Canon A80 Experience

I have a Canon A80 Powershot and have purchased a waterproof case for it (WP-DC900). Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has done some UW photography with this combination, what their results were, tips n' tricks, and links to some of their photos.

Any comments greatly appreciated....

Pete in sunny (but chilly) Florida.

Hi Pete

I have the exact combination you mentioned and just came back from a new year's eve dive in Sipadan, Malaysia. Sad to say, due to our monsoon season, visibility was 3m,10ft at best so the photos came out rather greenish. I hope to try it out again in May. Oh, make sure you have at least a spare set of batt if u plan to do 3 dives a day. when I was down at 38m, about 120ft, the batt kinda died rather quickly.

Have fun with your cam

Aarik

I don't have the A80, but its predecessor - the A40 with the Canon u/w housing.

I think it does a great job for the price of the camera!!!

Here is a link.... some pics are taken with the A20 that I owned prior to the A40, but most are with the A40 - no external strobe, just the camera flash.

Done with A20 in Cuba

The A20 in Bahamas

Both the A20 and A40 (after August 2002) in Canada... brrr!!

Thanks for your input guys. I received my housing yesterday and am waiting for the pool to heat up a bit so I can try it out. Plan to use it this summer in Key West.

Pete

Hello all,

I have this equipment and took some photos last time.

If you use the internal flash use the diffusor too. Ohterwise you will see some snow on the picture, depending on the water quality.

Overall I´m really surprised from the picture quality and the cam´s capabilities.

Nice pictures for the beginning.

Any comments greatly appreciated....

Pete in sunny (but chilly) Florida.

Hi Pete,

I don't use the A80 but a friend of mine bought one and got excellent results with the internal flash and the diffuser. All the pictures were taken in Auto and Macro mode. He got very nice pictures of anemones. Of course pictures taken at more than two feet were full of particules but the close-up were gorgeous.

You don't have to be concerned about bringing your A80 with it's case in your "chilly" Florida waters because my friend took his pictures in 30F (-1C) water. Yes I know it's bellow water freezing point but it is salt water! The outside temperature was a "balmy" 14F (-10C). B)

If you want to have a look at my home page you will see some examples of what can be done with the little brother A70 and some tips for ambient light photography. I suggest you try to take your pictures at ISO 50, this is what gave me the best results.

I could add do a "custom white balance" when you're not using the flash.

Turn off the Red eye reduction lamp when shooting fish or light sensitive subjects (christmass tree worms) don't use the Af-assist-beam either.

You should also consider adding an external strobe in the future.

Hope this helps.

I'll second the comment about not worrying about your camera in the "chilly" Florida waters. I've taken my A40 into the same temps as WetA70 has with no problems - the little sucker even made it through an ice dive or two with 3 feet of ice above the water.