need lots of help for photo/ snorkeling trip!

Hi,

I’m very much an amateur underwater photographer. (Even in land photography I wouldn’t rate myself too much higher though I’ve taken photos for years and gotten some great shots with fairly limited knowledge).

I'm planning a trip to the Galapagos where I expect to be doing a lot of snorkeling.

I’ll probably bring 2 cameras as the one I’ll use for land photography doesn’t have an available underwater housing.

I’m planning on getting an underwater housing for my old Nikon Coolpix 7900 compact digital.

I have not yet chosen whether to go with:

1. A Fantesea Housing which is hard but doesn't give full acess to all controls or

2. A much more expensive hard Ikelite housing which gives full access to all settings.

First question is--For longish snorkeling jaunts (2+ hours), where you are using the LCD screen as a viewfinder, am I correct that it makes sense to go with the more expensive housing, if only because I'll be able to turn off the camera and also be able to adjust settings--for example, turning on and off macro?

Also, I’m trying to decide if, while floating or really shallow diving, I’d be advised to use a filter and, if so, which filter and which strength would be best to purchase. I've recently read about "Magic Filters" and "Auto Magic Filters" but don't know if I need any filter at all.

Any thoughts?

Also, my camera is fully adjustable for white balance.

Should it be set to Auto or something else?

Also, the camera DOES have an underwater “scene†setting which I’ve never used. I presume that it sets white balance to attempt to compensate for being underwater (I HAVE used e.g. the camera’s SUNSET setting and gotten a few spectacular shots. Certainly better than my limited Photoshop skills would have allowed me to correct for). Should I use this "underwater" setting or keep the camera on auto or attempt manual settings?

Should I use the camera’s flash or keep it off?

Do the answers to any of these questions depend on whether I use a filter?

All advice is appreciated!!

Thanks

Stephanie

Hi,

I’m very much an amateur underwater photographer. (Even in land photography I wouldn’t rate myself too much higher though I’ve taken photos for years and gotten some great shots with fairly limited knowledge).

 

I'm planning a trip to the Galapagos where I expect to be doing a lot of snorkeling.

 

I’ll probably bring 2 cameras as the one I’ll use for land photography doesn’t have an available underwater housing.

 

I’m planning on getting an underwater housing for my old Nikon Coolpix 7900 compact digital.

I have not yet chosen whether to go with:

 

1. A Fantesea Housing which is hard but doesn't give full acess to all controls or

2. A much more expensive hard Ikelite housing which gives full access to all settings.

 

First question is--For longish snorkeling jaunts (2+ hours), where you are using the LCD screen as a viewfinder, am I correct that it makes sense to go with the more expensive housing, if only because I'll be able to turn off the camera and also be able to adjust settings--for example, turning on and off macro?

 

Also, I’m trying to decide if, while floating or really shallow diving, I’d be advised to use a filter and, if so, which filter and which strength would be best to purchase. I've recently read about "Magic Filters" and "Auto Magic Filters" but don't know if I need any filter at all.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Also, my camera is fully adjustable for white balance.

Should it be set to Auto or something else?

 

Also, the camera DOES have an underwater “scene†setting which I’ve never used. I presume that it sets white balance to attempt to compensate for being underwater (I HAVE used e.g. the camera’s SUNSET setting and gotten a few spectacular shots. Certainly better than my limited Photoshop skills would have allowed me to correct for). Should I use this "underwater" setting or keep the camera on auto or attempt manual settings?

 

Should I use the camera’s flash or keep it off?

 

Do the answers to any of these questions depend on whether I use a filter?

 

All advice is appreciated!!

 

Thanks

Stephanie

I haven't used Auto Magic, but that's the one for a Coolpix. You keep the cameras white balance on "A". Alex and Peter explain all on the MAGIC FILTER website. I have used blue- and green-water Magic filters as shallow as 3m. I guess that for snorkelling, though, it may be better to leave the filter on the boat.

Blue water, 10m:

Blue water, 15m:

Green water, 5m:

Tim

B)

For snorkeling, if you don't dive down, then you won't need a filter.

If you do dive down, then it depends... If you only want closeup/macro shots, then a filter won't be useful, and you should use your internal flash with a diffuser. If you want wide-angle shots (which in particular requires that your camera have a wide-angle lens), then a filter might be useful. For these shots, the internal flash will be much less useful.

I'd recommend the Ikelite housing if the Fantasea doesn't let you turn the camera off. What if you run out of batteries? But perhaps your camera has good battery life.

An alternative which might be comparable in cost is to buy a newer camera with a cheaper housing. For example, buy one of the new Canon A series cameras with a Canon housing. This would give you full controls on a modern camera, and might be comparable to an Ikelite housing.