Help on my first dslr setup

22 hours ago, jjmochi said:

Thanks everyone for your advice. I did end up buying the 45 degree viewfinder and taking it with me for 3 days of diving at Anilao. It was a bit hard in the beginning but I got used to it after the first day. I will do a proper trip report later but I'm quite pleased with the results, definitely a lot to learn still but I could see a real improvement over what I was doing before with a PnS. Have not gotten to learning editting yet so I just put everything through the dive+ app.

I have a few more questions based on the last trip:

1) I weighted my camera without the float arms in fresh water (bathtub) before the trip and it came out to be 1100g negative. I bought 2 float arms for +450g each, so I should have been -200g negative in freshwater. However in saltwater it was too positive!! Tried it for the first two dives and it kept floating up and was really hard to handle, I also had to add 1kg of weight myself just to descend. I ended up just diving without the float arms for the rest of the trip which was tiring but at least I could stay still. But for the next trip I would like to get the camera weighting right, but don't want to buy new float arms - is there any way to weigh down the camera? I was thinking I'll add my go pro on top but not sure it'll be enough.

2) My legs kept floating up - it was so hard to stay still and impossible to swim backwards. I am using Atomic Splitfins, which I really liked before as I could move through current really easily with minimal effort. The dive shop recommended I get Jetfins instead as they are much heavier. I am wondering if Splitfins are really just not suited for photography and I should buy a second pair of jetfins, or if it's a issue of skill / buoyancy control? 

3) My air consumption also went up a lot with the new camera. I ended most dives at 60 min and 50 bar. I used to come up with slightly more air than my husband when I was using the TG5, but this trip he came up with ~90 bar and I am at 50. The only thing that changed was the new camera but I am shocked at how large of a difference it made - curious if others experienced this also and if this will get better over time? 

4) I kept bumping my mask against the viewfinder and sometimes it would cause a leak which was annoying - should I be looking through with some distance, or is it correct to have the mask pressed against the viewfinder like you would do on land?

5) Strobes - previously I was using Inon S2000s on TTL, and batteries lasted the full day / 4 dives. I switched to the Inon Z330s on manual this trip and dove the first day on max setting and the batteries ran out during the second dive! Switched to half setting next day and it lasted 3 dives but still ran out on the 4th dive. Is this normal? I'm just surprised there is such a big difference.

I was shooting with the 85mm lens on all dives and think I'll try the 60mm lens next time - some things like the giant frogfish, turtles, and stingrays were definitely too large to shoot with the 85mm - I had to be so far away that my strobes (Z330s) couldn't even light it at the highest setting and the water was not clear at all (maybe 5m visibility) so everything came out murky and blurry.

Also the dive master told me I moved way too fast - that most photographers only shoot 3 to max 5 subjects per dive. Curious if that's the case? How long do you typically spend on a subject? 

 

Getting float arms right can be an issue, 1100 gr negative sounds like a lot, it can be tricky making sure the camera is really floating and 100% submerged, you don't change 200gr in buoyancy between fresh and salt water.  You could certainly come up with some way to add some lead to your rig to get it weighted right, it does not take much positive buoyancy to be really annoying.  You could try to find some way to attach some fishing sinkers or for a neater soulution try something like this:   https://www.amazon.com/Canon-WWDC1-Weight-Waterproof-Weather/dp/B0002DF0FU which could add up to 240gr to your housing.

If you legs float you might consider ankle weights I know my daughter had lots of problems with floating legs which can be a real issue for females.  Probably only need 1lb weights.  There seem to be some weighting nazis around who insist that you can achieve it some other way but for some people it's the only real solution.  Having said that jet fins are 2 lb heavier - I would suggest seeing if you can try a pair to see if you like them.

What batteries are you using in your strobes?  the TG-5 shooting wide is f2 or f2.8 so needs a lot less power than shooting at f11-16 for macro on a DSLR so it makes sense you should get less life out of them .  I have Z-240s and with eneloop pros can get at least 3 dives in shooting at f8.  I'm surprised you needed max setting though for macro when you are close to your subject.  Going from 100 to 200 ISO for example halves the required light so should theoretically double the number of shots.  Same with moving aperture 1 stop.

Air consumption has as much to do with how relaxed you are as the physical effort - you may find yourself getting better with time.

Shoot as many or as few subjects as you like on a dive - that's up to you.  Personally I'm not a huge fan of getting 100 near identical shots of the same subject that I need to sort through and edit.  I'll take a some frames until I'm happy and move on.

