S2 and Ikelite housing

Hello all. I'm leaving Friday for a week in Grand Turk and just picked up an Ikelite housing for my S2. I'll be using a Nikon 60mm lens, and two strobes in ttl, and mostly shooting macro. I'm nervous about taking this new camera down in a new housing, and have just updated my DEPP insurance!

I've been very happy with my N90, 105mm and Sea&Sea housing, and am comfortable with the settings and film I use, but even on land, am still much less familiar with this new digital camera, and the 60mm lens.

I plan to shoot in RAW (I have a 1G drive and a card reader) and will bring a laptop along to look at the pics. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what settings (sharpness, etc) would be best to begin with for the camera settings? Also, someone suggested getting a couple of those small moisture packs that ship with computer devices to stick in the housing because of potential moisture problems (in case my roommate insists on air conditioning). Any opinions?

I'm a new user to Wetpixel and what I've written above was my original question on dpreview.com. James W suggested I post this here. I just read his review and got some great ideas... much appreciative of his 'lessons learned'.

I didn't realize conversion from RAW to jpg can be such a timely process, so does anyone see any problems with only shooting jpg fine? And what about sharpening, standard? hard?

Also, I noticed in a post somewhere here on wetpixel, a comment about the S2 being in TTL mode. Have I missed something? I thought only the strobes needed to be set to ttl... is there a specific setting on the S2 that needs to be set for use with the strobes?

I'd appreciate any info, experience or suggestions, specifically about settings. I've noticed much talk on other boards about underexposure issues with the S2.

I think back to my beginnings with my Nik5, and then my N90 and all the struggles to 'get it right'. I so appreciate not needing to 'reinvent the wheel' and learn from others.

Thanks, Margaret

Hi Margaret,

Thanks for signing up over here. I think you'll find this message board to be a really valuable resource as you learn to use your S2 underwater.

On to the questions:

I didn't realize conversion from RAW to jpg can be such a timely process, so does anyone see any problems with only shooting jpg fine? And what about sharpening, standard? hard?

The raw converter software take some time... On my 1.4ghz machine it takes about 1 minute to process a RAW file into 12 megapixel tiff. Ouch! That's why I suggest you at least START with Jpeg on your first dives, so that you can review your photos in between dives without having to convert them. That will help you learn faster at the outset. You WILL want to switch to RAW after you are comfortable with the setup though.

Also, I noticed in a post somewhere here on wetpixel, a comment about the S2 being in TTL mode. Have I missed something? I thought only the strobes needed to be set to ttl... is there a specific setting on the S2 that needs to be set for use with the strobes?

The camera actually has 3 types of TTL but don't worry, when you hook up an underwater strobe it will default to plain old regular TTL. You can change between rear curtain sync and slow sync using the flash control button on the upper left of the camera. In the Ike housing, make sure the control lever isn't pressing that button by accident (happened to me a few times) because you won't be able to take a shot.

I'd appreciate any info, experience or suggestions, specifically about settings. I've noticed much talk on other boards about underexposure issues with the S2.

The S2 (for me at least) seemed to consistently underpower the strobes for my macro shots by about 1 stop. I just added Flash +/- 1.0 or until the shots looked right.

I also noticed that when shooting aperture priority with the strobes connected, the camera wouldn't set the shutterspeed at 1/125th. It would actually go much lower (because of low light) which would make for some really funky shots.

Cheers and have fun!

James

James, you mentioned that sometimes, in aperture priority mode, you would get very slow shutter speeds. Did you by chance have the flash set to 'slow sync'? This would cause very slow shutter speeds while using aperture priority. I have never seen a situation where, with the standard flash setting, the shutter speed was different than 1/60 or 1/125. Just wondering because you also mentioned changing between rear curtain and slow sync on the S2.

My housing arrived today. Now I need to 'get wet'!

DannyT

I was putting it in rear curtain sync.

I'll play with it a bit this weekend and read up in the manual a bit more.

Good suggestions and happy to have you and Margaret here on wetpixel danny. I need more "S2-heads" to chat with!

Cheers

James

Well, I wrote a big post, and lost it, so I'll try again.

I put the raw conversion sw on my old laptop last night... only 64mb ram... it failed mid way through the conversion. Don't know that I'll be able to find more ram in time to leave tonight, so my question is, how important is it that I be able to do the conversion while I'm away?? I'll still be able to view the raw files as large thumbnails with the Fuji sw. I have a larger laptop (my old one is 3lbs) which I can take if anyone thinks I'll be regretting it if I cannot convert the files while there.

Some more questions...

What about shooting in manual mode... I assume the shutter speed will stay put then, right?

Also, I've noticed when I push the PLAY button, it seems to take an awfully long time to stop playing... can I continue shooting during this time?

I've got Sea&Sea o-ring grease, and assume that will be fine to use for the ikelite.

As far as the screws on the clips for attaching the port to the housing... I don't tighten them after the port is on, right? i just set them so the tabs click in securly and properly when the port is seated, right?

Is rear sync a better option for uw photos?

I realize with some of these questions, I could have figured them out myself had I given myself the time. As it is, I didn't.

I think I've read that it is fine to let the S2 with a 1g microdrive go through the luggage scanner... is this accurate? I'll have nothing on it when I go through, but may when i come back.

So, I'm feeling pretty nervous taking this camera down with this new housing. Even with insurance, when I flooded my NikonosV, I cried. And then my lack of familiarity with the camera is a stressor as well.

So do most people play any of the pics back while they're underwater... just to get an idea of how they're looking? Any reason not to do this?

Thanks and I'll check back this eve before I leave for the airport, in case someone blesses me with their pearls of wisdom.

Thanks,

Margaret

I know this sounds crazy, but give me a call before you leave and I'll explain this stuff. I sent you a private message.

Do NOT grease any of the ikelite o-rings. Especially with sea and sea grease. As you well know, the sea and sea grease will get in a huge fistfight with the ikelite rings and they will end up beating eachother up...

Cheers

James

That would be GREAT! Where do I call you? It's 12:17 pm my time and I won't leave for the airport until about 6 or 7pm.

I can't get more ram... old edo memory, so it needs to be ordered. I'm going to increase the virutal memory and see if that works.

THANKS!

Margaret

James, you seem to be a pioneer with the S2 housing. I am relieved to see that I'm not the only person with all these questions. Keep up the good work.

I have been fortunate to use the my S2 extensively on land before taking it down in my Ikelite housing. I use it for documentation purposes in my work and even at it's lowest settings, it far excedes the requirements. I am struggling with the resolution issue for my upcoming trip on the Belize Aggressor. I have a 256 and a 512 card and a laptop with CD burner so storage shouldn't be an issue. The question is how hard do I want to work between dives and how much is enough.

Again, thanks for all your advice and Margaret, I was at Salt Cay a year ago and all I can say is, Wall Diving Extravaganza.