A640 with Canon Housing???

[Funland111]

Thanks for all the input. I am a newly certified diver, I don't know how far I'll go with underwater photography. Based on the input I've decided on the A640 --- I wasn't planning on buying a strobe -- maybe I can rent a strobe while in Hawaii.

Thanks again -- Bill

 

[alcina]

You'll have a great time with that camera. If you don't want to get a strobe at the moment, remember these two things:

1 - get close, then get closer BUT know your minimum focus distance!
2 - learn how to set your manual white balance for those shots where you do not want to use your flash or for when your subject is too far away for your internal flash.

Oh yeah and most importantly:
#3 - have fun!!

Pink link has more info on settings to start with and white balance etc to help you get started.

 

[Dragon2115]

Thanks for all the input. I am a newly certified diver, I don't know how far I'll go with underwater photography. Based on the input I've decided on the A640 --- I wasn't planning on buying a strobe -- maybe I can rent a strobe while in Hawaii.

Thanks again -- Bill

I have the A620 in the Canon housing and if the A640 and housing are the same layout the built-in camera flash will be next to useless. The housing will block it. Here's an example.



You can see where the flash is blocked in the lower right section of the photo.

I rented a YS25A strobe and attached the optical synch cord to the front of the Canon housing using self-adhesive velcro from the hardware store and it made a world of difference. Here's an example.



This is a night shot so it's relying totally on the external flash. The other advantage to the external strobe is that you'll have more control over the flash output. That can be both good and bad if you're just starting out because it's one more thing you have to think about but it won't take very long to figure it out.

So for this setup you pretty much have two choices, shoot without the flash using ambient light and manual white balance, or buy/rent an external flash.

 

[alcina]

Have you put the diffuser on the housing? You need it to spread the light. Once on, you should not get any shadows from the housing.

I have an instructor with this system and he was frustrated until he brought me everything and I saw the diffuser

 

[Dragon2115]

I tried it once and it cut the effective range of the flash so much it was pretty much useless. The sunstar in the photo above was taken with full power flash from only 18" away. My local conditions aren't very good for photography unless you've got a fairly decent external flash. Maybe the diffuser works better in clear water where there's better light penetration and you get more out of the flash. I didn't try it in Bonaire since I rented an external flash so I don't know.

 

[alcina]

It's going to be a tradeoff as is everything in photography. You must use the diffuser to eliminate the shadow, regardless of how dark your water is. If your water is very dark, then you will have to:
- get closer
- open your aperture
- slow your shutter speed
- up your ISO
You'll have to try each and combinations to see what will work best (well, getting closer will work best, but might not suit what you are trying to do!).

Adding an external strobe will give you the most flexibility.

You can also leave the diffuser off the unit and just frame your shot to allow for the shadow area to be cropped out later.

 

[Dragon2115]

I hear what you're saying but...

Focal Length - 36mm
Shutter Speed - 1/40
Apeture - f/2.8
Distance - 18" or less.
ISO - 50
Flash - forced, max output

I really don't think there's much more that can be done, short of an external flash.

 

[alcina]

Definitely an external strobe will make things far easier and provide the best flexibility!

As an aside, 18" isn't really close underwater - even clear water. When you have the darker waters eating even more light, 18" is MILES as you've seen and as your photo demonstates.

You might want to experiment with ISO 100 or even ISO 200 - you might find that you can shoot a good variety of subjects without too much extra noise, but each model seems to be different and everyone's eye is different when it comes to noticing noise. It would buy you a bit more control - only you can decide if the tradeoff is worth it. But I know there are quite a few of us who would love to see the results!

 

[Dragon2115]

That sunstar was large enough that 18" (or a little less) was as close as I could get and still keep the subject in frame with the camera zoomed out all the way.

Here's a link to my most recent photos.

http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k310/Dragon2115/Diving/Bonaire 10_2006/

 

[dcs917]

I have the A620 with the Canon Housing. As I'm sure you are aware, it cannot accept add-on lenses unless you modify it as shown on the Wetpixel site.

My housing decision was driven more by cost than anything else. I could not justify paying over 3x the Canon price for the Ikelite housing, and I really liked the compact design of the Canon housing as well. By the way - purchased the Camera and Housing at B&H Photo - great service.

Please see some of my pictures for a few samples.