Some help with a beginner canon setup

Hey all, wanted some help with a set up in January for Roatan. I would like to switch from an old point and shoot to my canon xti (400d) underwater. I have shot a bunch underwater but all point and shoot-- the goal is not National Geographic photos, but I would like to be able to take really good photos that I could blow up. I am a decent terrestrial photographer, but not a pro.

I really don't want to spend the money for an ikelite case and flashes etc for the 400d as it comes to like $2,500 easily. Just really too much for me. Ideally I would love to rent the case, flashes and a 10-17 lens (or what do folks suggest? I think Roatan is pretty macro heavy). I think the back up option is go with something like a canon g9 or g10 with external strobe and case which is a ton cheaper and easy to buy used and then I could keep or easy to sell as well. I would like to stay on canon as I am most familiar with it.

So I guess my question is two fold. First, does anyone know where I can rent what I need (other than the camera)? I have called several places but nothing so far. Do people rent their gear on WetPixel? I would be ok renting the body too if I needed too, for instance, if the best set up I could find was for a 5d. However, my guess is to rent that setup for 10 days is going to be expensive so I might as well invest and buy. Second, if I decide not to spend that much I was thinking about a canon g9 or g10 with the simple case and a strobe flash (I assume you can get an external flash that is either ttl or slaves off of the built in?). I know the photos will not be as good, but I think they would be *good enough*. Yes I know all depends what is good enough.

What do people advise? Thanks in advance.

A couple more follow up questions (sorry in advance if they are novice q's)

1. For the external strobes do they trigger on ttl (does that mean the camera triggers them when you take a photo) or do they trigger like slave off of the built in flash? Or you posted that they fire optically...is that different still?

2. What are "wet lenses". I always assumed for cameras like this whatever the built in lens is what you got. Can you add adaptors for a wider lens? So if I was shooting more macro photos I could get a wider angle?

3. Do I really need to white balance? Can't I just shoot with the flashes and won't that mean I don't have to white balance? Should I just set on cloudy?

4. I planned to shoot on aperture controls I could deal with depth of field mainly...thoughts?

5. Lastly...what do you recommend for a G9 rig- what case and what flash (do I need two)...that is reasonably priced? I'll probably buy it all on ebay...

6. Are these even the right questions???

I think the back up option is go with something like a canon g9 or g10 with external strobe and case which is a ton cheaper and easy to buy used and then I could keep or easy to sell as well. I would like to stay on canon as I am most familiar with it.

 

Second, if I decide not to spend that much I was thinking about a canon g9 or g10 with the simple case and a strobe flash (I assume you can get an external flash that is either ttl or slaves off of the built in?). I know the photos will not be as good, but I think they would be *good enough*. Yes I know all depends what is good enough.

I think that for a budget-concious approach, something like the G9 or G10 is a great camera setup for the price. My wife and I put together a G9 housed setup for her to use when I'm busy shooting something else and the turtle/shark/whatever passes on the other side of the coral head/ship/etc. What's particularly nice about the G9 (I assume G10 as well, but I don't know it's specs) is that you can shoot RAW, and if you can you should.

I know we got a Canon housing and YS-27 strobe for around $450 total (via E-bay), and we already had the G9.

If you'd like some samples, they're easy to find online, but I can certainly send you some shots from inside the SC Aquarium that my wife took on the first housing test dive. She hasn't shot underwater since our advanced training 7 years ago, so they'd be a sample of shooting in dark conditions with an inexperienced user. Just PM me an address to email them.

1. For the external strobes do they trigger on ttl (does that mean the camera triggers them when you take a photo) or do they trigger like slave off of the built in flash? Or you posted that they fire optically...is that different still?

IIRC, some strobes do, for instance DS-TTL "digital slave" strobes like the YS-110 that can do TTL using the optical cable.

However, there's the debate over whether TTL is really necessary:

TTL Anonymous

the sample pics I've offered to send you were shot using the manual strobe adjustment approach.

3. Do I really need to white balance? Can't I just shoot with the flashes and won't that mean I don't have to white balance? Should I just set on cloudy?

One of the advantages to shooting in RAW is the ability to easily adjust white balance post-dive. That being said, I tend to deal with white balance more on an ambient light photo than one lit by strobes, as strobe color temperatures are much closer to daylight that the cool blue of open ocean.

5. Lastly...what do you recommend for a G9 rig- what case and what flash (do I need two)...that is reasonably priced? I'll probably buy it all on ebay...

As I said before, we got the canon housing for the G9 and a YS-27. The Canon housing is a bit cheaper than the ikelite, iirc. Here's the costs we paid (incl shipping) and setup:

Canon WP-DC21: $155 (Ebay)

Sea&Sea YS-27(w/ optical cable): $270 (Ebay)

Plate for strobe arm: $12.99 (Ebay)

Sea & Stay IV: $17ish (Subaquatic Camera)

Of course, you might be able to do better than these prices by spending more time hunting than we did.

Hi....I'm nubie in photography and wanna ask some question for Canon G9 cause now I have Canon G9, 1 pc external strobe Sea&Sea YS 110 and Sea & Sea arm

have tried many times hunting underwater with P setting with Auto ISO but the result mostly are over exposure and till now still searching how to set up the camera to get the best result as I have read Canon G9 is the best for entry level for U/W photography.

The question are :

1. What is the best set up for Canon G9 ?

2. If shooting macro, what is the best position for the external strobe ?

3. If shooting wide angle, what is the best position for the external strobe ?

4. Do I need to adjust the power of the external strobe for macro and wide angle shoot?

thanx for the advice