Film speed

[zinnia7]

Someday I hope to be able to invest in a good U/W digital camera, but for now I have a SharkDiver cheapy film camera (about $40) that goes to 80ft. It doesn't take beautiful vibrant pictures, but my husband and I are new divers and mainly like to have pictures of each other underwater and a few fish here and there.

I use Fuji 400 speed film and the pictures are not horrible, but they all have that sort of dark blue/green colour to them. Would 800 speed help at all? Or is there no help for such a camera?

Thanks

 

[Diver Dennis]

Try using the ambient light at shallow depths. When shallow, I just uses strobes to fill in dark areas. The lack of light in deeper water is the problem.

 

[ChrisA]

I use Fuji 400 speed film and the pictures are not horrible, but they all have that sort of dark blue/green colour to them. Would 800 speed help at all? Or is there no help for such a camera?

Water filters ou the red component of sunlight Remove the reds and you are left with blue/green color. The deeper you go the more red is filtered out. There are only a few options

Buy an orange filter to re-balancethe color, Kind of a hassel as the exact filter depends on what's in the water with you and the depth. (This method is used mosty with video camers)

Dive shallow so not much red is filtered

Use a strobe to add light and restore the reds

SCan the negatives and color correct as best you can with an image editting program like Photoshop or Gimp.

Go to a profesional lab rather then the drug store and explain to the printer how he should hand-corect the color. tell him what color each object should be. This is expensive but works well for the one or two shots you want to make enlargments of. Expect to pay maybe $30 or more for an 8x10

No, a faster film will no help with the color.

 

[zinnia7]

Thank you!

 

[PapaBob]

Zinnia: Chris is right. Faster film will not help the color problem but could give a better exposure if light is a problem. I don't like the extra grain so I shot 400 a lot when I used to use film.

If you can find a way to digitize some of your best pics of you and hubby, post them in your SB gallery. I am happy to see what I can do to help you Photoshop them and there are other members who I know will make constructive suggestions.

---Bob

 

[alcina]

Great advice above. I would add this:

Do the math - how much did the camera cost, how much does film cost, how much does it cost to devlop it, how much is your time worth to scan and muck about in software, how many images are "keepers"...

I'll bet you have or will have soon a compact digital camera. Check out www.digideep.com for your camera model to see if there is a housing available. Expect to pay around $160ish for the housing. If you don't have a digital yet, make sure when you do get one it has a housing.

The costs of film add up (especially in lost opportunities) and even the older, low MP and limited feature digitals offer more than many of the reusables.

Just something to keep in mind

 

[zinnia7]

I do have a digital camera, but it is not that great (Sony DSC-P8....only 3.2 megapixels) and I did not want to invest alot of $$ in the U/W housing for it. I would rather invest the money in a good U/W digital camera. I just haven't been able to make that investment yet.

We have a new rule on this trip to save the hassle of wasted pictures - so hopefully we will only take about 1 roll of film. (yeah right) But unless there is something truly spectacular - then no pictures.

 

[Doc]

the pictures are not horrible, but they all have that sort of dark blue/green colour to them. Would 800 speed help at all? Or is there no help for such a camera?

I agree with the prior posts, but to answer your question... (and I assume you have no flash)

Higher speed film will help if you hold a CC30R filter in front of your lens.

Try ASA 1000 color print and either hold or mount this Color Correction #30 Red (CC30R) filter in front of the lens.

Don't fret, almost any red filter will do, find them in the $1 clearance dump box at any "real" camera store. Darker versions are also used for increasing contrast in Black & White. (If anyone thinks film shooters are keeled over & dead, b&w shooters have turned to dust)

Your contrast will increase dramatically due to the nature of high ASA film as well as the effect of the filter- which will reduce the blue.

Insanity? Yes, but the precise answer to your question. All in all, though, a perfect solution to shooting in 3-5 feet of water, best over sand, sun overhead.

 

[reidman]

I shoot 100 speed Kodak UC film I ran out in Aruba and had to use cheaper film still 100 speed you would not believe the difference in color. Film quality does make a difference in color also. But the best way to get color with a cheap camera and no strobe is get real close for the internal flash to work. AS close as the camera will allow forget the long distant shots.