Regarding your frogfish, even the 60mm would be challenging I would think, I'd be tempted to do a dive with a medium wide lens to shoot them in the conditions you describe.

23 hours ago, Drwatson said:

I have been to Rangiroa and much of French Polynesia- I know there is probably macro, but wa is so prolific it gets hard to focus on small for me when there. Since it sounds like your set up is new, I suggest focusing on wa when there to get everything set in your mind.
Strobes are useful for the shark/pass dives but there is quite often enough ambient light for many images. It’s good to start with mastering ambient light first anyway- something I am still working on.
When do you go? I will be there soon as well!
I’m taking my 16-35 and fish-eye.

Good to know- I will just bring my Tokina 10-17 and my Nikon 35 f1.8 lens for the surface, and the 4.33" dome port which I hope can be used with both lens. Will be there first 2 weeks of Oct (7-18)

We are bringing our own dive gear so weight is a real issue, was thinking since we'll have dive lights anyway I can use them as backup if I leave the strobes at home, and focus on learning ambient light. I did read that chapter in Alex Mustard's book and will probably buy the magic filter. Or alternatively I can bring more photo gear and leave the dive gear at home hmm...

36 minutes ago, ChrisRoss said:

Getting float arms right can be an issue, 1100 gr negative sounds like a lot, it can be tricky making sure the camera is really floating and 100% submerged, you don't change 200gr in buoyancy between fresh and salt water.  You could certainly come up with some way to add some lead to your rig to get it weighted right, it does not take much positive buoyancy to be really annoying.  You could try to find some way to attach some fishing sinkers or for a neater soulution try something like this:   https://www.amazon.com/Canon-WWDC1-Weight-Waterproof-Weather/dp/B0002DF0FU which could add up to 240gr to your housing.

If you legs float you might consider ankle weights I know my daughter had lots of problems with floating legs which can be a real issue for females.  Probably only need 1lb weights.  There seem to be some weighting nazis around who insist that you can achieve it some other way but for some people it's the only real solution.  Having said that jet fins are 2 lb heavier - I would suggest seeing if you can try a pair to see if you like them.

What batteries are you using in your strobes?  the TG-5 shooting wide is f2 or f2.8 so needs a lot less power than shooting at f11-16 for macro on a DSLR so it makes sense you should get less life out of them .  I have Z-240s and with eneloop pros can get at least 3 dives in shooting at f8.  I'm surprised you needed max setting though for macro when you are close to your subject.  Going from 100 to 200 ISO for example halves the required light so should theoretically double the number of shots.  Same with moving aperture 1 stop.

Air consumption has as much to do with how relaxed you are as the physical effort - you may find yourself getting better with time.

Shoot as many or as few subjects as you like on a dive - that's up to you.  Personally I'm not a huge fan of getting 100 near identical shots of the same subject that I need to sort through and edit.  I'll take a some frames until I'm happy and move on.

Regarding your frogfish, even the 60mm would be challenging I would think, I'd be tempted to do a dive with a medium wide lens to shoot them in the conditions you describe.

Yes I was really surprised to see my camera float in salt water given I weighted it and calculated it in the bathtub. Thinking back the only difference is I weighted it in fresh water with my dive light attached so when I dove the first 2 dives without it I was missing the weight of a dive light + a clamp. I will weigh it again without and see if that solves the gap.

I was using random Chinese brand batteries - worked fine for the TG5 so I didn't think anything of it but will try better batteries next time. I was using it on max because I had read you should start with one setting first, but like you said it was fine when I switched to half or less. 

Thanks for the other advice- will try fishing weights and jet fins, or maybe the OMS slipstreams which are lighter

Few things:

Using the 45 viewfinder for macro does take some time to learn, but makes it much better to frame shots once you get used to it. When I first read that you were bumping up against the viewfinder and that it caused a leak I thought you were talking about the housing - but then realized you were talking about your mask. My mask is up against the 45 viewfinder on every shot - haven't had this problem before...

45 vs. 180 viewfinder:
I own both, and have used both, but after getting used to the 45 I've basically put the 180 on the shelf and use the 45 exclusively for macro and wide angle. Lots of folks are going to tell you that the 45 is for macro - the fact that I can rotate the viewfinder so I can easily shoot either portrait or landscape while basically staying in the same orientation to my subject ends up being great for wide angle. Also - when shooting subjects at the surface (my family was in both Moorea and Tetiaroa last year shooting humpbacks) the 45 is perfect, because you can float on the surface and shoot with the camera just below the surface (although we spent a lot of the time either shooting slightly downwards where the viewfinder doesn't help as much, or shooting level while free diving to about 10-15 feet - where the viewfinder is fine).

