Newbie Must Read: What new system did you just buy?

I have just started underwater photography. I currently have a Canon EOS 5DS R and have purchased a macro lens. I am really after some advise on what lenses are commonly used as there is so much information out there on wide angle and fish eye that I don't know if these are right for me or if there is something else that I should be looking. Any advice would be great

Hello Photo People

I've resisted using a camera most of my adult life . I'm an aspiring free diver and have been doing scuba a year and a half now. And I live in the the Philippines . Having recently made my first muck dives , night dives , Im now hyper focused on taking pictures if not for the sake of art then to help me understand or document this so very interesting behavior of these so very ancient creatures .

I have a Olympus Tough TG-3 ( i break things and well that is why I bought it , it should be more difficult to break, I took my first photos this week with the Sola 1200 Photo light ( makes red light or the wide beam) .

I take good photos ( good for me ) on accident sometimes ( not so great when i browse photos of some of these guys )

My photos accidentally got better with the "focus light" , well some of them did

I"m now Gung Ho to get the Sea & Sea YS-D2 Strobe light .

Does the TG-3 , with the Sola 1200 and the strobe light above seem to be a package that makes sense and will work

I do not know how to use Aperture Priority , White Balance , Exposure Compensation nor have I messed with the settings and stuff,

actually I just read the manual .

using macro and tried the microscope

Maybe my question is will this package work , am I wrong to add this strobe to the TG-3 and Focus Light,

i got a Ultra Light tray and arm as well , I figure if I learn this camera then later on i could upgrade , I really love

the magnifying glass and light alone as well as using the camera , they are two activities that are distinct

in any case regards

Hi,

I'm newbee in underwater photo. I just started with Canon 50D + Canon 17-85 Lense.

My underwater stuff:

1) Ikelite house for canon 50d - 6870.50

2) Ikelite dome port for canon 17-85 - 5503.90

First of all I would like to receive information about correction filters dedicated to clod/green water and for strobes compatible with my system.

I guess I'm no longer a newbie as I've been shooting underwater for about 150 dives now. But I am a newbie in terms of using a DSLR underwater as I've now bought the equipment but haven't yet used it.

I've gone through 3 phases of underwater shooting. (Not counting the first time, when I used one of those disposable film cameras underwater).

First, a series of increasingly-better Canon point-n-shoots in Canon dive housings. I think this is the best bang for the buck and easiest to use. You can get a new camera and housing for $400-500 new. I tried SD630, SD870is and s95. Each was significantly better than the last. I now have a new s120, but haven't had it in the water yet.

Second, I went to a Sony RX100 II (20mp) camera, which is basically a point-n-shoot with a bigger better sensor. This goes into a $1000 Nauticam housing. I have two YS-D1 strobes (another $1000 or so each, including arms and floats). While it isn't as easy to use underwater because of the strobes, it at least isn't hard to pack.

Third, I have a new DLSR rig. D810,Nauticam housing, 105vr and 16-35vr with macro port and 230mm dome port. Same two strobes. THIS rig is an absolute monster in terms of packing, and I'm still trying to work out how to get it packed, plus how to get it onto and off a boat, how to deal with rinse tank issues, etc. I'm sure the technical quality of the images will please me (finally), but the logistic of this rig are really daunting.

I might add that with the Canon point-n-shoot I had a couple of spare batteries and a charger. The Sony rig, with dual strobes and focus light requires me to charge TEN batteries between dives. One for the camera, one (big one) for the focus light, and 8 AA's for the strobes. So 20 batteries to bring and three different chargers.

I only do this because underwater photography seems to be my favorite of all kinds of photography. It's a ton of work outside the water.

I guess I'm no longer a newbie as I've been shooting underwater for about 150 dives now. But I am a newbie in terms of using a DSLR underwater as I've now bought the equipment but haven't yet used it.

 

I've gone through 3 phases of underwater shooting. (Not counting the first time, when I used one of those disposable film cameras underwater).

 

First, a series of increasingly-better Canon point-n-shoots in Canon dive housings. I think this is the best bang for the buck and easiest to use. You can get a new camera and housing for $400-500 new. I tried SD630, SD870is and s95. Each was significantly better than the last. I now have a new s120, but haven't had it in the water yet.

