just starting

I own a sony DSC S75 camera and am looking to buy an underwater housing for it. I have found that Ikelite makes one and am looking for information on other accessories, such as stobes, that I will need. Also looking for other manufacturers of similar housings or someone who has housing and camera together. I am also looking for any good books on digital underwater photography.

Up until recently (today actually), I had the Sony DSC-S85 (4 MP version of the S75) and the Ikelite housing along with an Ikelite DS-50 strobe.

The camera is pretty good overall. The battery life is amazing, I always got 2 dives out of my battery. Some people would argue that using rechargeable AAs is better than a proprietary battery pack, but I never had any problems with it.

With the file sizes these two are capable of, you probably won't need more than 128 Mb Memory Sticks, which is good since I don't know that there is anything larger in sight. On the S85 at the highest quality JPG setting, I could get around 65 images on a single 128 MS, which is pretty good.

The Ikelite housing does a great job getting it underwater. The one minor annoyance is the Jog Dial control on the back right side of the housing. It's used to set aperture, shutter speed, and exposure compensation (all important things in UW photo) in the respective modes. Ikelite did a pretty darn good job adapting a control to the dial, but it's still a bit tough to use, especially if you do any cold-water diving with thick gloves. Other than that, the housing is perfect. I'll probably be getting another Ikelite housing for my Canon D60 when the newer version is available (soon I hope!).

For other housing choices, check out www.digideep.com. Realistically though, I'd get the Ikelite. Search this board and you'll see an overwhelming amount of positive feedback on their products and service.

Get a strobe, the internal flash is blocked partially by the port. I have the DS-50 with the "cheap" arm set. The strobe throws a decent amount of light, but there are a few drawbacks. First is the lack of an adjustbale output manual mode. It's either TTL or Manual full dump. The wireless TTL sensor does ok, but there were times I wished I had more control over the amount of light. With the new manual controller available soon, you'd have more control. The base package has ok arms, but I'd go for the upgraded "deluxe" package with ball arms, or go with ULCS arms. The DS-50 is pretty good for the price, but if I had to do it over again, I'd get the DS-125. Another option would be to get the DS-50 with the manual controller and forgo TTL. This would save a few bucks over the DS-125. I'll also be upgrading my arms and getting the manual controller until I can afford a DS-125, at which point I'll use the DS-50 as a slave.

Feel free to contact me directly (tshepherd@yahoo.com) if you have any questions...

Tom

Thanks Tom all the info was very helpful. I have seen the book you recommended but it concentrates mostly on post production issues with your computer at home. I am looking for a sort of "how to get started" book on underwater digital photography. If i do get the DS-50, ikelite offers 2 packages, one with substrobe, slave sensor, and strobe arm system the other with substrobe, sync cord and strobe arm system. Which do I get? When I do get these do I need to manually set the F stop on my camera or can I use the auto setting on the camera.

Adam

Well, with the Sony housing from Ikelite, there's no way to utilize a sync cord, so you'd have to use the slave sensor.

Start off with the automatic mode, and work from there. You'll have immediate feedback and the ability to try lots of things quickly since it's digital. I found that the auto mode was good when there was plenty of available light, but if not, the results were disappointing. I tried shooting Av (aperture priority) and Tv(shutter priority) and eventually just switched to manual.

Try searching the forum, there's plenty of info on shooting manual versus automatic, and you'll see that opinions on it vary dramatically...

Tom

AKRAMER

I've been using the Sony S75 in an ikelite housing w/ DS-125 and slave sensor. I agree with what Tom had to say.

I've been very happy with the results from the "automatic" setting. Setting the exposure compensation to (-2) seems to take care of most overexposure problems. I agree though that the manual functions are VERY hard to control with the jog dial. Even in warm water and no gloves it becomes very frustrating.

I have four 128 mg memory sticks and get about 85 pics on each one at highest resolution. One battery will last 2 full dives with the LCD continuously on (50-60 min dives). I've use a separate recharger and rotate through 3 batteries (one in camera ,one in charger, one fully charged).

I would recommend the DS-125. Through experimenting, I've had the best luck setting the strobe power to 1/8 and the camera in automatic. I would recommend the new adjustable sensor to give more versatility. The TTL mode on the strobe ussually results in overexposure. Even after sending the strobe and sensor to ikelite for updating and testing.

