Second Part of lost SP-350 thread:
Since graduating from the UW presets so I could shoot RAW, I've been using 3 base set-ups in MyMode. One is Super Macro, with a basic setting of f5.6@1/80, one with shutter priority (S) @ 1/60 and one with Aperture priority @f5.6. I've only had one dive with the strobe, and lots of teething pains per previous post. Once I got the strobe set properly on ttl-auto and found a good distance and angle I got some very nice pics with all three settings. Overexposure has been the biggest issue. Thank God for RAW converters. I've been toying with trying the UW presets with the strobe, as I had some really nice shots backscatter notwithstanding using just the built in flash on UW Macro and UW Wide 2. I'd just hate to waste a dive finding great shots and then come back with unfixable jpegs. Hoping when my second strobe arrives that it helps with wide shots, but in Monterey/Carmel water I might have to pop for a WA lens to get close enough to peer through the Plankton. I've also had some focus issues lately with SMacro and may set a fourth MyMode to Macro (and maybe get a Macro lens when the wife recovers from Camera sticker shock?) I'm also hovering between spot focus and i-esp.
Went out Saturday morning in 8-15 foot vis with lots of chunks. Loc-line rig worked awesome. Slightly negative. Well balanced. Loc-line adjusts quickly and easily to pretty much any position.
Had problems with strobe positioning. Sometimes snapped my shot with the strobe behind a rock for an all black picture. Still learning to adjust the camera for the strobe. Pictures were consistantly underexposed, some badly. Thanks to the wonders of Rawshooter, I saved most of them. Many came out quite good. Still having focus problems with SuperMacro. Sometimes I get great detail, sometimes it's totally out of focus. I think this is due to stuff floating around in front of the AF sensor and fooling the focus. Shot mostly in TTL-auto, and had trouble with exposure, plus the thing took all day to set the focus and flash. I'm going to try different strobe settings on Tuesday at Lobos. I'm still getting a lot of shadows and can't wait till the Sunpak comes. I'm hoping it will balance my lighting and eliminate the shadows. Also, it is stronger than the Oly and should cure the underexposure issues. New pics are posted in my gallery. Click on My Gallery to the left. I had a problem uploading (the server dropped off) and got some double shots of the big Cabezon. The thing blended so well with the pipe it was on, my wife pointed it out twice and I still couldn't see it till she shined her dive light on it. It was big enough that it probably would have been legal size for a lingcod and it was so sure it blended in that it just sat there for me while I took 5 shots and a SuperMacro right in its eye.
EXIF is camera and photo specific information that is embedded in every file/photo (whether JPEG or RAW) that your camera takes.
EXIF data would most likely have info on the date on which the photo was taken (specific time), shutter speed used, aperture setting, flash on or off, metering used, exposure compensation and so on...
More detailed explanation of EXIF here..
EXIF information
Yes, and yes. The firmware is available on the Oly website. It updates the battery charge indicator so that if you're using the lower voltage aa's (2.4v, compared to 3.0-3.3 for the CRV-3's), the low battery light doesn't come on after the first 10 or 15 minutes. If you're using the CRV-3's it's not an issue. There is also a huge variation in the quality of rechargeable aa's. There have been long threads on many camera related sites such as this one and Wetpixel on just which batteries to use. (Voltage, rechargeability and charge longevity being the factors). Honestly, I bought an R-CRV-3 locally when I bought my camera-and probably not an especially great one, and I typically get about 2+ hours of continuous use. That works out to 2 dives and a viewing session plus some topside camera use. If you can't find batteries locally, Thomas Distributing is often cited as a source for quality batteries and chargers on the internet.
You're too close for macro. I think the macro range starts at about 8-10 inches. If you want to be right on top of the subject, you'll need to go to super macro, which gets you down to about 3/4". In supermacro, the flash will only work in slave mode, and you'll get a lens shadow if you're too close, unless you're using a strobe. I think you might be able to turn on supermacro in the UW macro preset, but it will change back when you turn off the camera. One solution is to set up UW macro with your resolution and focus choices as a My Mode. Set the settings where you want them. Go to "Camera Set-up" menu. When you set the "My Mode" number, right click one more space where it says, "reset, custom or current". Click current settings for the "my mode" # you want to use, and it will stay there. That way you can set it up for manual or autofocus, auto spot focus, isp focus, etc. If you use manual focus, you can scroll the focus up or down using your menu buttons, and it will give you a screen with a slider bar that starts at 3/4" and works its way up to 8". If you pass that, you get a second screen with the next range, etc. Another issue with UW macro, is in dark water, you'll get a fairly slow shutter speed, i.e. 40-60. If you have surge and move a little, you'll get a blurred picture. You might try going to manual settings in "my mode". Start with maybe shutter speed of 80 on f4.5. Do a test shot at your depth. The camera will scroll shutter speed with the up/down buttons, f-stop with the l/r buttons. Check your screen immediately after a shot for light level and adjust accordingly. Another key is make sure you wait for the focus light to blink if you're in autofocus. Generally the screen will go kind of grainy when it does.
I've been getting very inconsistent focus on Supermacro. I think it's the lack of light at the depths I'm diving (typically 60+ feet in dark water). I bought a little UK pocket light for $14.95 and I'm going to hook that to one of the arms and try it as a focus light, and see if that helps.
