Begginer Requiring help with Strobe/Filter and camera setup

Hi all,

My first post on here. Last year I started diving and spent a few weeks diving in Tobago. I took with me a Canon Ixus 850is and Canon WP-DC9 housing which I still have now. I also took a strobe, an Epoque ES-150DS I think it was. I took a large number of picture both snorkelling and diving while i was there both with and without the strobe. The water was a mixture to clear blue, very blue or greeny.

I had mixed sucess with all configurations, I have to say I didnt get on well with the strobe and found it ruined more pictures than I got good ones from it (more than likely due to my lack of experience). I can see on some pictures where the strobe operated properly as the picture is very sharp in all areas. I have to say on a number of dives I ended up switching the strobe off as it was causing so many problems. What didnt help was the arm it was on didnt seem to be very tight (with no way of adjusting it) so the strobe kept swiveling round out of position.

When I returned home I sold the strobe.

My question is this. I am off to the Red Sea hopefully in the summer diving for a week or so and I want to get some good snaps. The camera I know is capeable of giving some good pictures as is. Im thinking of either giving a strobe a go again or ive read a lot about the UR/PRO filters and am wondering if it would be better to try one of these based on my previous experiences using a strobe before. Id rather not go to the expense of another strobe unless I can really justify it as im planning on getting my own BCD and Regs to take with me as well. The camera has an underwater mode and the ability to manually adjust the WB. I experimented with both, from memory the majority of pictures I took using underwater mode with macro switched on and the flash off.

I was advised by someone to use the macro mode permenantly regardless of subject, I disabled the cameras flash in most cases as I found it gave better results and was faster at focusing and taking the picture.

Any advice anyone can give me on filters/strobes and also the best camera settings to use would be greatuflly appreciated!!

Thanks,

Mark

Hi Mark,

I've been shooting with the SD 800 IS (which I believe is the same camera) also in the WP DC9 housing. You're right - the camera can take some nice shots. I've gotten my best results in underwater mode, Macro always on, auto white balance, the highest resolution and the flash always on. These are from a trip to PNG last summer:

http://gallery.mac.com/philsokol#100038

They have all been cropped (some heavily!) and processed in iphoto, mostly sharpness. On the other hand, the built in flash doesn't really put out enough light for underwater and the light is uneven because of the housing. After this trip I talked to several people about "the next step" and got an external strobe, the Inon D2000 which made a big difference:

http://gallery.mac.com/philsokol#100023

Again, these have been cropped and processed. A much higher percentage of "keepers". The Inon is pretty easy - the tray has an attachment that fits over and blocks the camera's internal flash. The strobe has an optical cord that threads into this, so that when the camera's flash fires, the light goes through the cord and triggers the strobe. The ULCS arms and clamps are really good and are pretty easy to manipulate and will hold any position you put them in. The whole strobe set up (strobe, tray, arms, etc.) was almost $900, close to twice the cost of the camera and housing when I bought them 18 months ago, so I feel your dilemma. If you're getting mixed results with just the camera and housing, you might be better off working with what you got until you're comfortable with what it can do and save the $$ for a BCD and regulator. But if you you want to "step it up", a strobe would be a great addition.

Phil

Hi Phil,

thanks for your comments, I shall look into perhaps getting another strobe to try again. You have some fantastic pictures, im torn between going back to the carribean again but trying Greneda and the red sea at the moment.

I can definatly see that the gallery with the strobe the pictures seem much sharper. What settings do you use the camera on when using the strobe?

thanks,

Mark

Thanks Mark,

In the SCN mode, I have the camera on underwater, macro on, and flash always on - the camera's flash has to fire in order to trigger the strobe. The small annoyance is the camera will go to sleep after a couple minutes without use (saves the battery), but when you turn it back on, it returns to the default settings (normal vs. macro and auto flash vs. flash on), so you have to redo those settings. I've also found turning the exposure compensation down 1/3 or 2/3 really helps, esp. with small subjects when you're very close or when the subject or background has a lot of white.

Other than that, it's all automatic. Remember, you gotta get close! Even on the highest setting, I can get a few hundred pics on a 2Gb card, so take lots of shots and have fun with it!

Phil

Good post! Welcome to Wetpixel Mark.

I use the SD700IS underwater which is also just about the same. I got great photos with only the internalf flash, but you can't photograph anthing bigger than a loaf of bread, as you have to be 1 foot away or less to use the camera's flash.

Adding an external strobe is an excellent way to get more color, but it won't work further than 3' from the camera, so you can get stuff about out to big fish size.

If you're further than 3 feet away from anything, it won't look good.

I suggest you get another strobe and PRACTICE with it in the swimming pool before your big trip. You need to learn how to use it BEFORE your trip, not during the trip.

Cheers

James

Thanks guys, thats some usefull information. Out of interest do you use the diffuser that comes with the Canon case when not using a strobe, again I had and heard mixed opinions from people.

I think I may look into getting another strobe again depending on how much the kit sets me back. Ive looked at the Inon d2000, it looks huge to me, is this right?

Also, ive read a lot about TTL in various places on the forum and seen some strobes/cameras support it and others dont. I dont really understand what it is and was wondering if someone could give me a quick idiots run down on it, is it compatible with my camera and is it worth using?

Thanks again

Mark

Hi Mark,

The Inon D2000 isn't that big compared to some others. It's about 4" in diameter and 3 1/2" long. Takes 4 AA batteries.

As a relative newbie myself, all I can tell you is TTL stands for "through the lens" and comes from a time when divers wore oval masks and used something called "film" for photos. Poke around in the forums and you'll find lots of info.

Phil

Hi,

Thanks again, that looks to be a good strobe, the difficulties for me is living in the UK there seems to be very little in the way of stockists I can find for this equipment.

With regards to TTL, if im right the ixus 850 is TTL according to the manual but from what I can tell the TTL strobes dont use the same optical setup that I previously had, am I right in saying that I would need to get an EV controller to overcome ths issue? In which case is it still worth using the TTL or are you better off getting a standard strobe. other than the fact if I were to upgrade in the future.

I currently have the canon hosing, is there any merit in changing to the Ikelite one, other than the greater depth rating?

Thanks again,

Mark

Hi Mark,

If you have a look around, I think that you will find 'shit-loads' of distributers in the UK...OceanOptics for one

The Inon D2000 strobe that you are looking at has a thing called S-TTL which is the strobes ability to read the TTL message from your camera's internal strobe. All you do is mount/install a fibre optic cable to your housing in front of your internal flash and then run said cable to the D2000 strobe. The flash from your internal strobe is measured and duplicated by the D2000 and the results have been reported as being very accurate. When you purchase your strobe, also order the Inon 'D Cable' and mounting kit for your particular housing and then, as James said, jump in the pool and practise...

HTH,

Bruce...

Thanks Bruce,

I have seen them and also camerasunderwater which is where I got my previous strobe from. Ive noticed however that the OceanOptics web site doesnt have any prices on it anywhere, unless im being stupid..!

Does anyone know if the Sea & Sea YS-50TTL would be any good for my purposes? Ive seen one advertised quite cheaply second hand and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts of views on it. Ive searched the forum for posts regarding it and seen a few but none that directly relate to my scenario?

Thanks again,

Mark