shooting wide and macro with 300D underwater

Hi all!

I'm new in DSLR shooting underwater. all these while i just use my Sony P5. i just got a Canon 300D recently and eagerly waiting for a new housing to go with it.

some questions to ask all experts in underwater photography.

1. when using my P5, i can shoot macro, and if i see something big, i can shoot wide. is that possible with a DSLR housing? i mean i don't need to carry 2 cameras on every dive, do i?

2. Can i change lens underwater using a DSLR housing? if it is possible, what do i need. It is definitely easy for point and shoot camera.

3. shooting through the viewfinder on a DSLR housing, is't difficult? i mean you just have to look through the small hole in comparison to my big viewfinder of my P5.

thanks for your great advice!

You cannot change ports underwater on a DSLR.

There is a similiar thread as to whether that is really a deterant or not.

Many DSLR shooters I know use wet-mate macro lenses, but no one I know uses a wet-mate wideangle lens.

Cheers

James

i mean i don't need to carry 2 cameras on every dive, do i?

Yes you do. Get an Ikelite housing. You can attach a cross bar to the handles. Then attach another camera to this cross bar. I think I remember someone who did this. Housed SLR and Nik V with 15mm for wide angle. Not very good from a hydrodynamics standpoint.

Can i change lens underwater using a DSLR housing?

I keep trying, but it never works. I'll keep trying hoping for a different result.

i mean you just have to look through the small hole in comparison to my big viewfinder of my P5.

Luckily my eye is smaller than the hole. I find it much easier to see the real thing than looking at the ever transitioning LCD monitor, which looks different depending on light conditions.

Using a wide angle zoom on your DSLR will allow you to do wide angle and some fairly close up work ('macro'). I've only used the 17-40L, not the 18-55, but found the 'macro' performance of this lens quite pleasing. Not as great magnification as a real macro lens, but pleasing sharpness and the advantage of good USM AF which my macro lens doesn't have.

To answer your other question, it's really quite easy to change ports and lenses underwater. The main drawback of doing so is that the housing will become filled with salt water.

I've only used the 17-40L, not the 18-55, but found the 'macro' performance of this lens quite pleasing.

What macro magnification you success to get with the 17-40? and what is the distance from the object?

The main drawback of doing so is that the housing will become filled with salt water.

I don't see any problem here, the housing is exposed to the salt water from the outside all the time, so why from the inside its different?

"I don't see any problem here, the housing is exposed to the salt water from the outside all the time, so why from the inside its different?"

It's because the housing is usually painted on the outside, whereas the inside is unprocessed metal, which is much more prone to corrosion. Plus the inside is more difficult do get dry.

"I don't see any problem here, the housing is exposed to the salt water from the outside all the time, so why from the inside its different?"

 

It's because the housing is usually painted on the outside, whereas the inside is unprocessed metal, which is much more prone to corrosion. Plus the inside is more difficult do get dry.

I think they are trying to be funny here. AS in if you try to chnage ports on a DSLR you flood the housing. Paint or not, your camera would be screwed.

I think they are trying to be funny here. AS in if you try to chnage ports on a DSLR you flood the housing. Paint or not, your camera would be screwed.

And I was trying to push the joke a bit further, pardon my dry humour. 8)

Ahh got ya.

Actually, it is these posters that are all wet. Removing a port below fifteen feet would be almost impossible because of the water pressure............

Actually, it is these posters that are all wet.  Removing a port below fifteen feet would be almost impossible because of the water pressure............

As I quote, note you use the word"almost" thus, by definition, it is possible and we are not all wet. (Just a physically fit group of folks.)