Generic/Nikon D7200 Wide Angle settings

It’s been about 5 years since I’ve been diving with my slr setup and stupidly reset and I’ve forgotten the generic settings for shooting wide angle underwater. I shoot with a d7200 and am heading back to Socorro in Jan. 

I mainly cannot  remember what focus mode, focus type and metering mode to use.
 

Any helpful reminders greatly appreciated :)

Hi!

For wide-angle you could use pretty much any focussing type. If you just want the broad sweep of the "horizon", I'd go for Auto Area with an f11 or f16 aperture; if there's one point of interest you want to draw the viewers attention to, I'd go for Single Point then, perhaps a wider aperture to reduce the depth of field - say f8 or f5.6.

I use the Matrix meeting setting most of the time for the mode; and for wide-angle usually AF-S rather than AF-C.

Hope that gets you going. Enjoy Socorro!

Thanks Tim!

Gives me some things to use as a basis

No worries.

You can't really go wrong with wide-angle once you decide whether its a general shot of the reef (not very effective by my experience) or you narrow down to highlight one aspect against the general reef background, eg a Gorgonia, colourful coral outcrop....

... then it's about choosing depth of field and lighting that element whilst balancing it against the ambient light.

I use a Nikon D7200 and usually shoot wide angle. My presets before entering the water are:

Exposure Mode:  Manual

Release Mode:  Single

ISO:  200

Focus Point (Metering Mode):  Spot (use the Multi selector to move the focus point as needed)

Shutter Speed: 1/250 or 1/320 (depending upon lighting conditions)

Aperture:  f/8

Focus Mode Switch: Auto-Focus

Depending upon what's happening in the water, I make adjustments as needed.

If you're pursuing large animals at Socorro with decent ambient light, you may find yourself shooting with no strobes with a higher ISO and slower shutter speeds. Aperture adjustments may need to be adjusted as well.

-Tinman