cannon G2 & ikelite DS-125 tips

just read all the tips on the forum for shooting with G2

i've just got a G2 and a DS-125 strobe , i'm new to underwater shooting and new to my G2 and how to get the best results . i'm going to the maldives at the weekend and can't wait to use the set up !!

i noticed that i have the raw format but this reduces the amount of images on my cf card (what are the advantages of RAW to J PEG ) . i'm taking 2 x 128 & 2x 64 cf cards so i'm limited on image capacity . can anyone give me any advice on what modes i should use to start off with or any other advice to get the best images. Also any advice on strobe position etc .

many thanks

mark

First, practice a lot, in your living room. Don't need water. Make sure you can get decently exposed shots of a pillow, with no surge...

the difference between raw and jpeg is too much to go into. There is a lot of good info in the canon and canon SLR forums, at dpreview.com. Basically, raw gets out every bit of information, which the CCD sensor produces. Then, after the fact, you convert it, as desired. This is great, because it is like a digital negative. As you get better, or new conversion schemes are developed, you can go back, and get more out of your images.

If you are just starting, and not planning on shooting a ton of keepers right away, then shooting highest quality jpeg would be ok.

Remember to shoot Av mode, flash forced on, no red eye reduction.

ASA 50 seems to work best, noise wise.

Strobe positioning is another good thing to practice at home. Move it around, and see how the lighting angles effect the image.

The things to keep in mind, with strobe positioning underwater, are two. First, the strobe won't reach 6 feet. Get close, then closer. Second, you want to try to light your subject with just the edge of the light, to minimize lighting up the area of water, between the camera lens, and subject.

Single, bigger CF cards are better. What are you doing for offloading them?

I'm currently using the G1+Ikelite housing... and just bought the DS50 last month. Haven't had a chance to take it underwater yet... just playing round in the room, it seems that all the pictures I took under 1 meter were over exposed (even with the diffuser). The camera setting was on Manual, 1/1000, and F8. Is there a minimun distance for camera to subject I should stay?

Thanks...

Your problem is that the G1 fires the strobe in manual, when the exposure setting is manual. So you are getting a full power dump, every time.

I highly recommend using Aperture priority mode. At least, that is what is working well for me, with the G2.

All the shots at my pbase site, are with the G2 and ds50 setup.

Don

great shots with the G2 , did you use the strobe even at the shallow depths on the shark shots.

i've just got back from the maldives were we came across lots of mantas feeding just under the surface . i found it very hard to capture the correct shot , your pictures seem much crisper with more colour!. shuter lag was my big problem !

Mark,

I got the same set-up as you, Normally i shoot macro, which this is ideal for.

Trouble is first trip I am taking is on July to shoot hammerheads lol You got me scared now.

I have been practicing on moving cars, dogs cats, etc..........trying to learn how to track and predict the movement. It is hard isnt it!!!!

I figure I am probably going to take 1000+ action shots before I leave, just to try and get a better feel for the lag issue

Are we going to see some of yours!

Following up on my last post, I forgot to ask. I find on land that panning while shooting seems to help.

Have you or Don tried panning on action shots?

In answer to your question my shots will be coming soon in a web site all designed and produced by a friend of mine (flashtemple.co.uk) the name of our site has not been decided yet but we will keep you posted.

Hello,

i use my G2 with the same parameters, except the flash, which is a Sea&Sea DX90, and I have to use it in manual.

I have a pb with the button on the Ikelite housing which is dedicated to change the mode of the G2 : it doesn't work.

I can't change the mode from Av to Manual or Auto when the G2 is in the housing.

Does anyone have the same problem ?

Oops. Missed these questions in here, for awhile...

Regarding the shark shots - they were with the strobe off. In a few feet of clear warm water, on a sunny day, what would be the point?

Regarding shooting action with G2 - it drove me nuts, until I switched over to "continuous focus" mode. This is NOT because the continuous focus mode gets it closer to start with. In fact, I believe it focuses slower in continuous mode, than in single focus mode.

But, it keeps refreshing the LCD in continuous mode, whereas it freezes the LCD during autofocus, in single focus mode.

Once you do this, then panning with a subject, while half pressing the shutter, seems to work well.

Since all the reviews mentioned that they could not see any benefit from continuous mode, (no focus speed improvement from having the focus approximately right even before pressing the shutter), and since it makes the batteries go a lot faster, I tried it in single focus first, and was hating it

Regarding the problem with the G2 mode button in ik housing - not one I've had, nor heard of before.

I just got back from St martin and my forst trip underwater with the G2/Ikelite/Ds125. sometimes the mode change control works sometimes it doesnt. It almost seems that the rubber contact barly touches the mode wheel on the camera. i am going to call Ikelite tomorrow. It wasnt really that big a problem because I shoot everything in Av mode.

I thought that was just me! I had the same problem, nearly impossible to change the mode when underwater. I am just like you, it didn't really bother me since I don't tend to change.

I had trouble with the dial as well. I ended up taking out the red rubber piece that came with the housing from ikelite and replaced it with a 79 cent sink O-ring from ACE hardware. It worked great then.

As for getting pictures right. I don't often use the AV setting. I usually use the Tv mode or the manual mode. I usually try to keep my shutter speed at ~1/200. This lets the TTL do most of the working in adjusting the flash intensity.

I have a question about white balance. I have heard that if you set the custom white balance by pointing the camera towards the surface, this cuts down on the blue that comes from light absorption. Has anyone tried this?

I had trouble with the dial as well. I

ended up taking out the red rubber piece

that came with the housing from ikelite

and replaced it with a 79 cent sink O-ring

from ACE hardware. It worked great then.

As for getting pictures right. I don't often

use the AV setting. I usually use the Tv

mode or the manual mode. I usually try to

keep my shutter speed at ~1/200. This

lets the TTL do most of the working in

adjusting the flash intensity.

I have a question about white balance. I

have heard that if you set the custom

white balance by pointing the camera

towards the surface, this cuts down on

the blue that comes from light absorption.

Has anyone tried this?

Aloha Y'all,

I've been gleening info from this forum for a while now so I thought it was time to contribute. I have the G2 with an Ikelite case and the ds125 is on order.

So far, I've shot about 1000 pix with only the built-in flash and I am very happy with the system. Here's a few thoughts:

I was surprised that the camera didn't fit the case at first. It seemed Ikelite had one too many pieces in the build-up. This surprised me cuz I read somewhere that they tested every one before shipping. It wasn't a problem after I removed the extra culprit.

Another modification I did was to add a spring to the control that adjusts the zoom. As stated in the Ikelite manual, if the zoom lever on the camera is engaged, the camera will do nothing. This happened to me often enuf that I bought a spring to hold the case knob up and away from the camera lever when I'm not using it. If you're listening Ike, a great improvement for this case would be a spring and something to keep the knob from turning more degrees than necessary for the function. I'm no engineer but it seems this would be easy to do.

I've had no problem with any of the other controls.

I also found that it was necessary to put the case in a cloth bag when transporting it to the water. This wouldn't be a problem with boat diving but I mostly shore dive and kayak dive and the case was getting pretty scratched up. My wife graciously made me a small cloth bag with a draw string that I remove to my BC pocket once in the water.

Please check out the site listed on my signature for my pix. I think it's amazing what this system does without the strobe. I can't wait to get the ds125 so I can do better with the big stuff.

tuga