Canon D-SLR picture quality? Full-rez Samples?

Hi folks,

 

I'm beginning to consider coming over from the "above-water" world of photography, where I have extensive experience with Canon's full line of DSLR's... from the D30 up through the 1ds and 1dmk2. I've done lots of reading on this forum and others, and, while it's all very interesting and helpful, one thing I have had trouble finding is: pictures!

 

Does anyone have any full-resolution images taken with any Canon D-SLR underwater that they might be willing to share, or point me to on the web, or email to me? I really enjoy looking at the web-sized versions of lots of folks' beautiful shots, but to tell you the truth that doesn't tell me anything about the quality for printing. I'd love to see anything at this point, because I've found nada so far.

 

I'm particularly curious about how much of a factor port distortion plays in image quality, as well as what these dastardly +4 diopter adjustment 'lenses' do the the PQ. (In my dry world on land putting those kinds of filters on the front of a lens is a recipe for throwing image quality out the window!)

 

Thanks for any help or thoughts you might provide.

 

Ben

Just for you, Ben

 

A 100% crop from my 10D. This is post processed.

I see that Ben is worried about image quality with wideangle lenses behind dome ports, especially if using a diopter. Perhaps he is also worried about chromatic aberration when shooting through a flat port.

 

Could a Canon shooter that is using a 1.6x cropped camera post some WA photos, say with the 15mm fisheye? Crops from the corners would be good. Same goes for a full frame camera.

 

Eric has some great shots with the 16-35 f2.8 behind a dome both with and without a diopter, but he is away diving right now.

 

Cheers

James

Rob,

 

Thanks for the 100% crop! Mind if I ask which lens this was shot with? I'm assuming it was probably a flat (macro) port, too? Could you share the ISO setting you used, if you recall it or have it in the EXIF?

 

I see that there appears to be a lot of noise in the fin detail and it looks like maybe you made use of some blurring to reduce noise in the background... or I might just be dreaming, not quite sure...

 

Thanks,

 

Ben

 

Just for you, Ben

 

A 100% crop from my 10D.  This is post processed.

Thanks James -- these are exactly the kinds of things I'd like to see. I'd even be happy to see a full-frame, uncropped image (in critical focus) of something completely boring that no one would care about sharing a copy of. (I can provide a server with enough space if someone wants to upload to me.) Original, unedited JPG or RAW (okay, I guess I'm dreaming now...) would be even better. I'll take anything, though, at this point.

 

Ben

 

I see that Ben is worried about image quality with wideangle lenses behind dome ports, especially if using a diopter.  Perhaps he is also worried about chromatic aberration when shooting through a flat port.

 

Could a Canon shooter that is using a 1.6x cropped camera post some WA photos, say with the 15mm fisheye?  Crops from the corners would be good.  Same goes for a full frame camera.

 

Eric has some great shots with the 16-35 f2.8 behind a dome both with and without a diopter, but he is away diving right now.

 

Cheers

James

I posted 100% crops from a DRebel, Sigma 15mm FE, 8" dome, no diopter, awhile back. Look at the bottom of this page:

 

http://wetpixel.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-5426.phtml

I posted 100% crops from a DRebel, Sigma 15mm FE, 8" dome, no diopter, awhile back. Look at the bottom of this page:

http://wetpixel.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-5426.phtml

Herb that crop is very helpful. I don't see much CA but obviously there is some deterioration in the corners. I'm not too familiar with the Sigma 15 but I wonder how much of that is the dome's doing and how much is just inherent in that lens. Any thoughts?

 

The full image itself looks great and I've no doubt that a shot like that would print plenty large for me. Thank you!

 

Ben

Here's a few more images taken with the 10D...

 

Canon EF16-35L

 

Corner Section

 

Canon EF15mm FE

 

Corner Section

 

How's this for a sunburst with the 16-35L? No flare whatsoever...

 

Canon EOS 10D, Subal C10 Housing, Subal SWC (6") Dome port, Dual S&S YS120's on manual.

 

Stu

When Canon made their 15mm, I heard they just OEM'd the Sigma. But that's just a rumor.

 

Cheers

James

Well, the lenses don't look anything like each other so that sounds like a rumour only.

 

Ben, my image was shot through a flat port, I think with the Tamron 90mm macro. I'm on the road at the moment so I don't have access to the original EXIF, but it was likely shot at ISO 400.

