Canon G10 and WP-Dc28 housing-neewbie !!

Hi all,

new to under water photography. been doing topside stuff for ages, never really done underwater stuff. have Canon G10, and wp-dc28. going on holiday for a week,want to get the best out of it,going to greece..any helpful tips ??

cheers then,,

Toadylad-Liverpool

I have the same setup, plus the Fantasea Bigeye lens and Inon S2000 strobe. I haven't had a chance to dive it yet, but am headed to Maui the end of July.

There are a couple things I would recommend:

In Setup, set the zoom limit to the 5x optical zoom range

Set you image storage mode to raw+jpeg

Beyond that, you might want to put the camera in the housing and use it around the house for several days until you are comfortable with the controls before you dive it.

The WP-DC28 housing does not allow access to the control dial, but you can access virtually all of it's functions using the shortcut and arrow buttons.

There are some good informational posts on the various modes & settings of the G10 on this and other forums, especially the canon forum on scubaboard.com.

Have fun with your new toy!

Tim

Cheers Tim,

Will Have a go. Just out of interest, what is the benefit of shooting Raw as well as peg. I only use Jpeg, as i have never had the needto use raw on land.

Cheers then,

Toadylad

........ Just out of interest, what is the benefit of shooting Raw as well as peg. I only use Jpeg, as i have never had the needto use raw on land.

When you shoot in JPEG the image is compressed and preprocessed before saving and you lose some of the original image data. By contrast, Raw mode saves all of the image data, which is particularly important in allowing you to adjust things like the white balance to compensate for the color filtering effects of the water. The Canon software that comes with the camera, or alternatively something like Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or Lightroom can be used for this and to otherwise enhance your pictures. Using Raw+JPEG mode gives you the best of both worlds.

The only real drawback is that the saved images are larger and take a little longer to save to the card. You'll want to use a SDHC card that has at least 5 mbit/sec transfer rate. Personally I like the Sandisk Ultra II, which have a 15 mbit/sec transfer rate. A 4gb card will easily hold the images from 2 or 3 dives.

Don't overlook the video mode - you might want to play with that as well......

I have the same setup, plus the Fantasea Bigeye lens and Inon S2000 strobe. I haven't had a chance to dive it yet, but am headed to Maui the end of July.

 

There are a couple things I would recommend:

In Setup, set the zoom limit to the 5x optical zoom range

Set you image storage mode to raw+jpeg

 

Beyond that, you might want to put the camera in the housing and use it around the house for several days until you are comfortable with the controls before you dive it.

 

The WP-DC28 housing does not allow access to the control dial, but you can access virtually all of it's functions using the shortcut and arrow buttons.

 

There are some good informational posts on the various modes & settings of the G10 on this and other forums, especially the canon forum on scubaboard.com.

 

Have fun with your new toy!

 

Tim

Tim does that mean you can't manully change the fstop to get a better depth of field in focus, as you have to use the control dial to manually adjust the fstop setting. or is there another way with the UW housing?

Reg

Tim does that mean you can't manully change the fstop to get a better depth of field in focus, as you have to use the control dial to manually adjust the fstop setting. or is there another way with the UW housing?

Reg

You can use the * button on the upper left in combination with the L & R buttons on the D-Pad to 'spin' the wheel. You pres and hold the * down while pressing L or R. It isn't so bad.

You can use the * button on the upper left in combination with the L & R buttons on the D-Pad to 'spin' the wheel. You pres and hold the * down while pressing L or R. It isn't so bad.

Many Thanks Jeremy, we are about to go to Bali for 10 days diving to shoot Manta Rays and Mola Mola and I was concerned about a narrow depth of field, but I am sure your advice will result in much better pics.

regards

Reg

If you don't have a strobe, set the shortcut button to manual white balance. That way when you're underwater, point the camera at something white/grey, press the shortcut button and presto! Instant manual white balance. Saves a lot of time cos you don't have to go into the menu.

You shouldn't be concerned about depth of field if it's big stuff like Mantas, you'll only really start to notice a loss when you're doing macro. Also it's a good idea to change white balance every 5 meters or so.

