Thank you!
---------- Post added February 4th, 2015 at 11:46 PM ----------
What do you suggest if I think I am more the happy snaps fish ID type? Right now I'd like to get larger scenes, fellow divers, fish, etc.
The reefmaster meets my definition of a happy snap camera. It should do a good (to great) job of taking certain kinds of pictures. It will do a poor (to terrible) job of all others. You may be pushing it beyond it's happy place by trying to take those "other" types of pictures?
Can you provide samples or descriptions of pictures you are disappointed in? This will help others identify potential root causes. You have hinted at "dark" and "blurry" being issues.
Based upon "my interpretation" (which could be wrong) of the reefmaster specs I believe it would be good at the following very limited types of shots:
1) mid distance scenery (8 to 10 feet away) shots above 20 feet in clear caribbean waters
2) slow moving smallish fish (6-12 in) about 2 1/2 feet away from the camera below 30 feet in clear caribbean waters
3) slow moving smallish fish (6-12 in) about 2 1/2 feet away from the camera if in poor light and/or viz conditions
Are you getting okay pictures within these restrictions and bad ones outside of them? Then it is the camera. You will be able to buy better "happy snap" cameras, but not a whole lot better. It mainly comes down to the amount of light the camera can capture.
From a technical perspective the reefmaster lens does not capture much light (aperture is fixed F3.0) which means you need to stay shallow and rely on sunlight or be real close to your subject and rely on the built-in flash. Anything else will give a dark picture.
Lack of light will also lead to blurry pictures on automatic mod since the camera will take longer to grab a picture and hence will cause motion to blur the pictures.
The reefmaster also uses a fixed focus lens that can not focus any closer than 2 feet. Anything closer than 2 feet will be blurry. You need to move back.
But if you move back to far, then the onboard flash will not be able to provide enough light. I am guessing that anything further away than about 3 or 4 feet will be beyond the range of the flash. And hence will be dark, unless you are very near the surface and can rely on sunlight.
It may also be useful to have a good understanding of what types of pictures your camera "is bad at" so you can avoid those situations, or at least be willing to blame the camera and not yourself.
Some keys things to think about:
- onboard camera flash has very limited range underwater
- the more light the camera lens can capture the better - this is indicated by the maximum aperture, smaller value is better!
- for close up shots of big things you need a lens that can do "wide angle"