I finally got to dive with the Sunpak. Having dual strobes really helped balance the light. I don't have the heavy shadows to one side. Also, on a couple of shots I was able to get under a shelf and still have light on the fish from both sides. I'm still struggling with the settings. I slaved the Sunpak to my Oly flash on ttl setting, and that worked well for the macros, but a lot of my wider shots came in dark. Probably the pea soup green water and 60-70 foot depth. I did get a couple of great shots of a juvenile harbor seal that was following us around, and though they were pretty much black I salvaged them in Rawshooter. I'll post some shots. I think I'll test the manual strobe settings in my camera and set the Oly strobe on Manual to see if I can get more consistent light.
The bad news is that though the Sunpak worked fine when I got home, this morning it wouldn't test fire. I took out the batteries and found a little condensation on them, but definitely no flood. I'm charging the batteries and left the battery door open so if I got condensation in the strobe it should hopefully evaporate out by the time I get home. Fingers crossed. I don't think there's any sort of dessicant in the strobe, so I don't know how I'll keep condensation out in our 50-54 degree water, short of leaving the battery door open overnight after a dive perhaps.
I can't answer all the questions, but one or two... The PFL-01 housing is an Oly product. They retail out at something under 300 bucks, but you can find them online for in the 200+/- range and ebay, if you are willing to do it, is the best bet. Olympusauctions is one of their "stores"... they sell returns, damaged packaged products and my guess, slow moving product, there. I just picked up a brand new, in slightly damaged box (their example shows a badly adhered lablel) PFL-01 housing for $58 plus $6 shipping. The auction just ended so I wont' have an "actual experience recommendation" for a week or so, but their satisfaction rate is very high. I can't even confirm my deal on the auction because of the typical "don't ship to PO box" and after-hours issues over the weekend, but I will probably be giving it a big test in 10-15 days once it arrives.
I saw a Japanese gentleman who had a 5050 setup with 2 fl-20s back in October of '04 when I was helping out at a Japanese operator here. I don't think he really knew much about photography, but everything looked relatively well exposed on the LCD screen at the end of the day. I've got to see if the dual strobe capabilities is something standard or just a Japan thing... work on a Japanese boat and you'll find that they have things which aren't available yet (or ever) here in the US, seems unusual.
Edit: It was on page 16, but the thumbnails aren't working, so I'll put a copy on photobucket and attach it to my next post. Mine is a knock off of Gilligan's, with some mod's, so if you go to his website you can get basic instructions on a similar set-up. Essentially, take a piece of 1 x 1/8 x 4ft. aluminum and bend it in a vise so you have a U shape wide enough to fit the camera and leave you room for an eyelet to hook to your BC plus room for your fingers to reach from the handle and still be able to open the housing. Soap and slide two pieces of 1" rubber fuel/water hose from Orchard Supply for handles. Bend the top with room to attach whatever you want to put there plus your loc-line or ultra-lite mounts. Put a screw or rivet through it to form a square. All the rest is just drilling holes to hang any other stuff you want on there. Your last hole is for the camera, so that it goes where you want with everything else hanging there and you can reach it with your finger from the handle. I'll provide more details with the next post. Maybe I'll Photoshop the materials and instructions on there.
On the strobe, for wide shots, the stronger the merrier. For macros, whatever you're using will probably be set on minimum, with a diffuser. In California water, the only way you're going to get good lighting for wide shots is with a good strong strobe on a long arm to prevent backscatter and a wide angle lens to get the whole subject from a closer distance. The key is get closer. I suck at lighting, so I'm sure someone else can answer this better. Any strobe is better than none, but they do make lighting more challenging. The built in flash will work great on everything but supermacros, but in our water, you'll get lots of backscatter on anything more than about 18 inches.
There are lots of posts on strobes, and they're fairly universal-basically hardwired ttl type or optically fired slave type. They both work fine, but ttl should be easier as it sets itself for the light conditions the camera sees through the lens at preflash. In the Oly housing, the only ttl option is the Oly flash unless you have the Heinrichs/Weikamp bulkhead replacement, but there are a lot of very nice slave strobes out there that work fine. The SP gives you 10 levels of manual adjustment. Most slaves have multiple adjustment levels for flash strength. Turn the dial, take a shot, check the lighting, readjust and retake. You'll get used to setting it for various conditions once you're familiar with whatever you buy.
Linda:
I haven't had any such problems, so I can't really answer that. It's odd that it happens in only scene mode. I have never used AA's. I have a R-CRV-3. The firmware fix is supposed to keep the low battery light from going on due to the lower voltage of the AA's. The CRV-3 the camera comes with is 3v. The alternative AA's are generally only 1.2v each for a total of 2.4, so the camera thinks the battery is low. The batteries seem to absorb more charge after they are charged a few times. I would certainly be concerned, take note and keep an eye on it, in case it needs to be returned for a warranty repair. In the meantime, I would charge it, use it and see how long it will go without quitting. I generally charge after 2-3 dives plus downloads. About 1 1/2 hours of continuous on use. When the battery dies, you'll know it. The camera will go black, but the lens won't retract until you recharge the batteries and put them back in. My charge indicator is pretty much always green till the thing dies. I just use it and keep a regular charging routine. Generally, I'll have it all charged up before any problems.