Lighting while shooting humpbacks and sharks in French Polynesia: 
While shooting the humpbacks I think you are already know that you won't be carrying any lights (strobes, lights, etc.). You are going to swim, and swim some more, and yet swim even more to both get close to the whales and position yourself so that can shoot side on or face on. You are going to want to push the minimum amount of camera gear through the water. It's all ambient light shooting. 

For shooting the sharks at Fakarava and Rangiroa - I would absolutely take your strobes. Even a small amount of strobe lighting helps freeze the outer edges of the sharks against the water background. Because you will be shooting through several feet of water it will make a big difference (and if you shoot on the outer edges of the passes, you will be deep). Weight restrictions are reasonable on the inter-island flights, and scuba divers can check in an extra 5kg of baggage (on the larger planes). 

Maldives entries:
I've been to the Maldives a number of times, and never had an issue with having my camera handed down to me (via the braided handle clipped near both ball mounts). Some of the dives can be "negative entry" - but never to the point where you couldn't quickly return to the surface to collect your camera. Personally, I would never jump off a boat with my housing, strobes, etc. I have made some "quick entries" sliding off a boat to get shots of dolphins or a manta swimming by, but that's been while snorkeling.

Last - you can shoot as many or as few subjects as you want on a dive. However, Anilao is very much a u/w photo destination, and the guides are all (very) used to finding a subject for photographers then expecting them to spend 1 minute - 20+ minutes shooting that one subject. When you are shooting they usually wander off to find the next subject for you. U/W photographers usually only have 2 speeds on a dive - slow and stop. If you're diving with a (non-photographer) buddy, this can cause some tension... as you shoot more with your DSLR you will notice that you will start slowing down as you dive - and your buddy is going to end up waiting for you (sometimes a lot, as you find subjects you want to spend time with). My wife has put up with ~20 years of this, and I've noticed that I shoot a little less on a dive now when we dive together (it's a compromise). When I dive with either our son or daughter (who both also shoot underwater) we'll stay shooting the same subject for minutes at a time (and cover less distance).

On 9/18/2019 at 3:39 AM, jjmochi said:

I have a few more questions based on the last trip:

1) I weighted my camera without the float arms in fresh water (bathtub) before the trip and it came out to be 1100g negative. I bought 2 float arms for +450g each, so I should have been -200g negative in freshwater. However in saltwater it was too positive!! Tried it for the first two dives and it kept floating up and was really hard to handle, I also had to add 1kg of weight myself just to descend. I ended up just diving without the float arms for the rest of the trip which was tiring but at least I could stay still. But for the next trip I would like to get the camera weighting right, but don't want to buy new float arms - is there any way to weigh down the camera? I was thinking I'll add my go pro on top but not sure it'll be enough.

I would recommend not using float arms, but StiX floats. These small foam blocks provide a modular way to adjust the housing buoyancy. When you switch from dome to macro port, you can just adjust the number of floats on your arms, and/or add the StiX float belt. Much better that way.

Initially I thought that I would switch to float arms after calibrating the buoyancy with the StiX floats. Never considered moving to float arms since I have used the StiX floats. They are just convenient, light and easy to add in your travel bag, not fragile, ...

On 9/17/2019 at 6:48 PM, jjmochi said:

Hi phxazcraig- my next trip will be French Polynesia, diving Rangiroa and Fakarava and doing a humpback whale tour on Moorea, which lens did you bring / find was best for shooting the sharks? I was also wondering if the sharks/mantas/dolphins came close enough to be in range of your strobes, or if you shot most scenes with ambient light only? I am debating whether I should bring my strobes as the weight restriction is quite low (only 5kg carry on) 

You mentioned there are macro shots too- where was that / assume it was not during the pass dives? Or was it in the society islands?Thanks!

 

I was there several years ago, with a new RX100 II system and dual strobes.   A normal range lens with some wideness and some tele.  I'd say wide angle to normal for sharks.  Depending on ISO, they do come close enough for flash.  http://www.cjcphoto.net/polynesia2015/images/150103-102516-00-69-rx100m2.jpg

As for macro, I can't recommend a specific location, but there are anemones and clownfish and some cool clams in a lot of places.