The reason it's good to shoot RAW is because of all these white balance changes and adjustments. If you shoot JPEG, sure you can force the change in photoshop to some extent using curves etc; but it won't look anywhere near as clean as an adjusted RAW file. It can also help in those cases where a blue coloured photo might have been better than the WB you set underwater etc.

For manual control, I don't find pressing two buttons that hard since you'll probably be holding it in two hands anyways.

Many Thanks Jeremy, we are about to go to Bali for 10 days diving to shoot Manta Rays and Mola Mola and I was concerned about a narrow depth of field, but I am sure your advice will result in much better pics.

regards

Reg

Reg,

Just got back from a week in Maui with the G10 - used it for both U/W and regular photography. I found the camera extremely easy to use, and had no problems making adjustments with the buttons on the housing. Rather than trying to make too many adjustments underwater, I'd suggest trying to anticipate what your subjects might be during the dive and set it up ahead of time accordingly - then you can always make minor tweaks as needed.

As Hani mentioned, you definitely want to save images in RAW (or RAW+JPEG) format. I didn't bother with manual white balance during my dives as I use Adobe LightRoom to do correction after the fact, but it certainly can't hurt (the software that comes with the camera also lets you make adjustments, but isn't nearly as versatile as LR).

Have fun on your trip!

Tim

Reg,

 

Just got back from a week in Maui with the G10 - used it for both U/W and regular photography. I found the camera extremely easy to use, and had no problems making adjustments with the buttons on the housing. Rather than trying to make too many adjustments underwater, I'd suggest trying to anticipate what your subjects might be during the dive and set it up ahead of time accordingly - then you can always make minor tweaks as needed.

 

As Hani mentioned, you definitely want to save images in RAW (or RAW+JPEG) format. I didn't bother with manual white balance during my dives as I use Adobe LightRoom to do correction after the fact, but it certainly can't hurt (the software that comes with the camera also lets you make adjustments, but isn't nearly as versatile as LR).

 

Have fun on your trip!

 

Tim

Thanks Tim,

Yeah I like the G10, I bought it to replace my Oly C8080, which was also a great camera but did not handle a leak in the housing well. I bought a full SLR but I prefer the flexibility the G10 gives. It takes a bloody good photo. I haven't shot in RAW yet just SFJPEG so its time to jump to a new level. I'll take my white balance slate and give it a go, but I do use Photoshop CS3 anyway. I'll let you know how I go.

Regards

Reg

I'll take my white balance slate and give it a go

I say don't bother ... I've found that a tank or a sandy patch or even a diversely colored coral head works just as well.

That said, unless one is shooting video, I find it is much easier just to shoot RAW, set on Auto WB and then carefully set the WB in post. I usually end up with my own custom WB setting when doing the conversion.

I say don't bother ... I've found that a tank or a sandy patch or even a diversely colored coral head works just as well.

 

That said, unless one is shooting video, I find it is much easier just to shoot RAW, set on Auto WB and then carefully set the WB in post. I usually end up with my own custom WB setting when doing the conversion.

Jeremy,

I agree, RAW/auto WB is the way to go. Once you get the hang of it, making the WB correction in post is pretty straightforward.

Tim

I only use Jpeg, as i have never had the needto use raw on land.

-

I have the G10 with the Canon WP-DC28 housing - just got back from a spearfishing/open water dive trip in Cozumel MX.

The camera and housing performed seamlessly . . . no flooding. I shot in RAW (thankfully) and by manipulating (mostly darkening) the images, I was able to take bland pictures and make something decent out of it. Shot in TV mode 1/100th and set the ISO to 100 with the flash on (no strobe).

So, whats next? How do I take what I consider to be sub-par (most people who dont know anything about photography are in awe over the images) - I on the other hand (after seeing what others are doing with the same set up) am looking to better my images as I feel there is much room for improvement.

Additionally, there seems to be a long time gap in focusing, getting the flash ready to fire and the shutter to activate - only in certain instances (as this was sporadic). Unfortunately for me, I had the opportunity to take a picture of a 10-12ft shark headed my direction, due to the delay, I only got the before (which is when the shark was in the cove) and the after (shark swimming away). Maybe this is normal of a P&S, as I am spoiled rotten when I shoot with my 40D DSLR

Newbie looking for advice/direction.