 

Second, I went to a Sony RX100 II (20mp) camera, which is basically a point-n-shoot with a bigger better sensor. This goes into a $1000 Nauticam housing. I have two YS-D1 strobes (another $1000 or so each, including arms and floats). While it isn't as easy to use underwater because of the strobes, it at least isn't hard to pack.

 

Third, I have a new DLSR rig. D810,Nauticam housing, 105vr and 16-35vr with macro port and 230mm dome port. Same two strobes. THIS rig is an absolute monster in terms of packing, and I'm still trying to work out how to get it packed, plus how to get it onto and off a boat, how to deal with rinse tank issues, etc. I'm sure the technical quality of the images will please me (finally), but the logistic of this rig are really daunting.

 

I might add that with the Canon point-n-shoot I had a couple of spare batteries and a charger. The Sony rig, with dual strobes and focus light requires me to charge TEN batteries between dives. One for the camera, one (big one) for the focus light, and 8 AA's for the strobes. So 20 batteries to bring and three different chargers.

 

I only do this because underwater photography seems to be my favorite of all kinds of photography. It's a ton of work outside the water.

LOL, this is a lovely description of the pain of it all (in terms of packing and lugging all that gear) and the hint of joy when you are actually in the water and taking pics

Hi, my name is Colton I have been diving for years but am new to the Underwater filming game and I am having a great time with it! I am currently shooting with a Nikon D7000 in a Ikelite housing. I do not take many photos I only have been shooting wide angle video. I have been using my setup for about a year and Im getting more and more comfortable with it every dive. Here is a link to a video I cut together with some of my UW Shots mixed with my drone shots. https://vimeo.com/144931212 Let me know what you guys think and how I could make it better!

- Colton

 

LOL, this is a lovely description of the pain of it all (in terms of packing and lugging all that gear) and the hint of joy when you are actually in the water and taking pics

And after my first trip with the rig, diving off a cruise ship, I can say that the rig is EVEN MORE WORK than I expected, until I got in the water. That 230mm dome port is just huge, heavy and unwieldy above water. I really had to reconsider whether a DX camera would be a far better choice for wide angle than an FX camera. After one day of carrying 60 pounds of camera and gear off and on a cruise ship, I abandoned the dome port until I get wheeled luggage to get it to a dive boat. Would be fine on a liveaboard, or a dive resort.

Love the pics I'm getting so far, and I see lots of room for improvement.

Hi all friends,I am new to underwater photography.

Got a Sony RX100 II for Christmas. Going to order a Nauticam case for it today. Will be running a ANO 1800 video light till I can get some knowledge in flashes and get me one.... Or two...

The first week of February I go on a cruise it Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel and will be my first time to get it under water. I am excited to be starting underwater photography. I am by no means a pro... But I have enjoyed shooting stuff on land for many years. Had a Nikon D40, then a Nikon D5000. Sold my D500 to get this started. Diving big bit me around 2 years ago and I can't get enough. I appreciate any knowledge that is passed on to me from y'all!

Here are some shots from my land photography days.

Sony RX 100 II

Sony RX100 II

Nikon D40

Nikon D40

Nikon D40

Nikon D40

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got a Sony RX100 II for Christmas. Going to order a Nauticam case for it today. Will be running a ANO 1800 video light till I can get some knowledge in flashes and get me one.... Or two...

 

The first week of February I go on a cruise it Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel and will be my first time to get it under water. I am excited to be starting underwater photography. I am by no means a pro... But I have enjoyed shooting stuff on land for many years. Had a Nikon D40, then a Nikon D5000. Sold my D500 to get this started. Diving big bit me around 2 years ago and I can't get enough. I appreciate any knowledge that is passed on to me from y'all!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Since I have the same rig, and have dove in those locations (and even took a cruise with the same destinations) I thought I might comment with some tips.

Get to know that camera above water using settings you will like underwater. (Plus, check the recommended settings that Bluewater Photo has at their site.)

I dove with dual strobes instead of video lights. I made a few videos with the cam, but my V24 Fishlite was too underpowered to light anything for video beyond a foot or so away.

