Hello,
I have a Canon A620 camera in a Canon housing & no strobes. I have always had some focusing issues, which at times is frustrating and can cause me to miss a shot, but at least I have some methods to try to work around it. Of course that is not the point of this post
The problem I am having with my A620 that I have not been able to work around is that I have problems taking pictures in low light, bad viz and/or deep dives with this camera.
For instance, when wreck diving on weekends around Miami (where I live) and the Keys, many times there is not a lot of natural light (due to depth, viz, cloudy day or a combination). If I want to take a picture of the wreck or anything outside of flash range, my pictures always either end up way to dark (even with an f-stop of 2.8 and shutter speed of 1/60). The few that came out decent happen to be on really good viz days with lots of sunlight. However, those types of conditions haven't been the norm for me over the last year or so.
If I boost up ISO then my pics get way to grainy and loose too much detail for my taste. I notice degradation even just going up to ISO 100. Anything above that is really bad in my opinion - unless there is plenty of light, which of course if there was I wouldn't need to increase the ISO. So right now, I either take grainy pics or pics that are way to dark in these situations.
I have been investigating other cameras to try to find one that can do much better job at low light levels without going to a DSLR. BTW, I do have a DSLR for top side pics, but I am not currently willing to spend a couple of grand on a housing for that camera or take the chance of a flood with my DSLR. I read that the Fuji F-31D is the best compact camera for low light levels with the least amount of noise and distortion. I also read that it does better at higher ISO levels than any other compact camera on the market. I am hoping if I buy it, I can finally get some decent pictures in low light.
Can anyone confirm what I have heard about the F-31D? Or do you know of a non DSLR camera that is better? Manual controls is a must. RAW is plus, but not required - especially if there is a firmware hack like on the Canon's to allow RAW anyway. : )
Thanks,
--Mike
I have a Canon A620 camera in a Canon housing & no strobes. I have always had some focusing issues, which at times is frustrating and can cause me to miss a shot, but at least I have some methods to try to work around it. Of course that is not the point of this post
The problem I am having with my A620 that I have not been able to work around is that I have problems taking pictures in low light, bad viz and/or deep dives with this camera.
For instance, when wreck diving on weekends around Miami (where I live) and the Keys, many times there is not a lot of natural light (due to depth, viz, cloudy day or a combination). If I want to take a picture of the wreck or anything outside of flash range, my pictures always either end up way to dark (even with an f-stop of 2.8 and shutter speed of 1/60). The few that came out decent happen to be on really good viz days with lots of sunlight. However, those types of conditions haven't been the norm for me over the last year or so.
If I boost up ISO then my pics get way to grainy and loose too much detail for my taste. I notice degradation even just going up to ISO 100. Anything above that is really bad in my opinion - unless there is plenty of light, which of course if there was I wouldn't need to increase the ISO. So right now, I either take grainy pics or pics that are way to dark in these situations.
I have been investigating other cameras to try to find one that can do much better job at low light levels without going to a DSLR. BTW, I do have a DSLR for top side pics, but I am not currently willing to spend a couple of grand on a housing for that camera or take the chance of a flood with my DSLR. I read that the Fuji F-31D is the best compact camera for low light levels with the least amount of noise and distortion. I also read that it does better at higher ISO levels than any other compact camera on the market. I am hoping if I buy it, I can finally get some decent pictures in low light.
Can anyone confirm what I have heard about the F-31D? Or do you know of a non DSLR camera that is better? Manual controls is a must. RAW is plus, but not required - especially if there is a firmware hack like on the Canon's to allow RAW anyway. : )
Thanks,
--Mike