Using a camera with no f-stop control

Hi all,

I've been diving for years now but am just deciding to make the plunge into UW photography. I want to do make a cheap compact set up to learn the basics before investing thousands obviously. I've done a fair bit of reading already to learn some of the basics.

I already have the Panasonic DMC-TS3. The spec's are here: Panasonic TS3 Specs. It has a cheap ikilite housing which I was hoping to add a moderately priced strobe too. The only thing that concerns me is that the aperature only seems to go from F 3.3 to 5.9 as far as I can tell from messing with the camera and reading the manual. Also, the only way I can seem to change the F-stop is by zooming, In macro mode it seems to always be at F3.3. I am able to change the other settings like shutter speed, ISO, and white balance manually. From what I've learned so far, I'm afraid this will allow to much light in as F8 seems to be the preferred aperture.

I'm wondering what problems I'll run into with these wide apertures, if any, and what other settings could I change to overcome them. Is it even worth it to buy a case and strobe for this camera if I can't adjust this value and I want to learn the basics of UW? What kind of shots will this effect the most, wide angle or macro or both?

thanks!

Hi all,

 

I've been diving for years now but am just deciding to make the plunge into UW photography. I want to do make a cheap compact set up to learn the basics before investing thousands obviously. I've done a fair bit of reading already to learn some of the basics.

 

I already have the Panasonic DMC-TS3. The spec's are here: Panasonic TS3 Specs. It has a cheap ikilite housing which I was hoping to add a moderately priced strobe too. The only thing that concerns me is that the aperature only seems to go from F 3.3 to 5.9 as far as I can tell from messing with the camera and reading the manual. Also, the only way I can seem to change the F-stop is by zooming, In macro mode it seems to always be at F3.3. I am able to change the other settings like shutter speed, ISO, and white balance manually. From what I've learned so far, I'm afraid this will allow to much light in as F8 seems to be the preferred aperture.

 

I'm wondering what problems I'll run into with these wide apertures, if any, and what other settings could I change to overcome them. Is it even worth it to buy a case and strobe for this camera if I can't adjust this value and I want to learn the basics of UW? What kind of shots will this effect the most, wide angle or macro or both?

 

thanks!

My first camera was a Canon PowerShot SD790, and only had full auto settings. This allowed me to focus on composition and lighting with my external strobe. Of course I did not have the creative control that a higher-end compact or dSLR offered, but again, it forced me to learn the basics - and learn them well.

If you're using a strobe, the f-stop will help control the strobe lighting of your subjects. If you're locked into one f-stop in macro model (like I was), you'll control the exposure by a) adjusting the strobe power/ position and b) ISO. If you're shooting wide-angle, you'll be controlling the ambient light with the shutter speed.

If you don't have the cash to move into a Canon S100 or G12, etc, then my suggestion would be to move forward with the set-up you described above, and get those basic uwp skills down solid. It will help a lot if/ when you make the move to a dSLR. If a dSLR is in your future, be sure to invest in good lenses.

Cheers!

The only thing that concerns me is that the aperature only seems to go from F 3.3 to 5.9 as far as I can tell from messing with the camera and reading the manual.

This appears to be the maximum aperture range.

Look down on the table on the link you provided and you will see:

"Aperture F3.3 - 5.9 / Iris Diaphragm (F3.3 - 10 (W) / F5.9 - 18 (T))"

From this it appears that at the widest focal length setting the maximum aperture is f/3.3 and ranges from f/3.3 to f/10 while at the tele end the maximum aperture is f/5.9 and ranges from f/5.9 to f/18.

My first camera was a Canon PowerShot SD790, and only had full auto settings. This allowed me to focus on composition and lighting with my external strobe. Of course I did not have the creative control that a higher-end compact or dSLR offered, but again, it forced me to learn the basics - and learn them well.

 

If you're using a strobe, the f-stop will help control the strobe lighting of your subjects. If you're locked into one f-stop in macro model (like I was), you'll control the exposure by a) adjusting the strobe power/ position and b) ISO. If you're shooting wide-angle, you'll be controlling the ambient light with the shutter speed.

 

If you don't have the cash to move into a Canon S100 or G12, etc, then my suggestion would be to move forward with the set-up you described above, and get those basic uwp skills down solid. It will help a lot if/ when you make the move to a dSLR. If a dSLR is in your future, be sure to invest in good lenses.

 

Cheers!

Thanks for the reply, very helpful! So I guess the biggest downside of this set up is I won't have control of the depth of field. So if I got my hands on a strobe i should always adjust it manually? What about something like the ikelite AF35 (http://www.ikelite.com/af35/autoflash.html) with autoexposure? Do I care about adjusting the shutter speed to expose for the background in this case?

The camera and case are already available to me to use for free so I'm probably going this route to get the basics down like you mentioned.

This appears to be the maximum aperture range.

Look down on the table on the link you provided and you will see:

"Aperture F3.3 - 5.9 / Iris Diaphragm (F3.3 - 10 (W) / F5.9 - 18 (T))"

From this it appears that at the widest focal length setting the maximum aperture is f/3.3 and ranges from f/3.3 to f/10 while at the tele end the maximum aperture is f/5.9 and ranges from f/5.9 to f/18.

Yes, you're right thanks. Although while testing the camera it seemed to choose the largest aperture almost every time indoors and out.

Thanks for the reply, very helpful! So I guess the biggest downside of this set up is I won't have control of the depth of field. So if I got my hands on a strobe i should always adjust it manually? What about something like the ikelite AF35 (http://www.ikelite.com/af35/autoflash.html) with autoexposure? Do I care about adjusting the shutter speed to expose for the background in this case?

 

The camera and case are already available to me to use for free so I'm probably going this route to get the basics down like you mentioned.

The autoexposure (TTL) features are nice (for macro), but adjusting your strobe power manually isn't really that difficult, and will allow you to better control the lighting, in my opinion. You will definitely need to adjusting your strobes manually when shooting wide-angle, as any auto-exposure or TTL functionality would not work properly since you'll be exposing for a) your background with shutter speed, and b) your subject lit by your strobes (aperture and strobe power).

When shooting macro, I typically do not worry about shutter speed as all the light captured by the sensor is the strobe light. You can get creative with slower shutter speeds with macro if you want to include the background by shooting up into the water column, etc., but I typically keep it at 1/125th or higher to block the ambient light and expose for the electric sunshine.

This page/ site is full of great info. http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/underwat...guide-beginners

Have fun!

Zig

Just wanted to let you know we are at the same state. I have done much photography on land and have

just started UW experience and I am using the DMC-TS2. It was a choice made of convenience, I carry this camera

while fishing and just incase. Found out there are no manual settings, nor raw format. First try, involved alot of photoshop.

Changes just recently made, you can set the camera to a minimum shutter speed of 1/125. I also reset the ISO to 200.

All my previuos shots were letting too much ambient light in , slowing shutter to 1/30. Also a biggey, nowhere in Panasonics

guide does it speak of a preflash...however I found out the 99% of PAS cameras are setup this way. Sooooooo my ikelite 51

was firing way too early, thus all my shots were ambient light, noisey and tediuos to repair in photoshop. I will

keep you informed as I make my way with my DDMC-TS2. I know there are superior systems out there but for now

just trying to see if I like the subjects and determine what my niche is.

Bill