5D Sunball, Best Ever

Hi Folks,

Was diving the Sulu Sea 2 weeks ago and managed to try out the 5D in an Aquatica Housing. Got to shoot some sunballs and I have to say...WOW, I'm putting my order for one in this week.

Canon EOS 5D, Aquatica Housing, EF 15mm FE, Dual S&S YS120 strobes at full power, F22, 1/125th, ISO 100.

I have to say that I didn't care for the Aquatica. Controls felt rubbery, couldn't feel the click of the rear quick control dial like I can on my Subal.

Though likely an alignment issue for this particual housing, the Front command dial control didn't mesh properly and thus changing Shutter Speed in M Mode was iffy.

Stu

Holy cow, way to go Stu! Beautiful shot! I'm glad you like the 5D.

Cheers

James

That is a lovely shot.

IMO the 5D is the best sunball digital camera I have seen so far. Although havig shot my D2X alongside James - the Nikon is not very far behind.

Alex

Thanks James, even better was that it wasn't a fluke, I have 3 keepers from that dive, different parts of the reef, different foreground, same sunball.

Ironic that my best WA shots from the trip came from a borrowed housing and camera.

s.

Beautiful, and you're only at 1/125 shutter speed. You still have almost a stop of latitude to cut down on the sunball brightness should you find it necessary.

The 15mm FE on a fullframe is the right lens to use for these shots. It makes the distant objects, the sun, smaller relative to the foreground than a rectilinear WA lens. Starting with a smaller sun will improve the results.

This is the 1st img I've seen from the 5D, and though I can't dispute the sunball claim, I don't think that this img is a good example. It is a beautiful img, but the blue water is underexposed - the background is exposed for the sunburst. FOr me, the digital sunburst dilemma has been to control the sunburst while exposing for a blue water background. Any dSLR can handle the sunburst if you expose for it.

Fantastic img nonetheless!

Hi Kasey,

This is something you have to accept when shooting a 180 degree lens. The water at the bottom is going to be underexposed, no?

Cheers

James

This is the 1st img I've seen from the 5D, and though I can't dispute the sunball claim, I don't think that this img is a good example.  It is a beautiful img, but the blue water is underexposed - the background is exposed for the sunburst.  FOr me, the digital sunburst dilemma has been to control the sunburst while exposing for a blue water background.  Any dSLR can handle the sunburst if you expose for it.

 

Fantastic img nonetheless!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree Kasey. I think the same shot could be taken with a brighter blue background towards the bottom. Perhaps Stu can accomplish that with curves in photoshop on this shot.

This is a recent D2X image - that I took at the same time James was shooting with the 5D - when I came to the opinion that the 5D was the best DSLR I had seen for sunbursts. In retrospect the Nikon D2X is jolly good too - when the conditions are favourable - as they were here.

No post processing - other than RAW conversion.

I think that this shot doesn't have an under exposed blue - and while the sunbursts is a bit big - the rays are pleasing.

Alex

There wasn't much point in exposing for blue water in that shot because the coral was on an outcrop of the reef, the wall dropped down to well past 200 fsw and I was in about 50 ft when I took the shot.

This was my first dive with an unfamiliar camera and housing, but if you insist of a blue water shot...

Same parameters, but opened up to F18 I think and shallower. BTW, IMHO Sunball and Sunbursts are 2 different animals, one can get decent sunburst shots with any DSLR, but getting a sunball without the major cyan fringing from sensor bloom is altogether different. Not to detract from Alex's great shot of the shark of course.

Stu

I had already made up my mind not to buy the 5D and you come up with this from a borrowed camera......mmmmmmmmhhhh

I was of the same opinion..."I don't need a 5D." Then someone on the trip lent me the 5d for a dive....then my wife gave her blessing on the purchase so....

I went to the shop with the cash but they only had the 5D body. I was looking to buy also the sigma 15, canon 17-40 and 100 macro but they didn´t have any of them so I didn´t buy anything in the end....I went home very frustrated with my failed DSLR upgrade!!!!

beautiful sunball capture. Is the consensus still the higher the shutter the better?

I believe so. The shutterspeed is the only way for a camera to control the ratio between ambient light and strobe light (once the strobe is at full power). Aperature and ISO affect both ambient and strobe light at the same time.

Of course, you can always bring more strobes or get more powerful strobes.

I suspect that conditions play a bigger part though.

I am a little confused. Why does the 5D produce a better sunball? It should have the same linear sensor problems like all other DSLRs, right? Are you guys saying the sensor ramps more like film? What makes it behave differently?

The 5D handled sensor bloom much better than my 10D, likely a combination of bigger photosites, Digic 2 chip and newer technology in it's design. I've been able to get sunbursts with my 10D, but the sunballs are a different matter, especially, blue water sunballs.

Enough of a difference to me that my 5D is on it's way to me as we speak.

s.

Got a chance to check out 5D sunbursts today from a student/guest on same dive as me. WOW!!!!

The sunball is soooo much better than my D70 side by side.. almost none of that cyan ring crap i get...

)(#($*()*$(*$&(@@)#*)$%& is all i have to say!

Hey Mike,

Pardon the pun but...you saw the light!

Stu

Oh yes Stu... now then.... show me the money!!!

haha (i take charitable donations.... just send to my address in Vancouver to save on postage.. )