Manual, Tv or Av settings?

Hi, i've recently bought a Canon G9, which i'm very pleased with. The sort of photography I'm doing is pretty 'rough and ready' - I do breath-hold diving only, about a ratio of 3:1 surfice/dive time, so when I'm down I have to get on with things :-)

I have been trying different camera settings, Tv = 1/120 + Flash being my favourite, and always trying to keep the ISO down to 80. I'm aware that many people use the manual setting, especially for macro. Do you think manual is generally better, and if so can you tell me why? If i'm using flash (in camera flash only, no strobe yet..), does it matter whether I use manual, Tv or Av settings? I assume that Tv is better as it gives a faster shutter than Av and hence less blurring... but I'd like more depth of field...

I'll try and attach a couple of images to show what I've got so far, any ideas would be welcome

I haven't quite figured the attachments thing yet, I'll try and attach another image...

is it only 1 image per post?

try it on M for a few times. I would put the Aperture to f5.6 and start with shutter of 1/125.

then take a few test shots. if your foreground is too light try f8, if its too dark then try f4

if your background is too dark then try 1/60, if too light then try 1/200

etc.

Yes, you can attach more than one per post. if you want something easier try something like flickr or photobucket or your own website and you can post the link here and the image will pop up in your post.

Thanks mike,

Unfortunately the canon housing for the G9 doesn't seem to let me make adjustments to the Av Tv or M settings in the water! so i'll have to set the C1 C2 custom settings for it. i'll defo try a few variations tho and see how it goes. in fairness, night time pictures should be fairly similar to each other when theyre all within 2 feet of the lens.

Thanks for your suggestion, I'll report back when I get back out there...

Thanks mike,

Unfortunately the canon housing for the G9 doesn't seem to let me make adjustments to the Av Tv or M settings in the water! so i'll have to set the C1 C2 custom settings for it. i'll defo try a few variations tho and see how it goes. in fairness, night time pictures should be fairly similar to each other when theyre all within 2 feet of the lens.

Thanks for your suggestion, I'll report back when I get back out there...

Love your pics....I have a G9 also and I am curious how your experiment turns out...let us know!

Thanks mike,

Unfortunately the canon housing for the G9 doesn't seem to let me make adjustments to the Av Tv or M settings in the water! so i'll have to set the C1 C2 custom settings for it. i'll defo try a few variations tho and see how it goes. in fairness, night time pictures should be fairly similar to each other when theyre all within 2 feet of the lens.

Thanks for your suggestion, I'll report back when I get back out there...

I have been reading about the G9, thinking of getting one, and I recall reading you can use pushbuttons to move from Av,Tv and M. Of course I cannot recall which ones for certain but I read it in Which Camera to Buy section. I imagine some kind G9 owner will write here about it for you.

I have been reading about the G9, thinking of getting one, and I recall reading you can use pushbuttons to move from Av,Tv and M. Of course I cannot recall which ones for certain but I read it in Which Camera to Buy section. I imagine some kind G9 owner will write here about it for you.

Hi dave, thanks for your comment; in fact the g9/canon housing does have dials for changing between Tv, Av, M settings, etc, but it does not have a way to change the actual Tv setting or Av setting or M setting once in that mode. This seems like an obvious shortfall in the housing/camera so hopefully someone can tell me where i am going wrong.... :-)

If you are looking for a point/shoot camera the G9 is pretty good, i'd say get the ikelite housing if you can afford it!

The weather has been awful for the last few weeks, so I haven't been able to try anything new in the water.

jonny where are you located? I'm very curious to see how your experiment turns out as well. I just got a G9 with the Ikelite housing and a DS-51 strobe (will have to save a bit more before I can get the other strobe), and am looking to start playing with some of the manual settings.

I'm in So Cal, so low light, poor vis is pretty standard even at shallow depths. Just wondering what my starting point should be...

I think that MikeV's comments above are good for a starting point, although as I only really do night dives (breathhold) I am prefferring to use Tv and Av mode. I find Tv best as i can get a faster shutter than I would from Av. I also intend to move the iso up a it more, maybe as far as iso200 to try and get more depth of field at Tv around 1/125.

My use is only in-camera flash, no strobe. The macro on this camera is superb for this!

Paradicio, I am based on Guernsey, Channel Islands, Uk; good luck with it.