I posted some pictures at: http://photos.yahoo.com/thetravelking

I'm seriously considering upgrading to a D-SLR in the next few months (next dive trip is in May). Let me know if you'd be interested in a used housing in great shape. I'd throw in some extra batteries and memory sticks. I love the camera and use it a lot at work which is why I'd sell only the housing (oh, and wide angle converter).

Hope this helps. Feel free to post or E-mail me any questions,

John

Thanks John and Tom. Great infro from both of you and I'm sure I could use more. John...too late I just went through a friend who owns a dive shop and got a really good deal on the housing and strobe and sensor (sorry Tom too - I just couldnt wait to get started). I have a trip to Belieze planned for late Feb. and had to get the stuff so I can at least learn how to use it in a pool before I go. If anyone has any suggestions on what to do I be more than glad to hear them. I only have one 128mb card but i have a 64 too. Do you think I should get another 128. I have 2 batteries and get about 170 min of on time with each. I know during dives, if I have 2 or 3, I wont be able to change batteries or card, but does the ikelite housing allow you to turn the camera on and off and change all the settings between dives. Can you give me any info on caring for the camera, housing strobe ect between dives.

John those were great pictures too. I hope I can get a few like that in Belieze. How long have you been taking underwater photos? Any suggestions on software for editing ( I have been told Adobe Photoshop is the best)?

AKRAMER

I used a film motormarineII underwater camera and strobe for 10 years then switched to digital this past June. I already had the camera for use at work since Dec/01.

I've used the Sony S75 on two tirips so far (2weeks in Fiji and 3 diving days in Cabo pulmo. On both trips I filled the four 128mg memory sticks I have. Even for 6 dives over three days I could've used more. I guess it depends on how many pictures you'll be taking. Also make sure you have a separate charger other than the camera itself. Where are you going in Belize? I stayed at the Blackbird Caye Resort on Turneffe for part of my honeymoon 3 yrs ago. Great diving. I think the ideal thing would be to have a laptop to burn cds as you go. I also considered one of those storage devices (I don't know specifics)

As for care during the dive trip, it depends on the facillities. On the Fiji Aggressor, I would normally rinse the rig in between every dive and change batteries on the camera tables. There was compressed air available to dry off the housing before opening. The DS-125 would hold sufficient charge to last 4 dives/day (and more) before recharging at night.

In Cabo, we were diving on a little panga with no fresh water or safe dry place available. This was were the battery lasting 2 dives was invaluable. I would put the memory stick with the most mem free in the camera and a newly charged battery in the morning. I would keep the rig under a damp towel in between the two am dives to keep it cool. (I had a strobe get too hot then crack when touching the cool water in Belize). But wouldn't open it until we got back to the rental house on the beach. At the end of the am diving I would soak the whole thing in freshwater (in the sink) and then carefully dry with a cloth.

The functions on the camera are very easy to access with the housing except for the manual functions. Let me know if you have any tips with the jog dial.

Also, I had a problem with the sensor when it first arrived. Only the "newly updated" sensor would work with the sony S75. When I called Ike he explained that the new ones had a red octopus emblem on them. I sent my sensor in and they updated it at no charge and got it back to me in less than a week. Don't leave for belize without checking this out.

I use adobe photoshop. I think it works great.

Hope this helps,

Take care,

John

John , thanks again. I'm going to the SunBreeze hotel on Ambergis Caye in Belieze. Why do I need a charger other than the camera and where can I get one? Good point about the memory cards, I hadnt thought about how I was going to save the pictures. I dont have a lap top that can burn cds and I know I'm going to take more pictures than 70 during the whole trip. I guess i need to invest in at least 2 more 12b mb cards. Any other pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Adam

Just a minor point, but if you have a laptop, you don't necessarily have to have one that burns CDs, just one with enough disk space to offload the pictures every day. I only had 2 128 Mb Mem Sticks with my Sony, and just offloaded them after diving. A CD-RW is a "nice to have" on a trip, but isn't completely necessary.

Also, for the cost of 2 128 Mb MS, you're well on your way to an X-drive, which is an alternate way to offload the images.

The idea of an external charger is to be able to charge 1 or 2 batteries while your camera is doing other things, i.e. diving. You can get one from Sony, or probably from B&H Photo (www.bhphoto.com).

Just my $0.02

Tom

I picked up my external battery charger at "BestBuy" for about $30. The sales people pointed out the correct model after knowing what kind of camera I had.

John