New A620 owner!

[amajamar]

Hey all!

I just purchased an A620 and housing (thanks, SCUBAJENNIFER)! I haven't received it yet, but should have it by next weekend. I am excited to begin UW photography and I know that there are many tricks to learn.

However, any advice for getting good results with that camera would be highly appreciated.

I dive in New England, medium to poor vis and light.

It's always good to hit the ground running...

 

[Diverchik]

go to wetpixel.com

 

[amajamar]

That's a cool site! Thanks!

 

[Dragon2115]

Congratulations. The A620 is a good camera and once you learn to use it you'll be very happy with the photos it will deliver. I have an A620 with a Canon housing and a YS-110 strobe and am very happy with it.

Advice?
1. Go straight into manual mode and don't look back.
2. Invest in rechargable batteries and a charger.
3. Go out and take lots and lots of pictures while experiment along the way.
4. Leave the lens zoomed out. Get as close as you can to your subject, then get closer if at all possible.
5. If you do have to use the zoom, optical zoom only, never use the digital zoom.
6. If you don't have an external flash yet then save your pennies for one. It will be well worth it. Don't try to go the cheap route either. You'll just end up regretting it and spending more money in the long run. A good flash is probably going to cost you more than the camera and housing combined. Just keep in mind that if you buy a good flash it will move with you to your next camera even if that's several years down the road.

I learned a technique at one of the mini-seminars at Sea Rovers that said to think of every photo as being two exposures. The first one is the background where the flash will have no effect. Adjust the shutter and aperture so that you get the exposure you want for the background and then adjust the flash power to get the exposure you want on the subject within the near field.

I've still got a long way to go but here's what I've been able to do with the A620 over the past year.

All of the photos in this gallery were taken with the A620 and a rented Sea & Sea YS25A external strobe. They were taken in Bonaire, NA and are a good example of blue water performance and what a total amateur can do with this camera in good conditions.

http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k310/Dragon2115/Diving/Bonaire%2010_2006/?start=all


The photos in these galleries were taken the built-in strobe using the diffuser that comes with the housing. They were taken this summer just off of Beverly, MA. You can see that getting the exposure right when there's a tank in the photo can be difficult. You can also see a lot of back scatter as well.

http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k310/Dragon2115/Diving/Clowntown%2004Jul2007/

Disregard the first two out of focus shots in this next gallery. My buddy didn't know how to half pull the trigger so the camera would focus first.

http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k310/Dragon2115/Diving/Clowntown%2014Jul2007/


The photos in this last gallery were taken last month on a seal dive in the Isles of Shoals off of Portmouth, NH. Again the A620 but this time with a Sea & Sea YS-110 strobe. There was a lot of debris in the water as you can see but still managed to get some decent shots even at a distance.

http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k310/Dragon2115/Diving/Seal%20Dive%2025Aug2007/?start=all

 

[amajamar]

Wow, I'm excited! It looks like it can take really nice pics. Obviously an external strobe will be helpfull. I'm going to look for one, but for now will just get in and start shooting.

Thanks for your input!!

 

[Dragon2115]

Yeah, the A620 can take great pictures. The only problem mine has is me. But we're working on it.

On the flash, I was just trying to get across that where they're so expensive it's worth waiting to get a good one that you'll be happy with for a long time rather than rushing into the first one you can afford and regretting it later.

Absolutely. Just get in there, snap away, and have fun. Good luck, and make sure you come back and post some of your work.

 

[amajamar]

Absolutely. Just get in there, snap away, and have fun. Good luck, and make sure you come back and post some of your work.

I certainly will!!

 

[alcina]

If you haven't already, check out the Sticky - there is a whole heap of things to set you on the path. The vast majority of things you need to know are not camera specific.

One specific thing on most of the Canon A series cameras that I have used is that the internal flash on full power is too strong for macro work. I always drop it down by one click for macro. If you are shooting from a reasonable distance instead of minimum distance, then you might need to experiment with moving it back to full power. We have some muck diving here and some sites can be quite dark and dirty (versus the blue water on our main sites) and even in those conditions I turn the flash down.

Have fun!

 

[f3nikon]

Some very good images from a Canon A620 without the add-on lenses, the colors really pop and very sharp focus.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/terong/sets/72157594474474387/

 

[YCW]

It is a great camera. I love mine. You can view some of my photos taken all using A620 camera at http://www.flickr.com/photos/11541778@N06/. The photos were taken with a mixture of using either internal strobes only or a "mini" (Fuji) external strobes. For close up macro shots, make sure the macro mode is on, and zoom all the way out (towards tele end). Most of the close up shots using internal strobe worked fine for me.

It shoots some decent video too, even without the help of any external lighting. Just make sure you do manual white balance before you start shooting. Once you get the hang of it, it is quite easy to do.