I have some issues with the RX100 menu system - it's confusing to find stuff, and it's hard to read underwater when you change settings. Text is small. What helped here was to crank the monitor intensity way up. Then I could read it underwater, but all the shots looked overexposed. However, it was just the LCD brightness. When I started processing the images they were fine. Trust the histogram when in doubt.

Initially I was getting soft or blurry shots. I realized that the aperture priority setting I was using wasn't working underwater for me, though it's the main way I shoot above water. The camera was allowing shutter speeds to go too low (1/30th), so I changed to shutter priority, set 1/200th speed and ISO 200 to 400. That worked out pretty well in Roatan in September. I was shooting dual YS-D1 strobes in TTL mode, and I found the best setting was to have the strobes at -0.7. No idea how that would work with video lights.

When diving with a point-n-shoot (or the RX100 without strobes, for snorkeling), I always put a wrist strap on to avoid losing the camera. I was on a Liveaboard once where a diver thought he had the camera tethered when coming up to the boat, but then realized he hadn't clipped it on properly. It was his first dive trip with his $900 rig (Sea and Sea with a strobe). He had done some bathtub testing before the trip and said the camera sank, so we organized an underwater search for the camera. For the next 45 minutes 12 divers did a pattern search under the boat (40-45 feet), but never found the camera. I think the camera only sank in fresh water, and while we were looking down for it, it was floating away. Bummer. Always have your camera tethered to you except when handing it to or from the boat.

Shoot in RAW...

If you've not dove with a camera that has lights on arms, be prepared for a different diving experience. You can't go as fast, nor take your hands off the camera much.

My RX100 II battery was good for at least two 40-60 minute dives. I never tried more than that to see what the limit was. On dive boats I would change the focus light battery and the strobe batteries, but I would leave the camera alone, mostly because I preferred not to try to deal with the camera on a rocking boat with damp saltwater hands.

Be sure VR is enabled in active mode, or whatever Sony calls it.

If you have strobes that trigger via fiber optic cable, be sure to put those on before you get in the water... I don't leave the cables on when getting to/from the boat because I'm afraid of damage, but I've twice gone on dives where I wondered for a bit why the images were so dark...

On your cruise, you have three great dive destinations, though I've not dove in the part of Roatan you are likely go (west end). When I did the cruise itinerary you are, we docked in Belize City, and then had to take a small boat quite a ways out to get to the reef, including crossing a pretty good set of breakers separating the harbor from the dive areas. Not so fun there. In Cozumel, you will likely do drift dives - lots of fun diving, but you don't get much opportunity for slowing down and taking multiple shots. Hopefully that will be the last port rather than the first one so you have time to get used to the camera.

Hellooooo- New to this group!

I need major help. I am a surf photographer in Ventura from the land and need some advice about starting to shoot underwater. I want to be in the surf, in the waves, shooting. Problems are I have a family/child/newborn photography business with which I use my Nikon d700 and my Nikon d90. I use my d700 with a 80-400 lens to shoot surf photography from the shore and I really am hesistant to put one of them in a water housing. I have a 50 mm, 24-70 mm lens for family photography. I would love a light weight option that I can handle thru the surf. I am 5'3" and am good in the water but still don't want to heave 7 pounds of gear thru the waves. I want a DSLR and am willing to do sony or canon, but don't want a go pro or compact. I know in my field, Aquatech and SPL are big, but they are super expensive. Can anyone suggest a starter camera body and housing? I have to save lots of $$ I know....Brand new, don't even know how to make it leak proof!

Hello out there,

I hope a forum admin reads this and can help me. For some reasons, which I don't understand, I can't start a new topic anywhere in the forums. Neither can I PM another member. Did I do something wrong during sign-up?

Thanks for any help,

Liko

Hi Liko

Welcome aboard. Sorry to hear you are having problems.

When you go on to one of the forum pages can you see a black box in the top right hand side which says Start New Topic? If you can, and you click on it, what happens?

Similarly, if you click on the name of another Wetpixel member, do you get a drop down box with Send Message as an option? If you click that, what happens?

Best wishes

Tim

Hi Tim,

the solution was absurdly simple. On the top right it said I was signed in, when in fact the system had kicked me out some time before. Basically, I just logged out and back in. Problem solved.

