underwater photography

hansyhobs

hansyhobs

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Hannah
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thinking about getting a waterproof case for my canon 600d to use when i'm scuba diving. has anyone got an experience with this type of equipment and can reccommend anything? I can currently dive to 30m but soon to be 40m with my next qualification i think. my other option is to buy a gopro but i'm more interested in taking photos than videos. i know these cases can be quite expensive so I want to way up all the options first. cheers
 
First off, the most important part - how comfortable are you in the water? You need to be totally competent before taking a camera down for reasons ranging from safety to protecting the reef.

If you feel you pass that test, check out camerasunderwater.co.uk for a financial shock to the system!

Pass both tests then you can start to think about specifics. Also take a look at Wetpixel.com

Mike
 
thanks for the adivce, I've been diving for years and am very comfortable underwater, going to start training for my divemasters soon actually. Ouch, the housing for my 600d would cost more than the camera itself! might consider a gopro instead as they're a lot cheaper and I can use it for skiing etc.
 
Do you have some form of budget, and what type of water you regularly dive in?

There are several other options other than DSLR's which can be useful. I've found that compacts and M4/3 systems can provide reasonable quality when shooting fairly static subjects, and only really needed the improved AF ability with faster moving subjects.

As an example the Anemonefish shot below was with a canon powershot 100


Anemone fish by Pooleypix, on Flickr

while the pepper morays were with an Olympue EPL-1, standard lens and Olympus's own housing. You could get that setup used for around £600, then add on a strobe or 2.


House of eels by Pooleypix, on Flickr

Either way, a good camera, housing and (preferably 2) strobe setup can be got used for £1000 - £1500 if you have a good search.

If you fancy this, take a look at the latest comparisons on backscatter.com where they review the best compact and mirrorless systems each year.

Mike
 
dslr housing - anything from £1-3k
ports/zooms/focus rings - budget £500 per lens plus about £500-£1000 if you want a dome
twin strobes/trays/cables - another £1000-£2500 depending upon which you go for

have a look at www.camerasunderwater.co.uk - they demo at the London and NEC dive shows most years


I'm considering going for a Canon Powershot G series as you get full control, and can get camera & housing for less than DSLR housing, and don't have to worry about ports etc, only macro/close up rings
 
I used to do a lot of underwater pics and had the same situation, DSLRs are just way to expensive unless your hardcore, I was using a Fuji compact in there own housing with an arm and external strobe, tot cost about £500 and got some cracking shots, thing is depth is not your friend as all the red light goes below 6-8 metres. My fave shooting was 6 metres on a sun lit reef and thats magic. I found the hardest is getting close and just trying not to make to much bubble noise.
 
To the OP
a few questions for you:

Are you planning on using this deep?
Are you planning on using this in the UK?
Are you planning on using this at night?
&
Do you have lights (21w HID minimum)

Gopros are fantastic - I have 2 Hero 2's,
But
they have a few minor issues that make them problematic in the UK.
If its dark they arn't that great, - so deep / crap vis without lights doesn't work.
Also the sensor isn't great in low vis (Hero 3 black is better) but not SLR standard.

Lastly, unless you can afford for it to flood, don't take it underwater..
O rings leak - its only a matter of time.
 
Hi all, ok so I also have a canon ixus 9515 as well so maybe i should look into getting housing for that and then getting some strobes instead. As budgets around £500 would be good but I would be willing to stretch it further if needs be.

Love the picture Mike, where did you take them?
Pete, I've never dived in UK to be hoest but I do plan to change that soon, I just prefer the warmer places like Egypt and SE Asia. I'm not a massive fan of night dives as all the ones I've done have been a bit pants and I don't always go deep, around 15m is probably an average depth but it would be good to use the camera deeper.
 
you sound just like me I gave up cold water UK diving recently after 5 years of wrecks and discovered Egypt, Bali and a wealth of other places. Also my wife learnt to dive and it fitted much better with her, i spent about 3 seasons using a budget Fuji housing and later the strobes although in bright light at under 10 metres the strobes are not realy that usefull i found.

I only stopped my underwater camera fun as i was focusing to much on it rather than the dives themselves.
 
UK for training, abroad for enjoying :)

If you're used to 5 degrees on a good day, <5m vis, dry suit and 7mm gloves when you're anywhere else it seems very easy and always an improvement
 
Cheers Hannah, both photo's were in Sharm, the anemonefish was diving, the eels snorkelling.

Is it the ixus 95IS you have, I can't find a 9515.

If so, it may not be the ideal camera, as it just appears to use auto modes, which, while can work underwater, are not ideal.

Discussions abound on whether you need a camera that shoots RAW or not. Personally, if you're going below 10 metres to shoot, I'd suggest it is a must have feature, due to the colour loss. If your camera has a manual white balance then you may be able to get round the 'blue' issues using a diving slate to manually balnce. You just need to be aware that this needs to be done every couple of metres.

Best results are undoubtedly obtained with artificial light, but this can be where it gets expensive. Strobes to look out for would be from inon, with their S-2000 the cheapest followed by the D-2000. Both are very capable units and don't let their position at the lower end of the price range bother you - they are top notch.

Sea and Sea also produce good strobes. In the current range the cheapest ones are the YS-01 and YS-02, which are the same units apart from the 02 is manual only, whereas the 01can do s-ttl. Older units include the YS-110 and YS-90 which are worth a look at on the second hand market.

Cheaper yet are strobes from Epoque and Fuji. When you look at the GN's remember that underwater they will only provide around 1/3rd or 1/2 of the power quoted as they are quoted in figures tested above water.

Ikelite is another manufacturer, but only the AF35 would be useful, as the others dont easily use fibre optic firing.

Regarding fibre optics, this will be you best method of firing a strobe with a compact camera. In addition, to the actual strobe, you will need a tray, arm and fibre optic cord.

To be honest, you'll struggle to get a new complete strobe setup along with housing for £500 new. The best deal I've seen doing a quick check is for a YS-01 setup from Bristol cameras at £489.

If you want to stick with the 95IS, then you can get new housings off ebay for around £150, but if it was me, I'd look for a used camera, something like a S90 / S95 along with a used strobe. That would give you manual control, RAW, and an external strobe which would be very good for medium sized fish like parrotfish, and very useful for slower moving stuff such as Morays in their holes, as well as scorpionfish, nudibranchs etc, hopefully for somewhere around your budget.

Either that or rent a setup - I've used divelife in Manchester in the past, there may well be other places renting gear out.

Mike
 
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