Grand Cayman - S3 styleee

I am just back from a few weeks in Grand Cayman. Here are a gallery of pictures that I took with my Nikon S3. http://www.amustard.com/s3/

The Nikon S3 was not a camera I chose for UW shooting. Instead it was a camera for taking out and about with me. It is tiny and very thin. Its main use underwater is as a prop for models, which you can see in the first two images in the gallery - these were taken with my main camera. It is a useful UW camera because it is so small and the housing is so thin that it easily slides into a BC pocket.

I have one rule with the camera - I am not allowed to buy any external accessories. Compacts are capable of great UW pictures - but invariably this requires an external flash and external wide angle or close-up lenses. Which quickly make the system anything but compact, defeating the object of buyinig a compact in the first place.

So all these pictures are taken with the camera as is. The only accessory I used was a new filter i am developing. This filter is designed specifically for point and shoot photography - so works with the camera set on AUTO-WB. So wide angle was available light and macro/fish were with the internal flash. In clear Cayman waters backscatter was not much of a problem - but when tried in turbid seagrass areas, in the rain, backscatter was noticeable.

None of these pictures are cropped and PS processing is limited to AUTO-LEVELS. I am pretty pleased with the performance of the camera for snapshots, but the images are definitely noisy and to my eyes tend to come out of the camera with an over processed look.

These shots come from just a couple of dives - often taken with my D2X in my other hand - so they are not the greatest, but thought that they would be of interest.

Alex

Ok Alex is this a disguised post to show just how awsome of a photographer you are? We all know you are great but damn you really take this camera to it's full capabilities.

I think they look just a little over processed but I like them and I think a snapshooter would love the color. I would probably think they were taken with a DSLR rig but someone who knows composition and exposure but was off technically. The issue I think with this type of camera is fustration. the first two pics not in the gallery are good in your capable and experienced hands and typical (only compared to your gallery shots) of how a beginner would photograph straight on and down, never up with the surface, but for someone to use it that wants pictures comparable to their top side point and shoot stuff they will get a lot of blurry pics with the shallow depth of field, plus camera shake.

On the other side for SLR guys if your set up for macro and something big comes by it would be nice to whip that baby out of your pocket and get something to play in photoshop with.

"something big comes by it would be nice to whip that baby out of your pocket and get something to play in photoshop with".

Dive safe

DeanB

did i mention i have an s3 in black ?

did i mention i have an s3 in black ?

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You take pics Giles?

only on rare occassions ..

example ...

1) if i actually go diving i will take photos

2) if am out partying .. will take photos (helps the memory)

3) if I see hot chicks i will take photos and try to make it look like i am hanging out with them.

4) if I am told to.

so yeh sometimes ... if i get off my butt this weekend i will be going though all my I think 15000 images and trying to sift through them for quality .. and then IPTC them all .. and put together a new portfolio after all that .. it's been a while since i have been organised.

Hi Alex,

who`s ye man who pick`s up fish, should`ve slapped his fingers instead of taking a photo <_<

Gruß

Ted

I take your point, Ted.

But I actually disagree, in this case. First this diver is very experienced and is interacting with a creature in its environment - where it is free to swim away if it wants (it is not being restrained - but is just perched on his flat hand). In this case the diver interacted in a sympathetic way and the fish was quite relaxed about it all.

I think we have to be careful to criticise this sort of harmless interaction, especially if we then get out of the water and order grouper for lunch. I can assure people that cooking a fish to eat is much worse for its health than picking it up.

I do accept that it is not always wise to share/show pictures of people doing it (without an explanation) - as people who don't know what they are doing could be encouraged to copy and injure themselves or the creatures.

Alex

Alex, did I miss something? I don't see a diver in any of the above shots... I sure don't see anything touching a fish!

maybe I should just give up the drink!!

Alex, did I miss something?  I don't see a diver in any of the above shots... I sure don't see anything touching a fish!

 

maybe I should just give up the drink!!

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Don’t give up the drink (not yet anyway )See the gallery in the link (somewhere in the middle of it.).

Nice shots, I'm interesting to ear more about the new magic and what is the different from the 'old' version for the DSLR.

Hi Alex,

I surpose you are right, but I was taught not to touch anything underwater because

it might bite, sting or try and eat you. other than that your pic`s excellent.

cheers

Ted