Therefore sorry for the mess but thanks for the warm welcome. I'm still very impressed by this forum and hope to gain some insights. Any advise on what to read first... apart of the obligatory "READ FIRST BEFORE POSTING" topics?!

Thanks,

Liko

Hi Tim,

 

the solution was absurdly simple. On the top right it said I was signed in, when in fact the system had kicked me out some time before. Basically, I just logged out and back in. Problem solved.

 

Therefore sorry for the mess but thanks for the warm welcome. I'm still very impressed by this forum and hope to gain some insights. Any advise on what to read first... apart of the obligatory "READ FIRST BEFORE POSTING" topics?!

 

Thanks,

Liko

LOL, well done, Liko.... easily done....

I usually just click on View New Content - top right hand of screen - and fill many a happy hour reading

Yeah, people are really helpful on this forum. Glad you like it. Happy reading - and diving.

Hi there

New member (but have been lurking for a while).

I've just upgraded from a Fujifilm F30, which served me extremely well for 10+ years to an Olympus OM-D E-M5 MkII with PT-EP13 housing.

Currently using the 12-50mm kit lens and a borrowed strobe while I learn, and will no doubt be upgrading the accessories in time.

Cheers

Hello all from a Greek newbie.

This forum is awesome and very informative.

I am a free diver who loves the underwater world and especially shipwrecks.

Greece has plenty of shipwrecks and I have start to film them with my custom made underwater platform that holds a Drift HD 1080p action camera.

I hope to buy very soon a 4K camera for that platform.

Thanks and Cheers.

Kosmas (the Cataman is nickname).

Hello. Classically trained documentary photojournalist and personal travel for 35+ years. Two years ago I re-certifed in PADI, after a 15 year hiatus, when my two teenagers wanted to learn how to scuba; so I thought, why the heck not. Shoot Canon for 25 years and Nikon 18 years but also Fuji 4 years and Olympus. My son is planning on going to college this Fall in digital media production, so while he's videoing underwater; I thought I give photography a try. I never had the opportunity to shoot underwater during my initial diving experience; too busy learning and mastering my underwater diving and buoyancy skills.

As much as I want to use my Nikon D4s or Fujifilm XT-1; I just can't justify renting or acquiring housing for them just yet. With baggage restrictions on airlines now, and lugging my travel dive gear..... I decided to go as light as possible for now. For travel UW: I purchased an Olympus TG4 stylus with it's PT-056 housing, color balancing circular gels, tray and arms (interlocking socket joint which I hate, and will later change), Sea & Sea YS-D2 strobe, Olympus PTWC-01 UW wide conversion Lens, and set of Light & Motion Sola 1200 photo lamps. Unfortunately my trips to Turks & Caicos and Punta Cana weren't ideal for photography; T&C visibility was less than 40 feet and murky from off shore storms. Punta Cana we endured really strong and rough currents; despite having extra weights, we were all tossed around. One positive note: my kids did absolutely awesome on their first drift dive.

Hellooooo- New to this group!

 

I need major help. I am a surf photographer in Ventura from the land and need some advice about starting to shoot underwater. I want to be in the surf, in the waves, shooting. Problems are I have a family/child/newborn photography business with which I use my Nikon d700 and my Nikon d90. I use my d700 with a 80-400 lens to shoot surf photography from the shore and I really am hesistant to put one of them in a water housing. I have a 50 mm, 24-70 mm lens for family photography. I would love a light weight option that I can handle thru the surf. I am 5'3" and am good in the water but still don't want to heave 7 pounds of gear thru the waves. I want a DSLR and am willing to do sony or canon, but don't want a go pro or compact. I know in my field, Aquatech and SPL are big, but they are super expensive. Can anyone suggest a starter camera body and housing? I have to save lots of $$ I know....Brand new, don't even know how to make it leak proof!

Sorry for the slow response. Haven't been getting on these forums enough lately.

I'm thinking your best best would be a used D90 housing. Put your D90 in it, and whatever lens/port seems right for the photography you intend to do. Sounds like it could be wide angle, and probably a Nikon 10-24 (or Sigma 10-20, or similar Tokina) would work ok behind a smallish dome.

Hey guys anyone know about NIMAR houses? I have found them cheaper then others but I can't found any review about them!

Any help?

Thanks