with the lens and red filter attached to lens mount on the arms to my light, and I attach them to the camera on the way down. Sometimes, the filter gets stuck, and I can't unscrew it until I get back on the boat. So now, I do my best to barely tighten the filter on the mount. What concerns me is the thought of dropping the lens while mounting the filter. Plus, when I'm concerned about dropping the lens, my fingers don't work as well... Argh!
If you're bored diving, then you quit learning...

#10 Scubatooth

Scubatooth

    I spend too much time on line

  • SD Partners
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,682 posts
  • Location:Plano, Texas
  • Gender:Male
  • Board Status:Omnes Qui Errant Non Pereunt!
  • Cert Level:Rec: DM -- Tec: Ext Range
  • Logged Dives:500+

Posted 17 October 2009 - 12:46 PM

You could dummy cord the lens cap but I find it getting in the way of the lens so I put the lens cap or dome cover in my thigh pocket.

As for batteries if your camera use a proprietary pack then you are stuck with that. I don't recomend 3rd party batteries as ther have been to many reports of problems then I had a couple that were supposed to have higher capacity and last longer but wasn't the case and got few shots and the batteries died prematurely where the own batteries are still going.

Now when it come to rechargable AA I recomend the sanyo enloop batteries and the lacrosse BC900 charger. The enloops are the new technology that doesn't discharge as fast when left to sit like normal nimh. So you can charge them a day or two before and they will still have 90% of there charge, where normal nimh might only have 50%.

A Novus Dies Has Adveho.... Occupo Dies

Where in the World is Tooth? ... Catch Me It You Can!

Traveling the World, Diving, and Photography, on my days off from saving lives as a Paramedic





0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users