Should I get a filter?

Hopefully I'll soon be getting a new camera and housing (might wait for the Olympus C-7070 and housing), which I'll be using without a strobe to begin with, so i was thinking of getting a URPro green water filter (will mainly be using the camera in the UK)

Is it worth getting a filter or should I just use manual white balance? I had thought that properly adjusted white balance would give the same result, but seeing some pictures taken with and without a filter this weekend the ones using a filter seemed clearer and picked out details better than those taken without a filter but with the white balance set manually.

If I do get a filter should I still use manual white balance with the filter on, or let the camera set the white balance? And in what situations should I use the filter - I know they have a useful depth limit of around 20m, but should I use it only for wide angle shots using ambient light, or can I also use it for macro with the internal flash?

Thanks,

James

Hi James,

Yes, definitely get a filter. You will want to use it without the flash, as when you fire up the flash, all of your photos will be bright magenta.

By far the easiest way to shoot with the filter is to shoot RAW and set white balance later in photoshop or photoshop elements. Barring that, you can bring a white slate down with you and set the white balance by pointing the camera at the slate and setting the WB manually. You will need to reset any time you move up or down more than about 5 meters to get good results.

HTH

James

Thanks for the advice James. I'll be shooting in RAW so will probably set it in Photoshop.

What advantages does a filter have over setting custom white balance (other than having to set the WB manually) - will it improve the quality of the picture?

The filter will block the overwhelming green and blue light, letting in a more natural balance.

If the shot is 80% blue and green and only 20% red for example, you may not be able to get a good white balance at all. If you can knock it down to something like 70% green and blue and 30% red, then it's much easier to get a good white balance.

HTH

James

Why, please explain James!

Digital camera, shooting RAW, no artificial light: Why use a filter?

A filter tries to restore colour balance by removing (some more) light.

Shooting JPG I tried that white slate thing. With my Canon it worked very well, but not with my Olympus.

All pictures in this album are taken with no artificial light and manual white balance (white slate + JPG):

http://homepage.mac.com/anders_peterson/Ph...otoAlbum49.html

I would not recalibrate every 5 meters. I'd do it once in the beginning of the dive at a relatively shallow depth where you still have all colours (just not in the usual mix). If you try to set the WB at a depth where one colour (red) is completely gone the camera won't perform very well (my experience). Don't try to get the WB exactly right. Just improve it a bit (as you would with a filter).

If you use filters you should also (in theory) have different filters for every depth and "different water".

My 5060 performs very poorly both in respect to RAW write speed (locking the camera) and JPG compression / custom WB. Whenever I use it without a light source pictures turn out flat with no contrast or detail.

My older Canon S40 performs better in this respect (it has other problems). Perhaps the newer S70 is something for you? Same sensor as the 7070 and also a 28mm lens.

I think you are confused apete - there are two Jameses in this thread. I was telling the other James that you do not want to use a filter on the camera when you are using a strobe as it will make the shot appear red. You can of course use a filter on the camera and a complimentary filter on the strobe though.

Cheers

James

What about using an U/V filter to protect the lens? Is it worth using it, or will it effect the picture negatively?

Thanks

Aaron

You don't need it. UV light is blocked in the first inch of water.

Sincerely,

James

Hello ,

Yes, Surely get a filter. i ahve purchased the shower filters and water filters from the resources below:

http://www.watergiants.com