Shot in TV mode 1/100th and set the ISO to 100 with the flash on (no strobe).

1) Get out your checkbook ...

2) Buy a strobe or two ... unless you only want to shoot small subjects within about 12 inches, the internal strobe won't do you much good underwater

2) Read lots of wetpixel

3) Check out http://www.edgeunderwaterphotography.com/pages/myBook.asp

4) Have fun!

I have the G10 with the Canon WP-DC28 housing - just got back from a spearfishing/open water dive trip in Cozumel MX.

 

Additionally, there seems to be a long time gap in focusing, getting the flash ready to fire and the shutter to activate - only in certain instances (as this was sporadic). Unfortunately for me, I had the opportunity to take a picture of a 10-12ft shark headed my direction, due to the delay, I only got the before (which is when the shark was in the cove) and the after (shark swimming away). Maybe this is normal of a P&S, as I am spoiled rotten when I shoot with my 40D DSLR

 

Newbie looking for advice/direction.

I have also been using the G10 for a while and am just about to make the deep plunge into buying a housing for my 5D MkII. The problems you were having with the delay are just the downside to the point and shoots and is a major pain. The problems i have found with the G10 is that in low light the focus system can be slow (underwater) and adds to the delay in taking the shot. You are also limited in the ISO range that actually produces acceptable results and try to keep it around 100 too otherwise the noise lvls seem to creep up fast and at 400 you can only really use the shots for fish id. Also, i dont know how you found the flash system but i found it tends to be a bit overkill and often needs a bit of toning down. 

But, for its downsides i have found it a great camera to explore and practise UW shooting and learned a lot from it. I would like to take UW photography a lot more seriously but untill you actually get under and take some shots you dnt have a clue and the G10 was great for finding out with. 

One thing to remember though and not to beat yourself up about when comparing you pictures to others is the amount of touching up that goes on and there seems to be as much skill needed in photoshop as with using the camera. One of the reason i like Dr. Mustards piccys so much is that you can see he tries to leave the photo's as natural as possible where he can and would say it shows his skill, though the demand does seem to be generally for idealic pictures, which is fair enough i suppose. I was amazed at the difference as i have become better at photoshop etc and read and learnt more techniques etc.etc.. here is a link to a really simple method of helping with the backscatter by freaky coincidence writen by one Alex Mustard   http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/news/article.asp?uan=5179 

I wouldn't say get your your checkbook out just yet, personally, as i think you would be better off spending a bit of time reading and then trying to apply it with the setup you already have. Then add a strobe or two and play around with that. But hey, this is just my first post and and in no way am i willing to stand by any of the above! 

Anyway, best of luck!

^ I'm not sure what you mean by the flash system being overkill. Do you mean the onboard flash or strobes? If you're using strobes, wouldn't that be a problem with the strobes and not the G10 itself?

Also I found a great way of getting rid of focus lag atleast is to just half focus, and press down once the shot is composed. Makes a whole lot more sense than autofocusing each time.

Also it's important to know that it focuses on contrast best. So focus on the edge of the shark rather than the belly?

I've gotten used to the disadvantages of the G10 and I'm extremely happy with it. Especially after finally getting my own strobes for it.

Once I get the hang of it (and perhaps another complimentary strobe and close up lens) I'm confident that I'll be able to produce photos that atleast compete with a DSLR system.

^ I'm not sure what you mean by the flash system being overkill. Do you mean the onboard flash or strobes? If you're using strobes, wouldn't that be a problem with the strobes and not the G10 itself?

 

Also I found a great way of getting rid of focus lag atleast is to just half focus, and press down once the shot is composed. Makes a whole lot more sense than autofocusing each time.

 

Also it's important to know that it focuses on contrast best. So focus on the edge of the shark rather than the belly?

 

I've gotten used to the disadvantages of the G10 and I'm extremely happy with it. Especially after finally getting my own strobes for it.

 

Once I get the hang of it (and perhaps another complimentary strobe and close up lens) I'm confident that I'll be able to produce photos that atleast compete with a DSLR system.

i mean the onboard flash when you are not using strobes. Find it a bit harsh at times and need to step it down a bit.