Exposure modes

I enjoy shooting macro with my canon rebel XTI with ikelite housing and DS125 strobe I'm always looking for tips and advise.

What exposure mode do most people shoot for all around macro using 60mm lens??

I tried using TV (shutter priority) but the camera selects slower shutter speeds which results in poor pics, at least I have not found away to increase shutter speed to 1/60 or faster when choosing f16 or f22 in AV.

So I'm asking what exposure mode do most people shoot for good macro.

Indoman, I would suggest setting it to full Manual. Set the aperture to your preference and maybe start out with shutter around 1/80-1/125s. Faster if you want a dark background or have some fast moving subject. Maybe some of the other readers can tell you about aperture/ shutter preferences in relation to the DS125 (e.g. how high of an aperture setting and distance to subject you can use with the DS125's power, etc)

cheers,

When shooting macro I always shoot in manual mode. As that housing and camera combination supports TTL I'm surprised that the shuter speeds are so slow. Is there any setting for minimum shutter speed with flash in the setup menus? Anyway in manual with the flash in TTL the camera should manage the exposure by altering the flash duration during exposure.

The problem with your combination (and mine) is that the camera doesn't recognize the flash and therefore tries to set the camera up for available light photography, which results in either extremely low DOF or long exposures. What I have done is set up my camera to manual. For the 60mm macro and 1 DS-125, I used to shoot at 1/80 - 1/125s and F18-F22. Then I would let the strobe's TTL manage how much light to throw. Ikelite's TTL is pretty spot on, but always check the histogram to confirm.

I dont think it is a matter of recognising the flash: My ikelite housing does limit the shutter speed to 1/250 (highest sync). It is the way the Tv and Av modes work. They will try to emphasize available light, and use the strobe only for "fill flash".

There is a setting for the Av (cst f 3 in the 20D) that always 1/250 is used when there's a strobe attached. Pretty useless, because if using M manual, you can set the shutter speed yourself.

Manual is the better one indeed: I normally keep shutter speed at 1/250, unless you want to light more background. It is nice to have the option to slow the shutter down.

The problem with your combination (and mine) is that the camera doesn't recognize the flash and therefore tries to set the camera up for available light photography, which results in either extremely low DOF or long exposures. What I have done is set up my camera to manual. For the 60mm macro and 1 DS-125, I used to shoot at 1/80 - 1/125s and F18-F22. Then I would let the strobe's TTL manage how much light to throw. Ikelite's TTL is pretty spot on, but always check the histogram to confirm.

I was hopping the camera would recognize the strobe in AV mode I read the manuals but there seems to be no adjustment on camera setting to recognize the strobe being attached to the hot shoe. I thought it would be nice to shoot in AV and not worry about shutter speed while shooting.

It sounds like every won shoots in manual when shooting macro, I will try this on our trip to Phuket over Christmas won of the nice perks of living in Indonesia close to grate diving.

Cerianthus post make sense sounds like any stobe attached in or out of water in AV-TV will only be used for fill flash, not having much effect from my experience underewater.

I'm not sure if this works but had one fellow who suggested setting your EV to -2 in aperture priority mode. This fools the camera into thinking you want a darker exposure and sets the shutter speed higher. I might give this a shot next time I'm out. The reason being is in manual mode it takes hitting and button and dialing a thumbwheel to change the aperture.

ce4: on the Oly's, in Aperture mode, it takes the same movement to adjust the EV (wheel only adjusts the aperture, button-wheel adjusts the EV +/- level). So unless you set it above water and forget it, you're still doing the same thing I think.

At least that's how it works on my E330. I have to hold the button while wheeling to adjust EV. They MIGHT have updated the 410 and 510 so you only have to tap the button and then can adjust the wheel immediately following for a few seconds...not sure. Phil (tropical) would definitely know.

Thanks. nope you still have to depress the button while moving the wheel. Its unfortunate that they don't freeze that button for a moment as you suggest. It would have also been nice to have that button on the housing be a lever instead of a button. A lever would have been much easier to depress and hold.

When I shoot macro I use full manual.

depending on th shot I set between f/5.4 - f/7.6 and the shutter to 1/125 - 1/250

with one strobe this usually yeilds good results using the iTTL circutry, however I like to take a few shots and vary the lighting to get the exposure perfect.

What is everyones opinion on exposures in full manual mode when shooting wide angle with the same setup?

then its variable entirly on conditions.

Since im in souther cali, there arnt usually too many wide angle fares around here oweing that the vis is rarlely better than 20-25 foot.

That being so I don't have a whole lot of chance to mess around with it so I have nothing specific, but-

if its hazy the background tends to wash itself out no matter what, so I set the aperture just wide enough to capture my subject- this takes some playing with, but I normally venture about f/5.4ish if the subject is less than 6 feet away. more than that is usually to hazy to get any detail anyway, but past 6ft.ish I can't light as well with one strobe so I've gone as far as f/2.3, shutter adjusted accordingly.

Clear water where you can shoot stuff thats farthure away and add a detailed colourfull background i have no idea....the clearest water I've had the opportunity to shoot is was only around 50ft.