 

If you've shot with the 1DMk2 you know that noise is not likely to be an issue when printing images from these cameras. Blame my post processing rather than the sensor for any 'noise' you see. I was mainly trying to show that the sharpness for printing is quite acceptible after photoshopping; the crop was from the file I used for final output.

 

You mentioned concern re: diopter degrading image, well if you shoot with the 16-35L like Stu or the 17-40L like I normally do you shouldn't need a diopter with most domes (I think, I've only checked it out for the Ikelite domes).

 

I suspect the water/port/lens refraction is going to be the most optically limiting part. Stu's images are great, but the 100% crop definitely looks softer to me than I'd expect from the 16-35L above water (and that's shot through the gourmet Subal dome, I presume).

 

I'm quite interested in the difference in quality between different dome ports (makes sense to optimise things with the port if you're going to shoot with an expensive L series lens underwater), and there was a thread on this a while back, but no images so it's interesting to see some posted here.

 

Anyone want to post some crops from a custom Seacam dome so I can decide if I need to buy one?

Hi,

 

You mentioned concern re: diopter degrading image, well if you shoot with the 16-35L like Stu or the 17-40L like I normally do you shouldn't need a diopter with most domes

 

I'll leave it to Eric to fill in the details when he gets back, but he found he needed a diopter for CFWA with the 16-35L, and that was using the 9" superdome.

 

Cheers

James

I forgot to add that there was a +4 B+W diopter on my 16-35 with the 6" Subal dome...not their big FE2 dome...even the shot with the 15 FE.

 

Another thing too is that the crop was unsharpened whereas the full shot was. The sunburst image if viewed at 100% is as sharp as they come.

 

I've got a shot of an ocellaris anemone fish (Nemo) and it's blown up to 24x36. It will rival any film print and then some.

 

Stu

Thanks for all these pics and comments, gentlemen. This is all very helpful.

 

I've been using the Sigma 15-30 and a Tamron 90 macro for quite a while... I'm particularly attached to the Tamron, as I've found my copy to be sharper than just about any other lens I've shot. I'm wary of losing MF in an Ikelite enclosure, and it seems by my measurements that I'm really pushing it on lens length in their macro port. The Sigma looks to be too fat to fit in their dome, so at this point it feels like I have to swap out all my lenses in order to do this underwater thing. To hear that someone may actually be successfully shooting the Tamron is a boon.

 

The 15mm shot, Stu, seems considerably better on the corner than the other. It's awful hard to calibrate since certainly the lens above water might significantly outperform the wide zoom anyway... but at least some of the crops you folks have posted definitely look viable in terms of large prints, so that gives me confidence that I'm not wasting my time (and lots of money) pursuing a pipe dream.

 

Thank you all for taking the time to crop and post samples. (Don't let me stop you from posting further examples, though!)

 

Ben

Ben,

 

I too use the Tamron 90. It's always used with Autofocus....even critical images like Pygmy seahorses are easily captured with AF....simply turn on the AI Servo function of the camera and the camera will track the subject even though you breathing will cause you to sway...neat trick huh....I figure if my 10D's AF can follow a peregrine falcon, it can sure as heck track a seahorse.

 

The scene shot with the 16-35 is more of a CFWA than the one with the 15FE. I think what you're seeing is the lack of DOF more than lens softness. The 16-36L was shot at f8 while the 15FE was at f14...

 

Stu

 

From what I understand the 15-30 Sigma will not fit in the ikelite port, that is the reason I ended up getting a 12-24 dx for the housing/D70. I understand the 15 FE (sigma) will fit. Perhaps someone with more knowledge will chime in.

 

Tony

From what I understand the 15-30 Sigma will not fit in the ikelite port, that is the reason I ended up getting a 12-24 dx for the housing/D70.  I understand the 15 FE (sigma) will fit. Perhaps someone with more knowledge will chime in.

 

Tony

 

You're absolutely right. I spoke with Brett (Brent?) at Ikelite today and confirmed that the Sigma 15-30 is too wide (diameter) to fit in their port system. (It IS a very wide lens for that type.)

 

Ben

Ben,

 

FWIW, the 10D will give stunning images if you do your part. I have a shot that's being turned into a billboard. Not underwater, but...it's a BILLBOARD!

 

Stu

Click here for my review of the Rebel/300D. It has links to galleries of examples from each of the lenses I used. They've all been resized but feel free to send me an email (the address on the review) if I can offer more input.