Newbie frustrated with Sea Life

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Joyinthewater

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Utah, USA
I have the very basic Sea Life Reefmaster. It's a little camera that cost about 250 I think. I've had it about a year and have become increasingly frustrated with my photos. I like the cameras simplicity and ease of use and small size. I have been telling myself I can't expect amazing things from a starting model and even more importantly, I have felt the problem was probably me needing to get better skills with the camera and diving. But still, I've been frustrated. Many dark and poor images. I've done a bit over 100 dives, most of which were in poor light and vis conditions.
So this last week I did a test. I borrowed my hubby's underwater Iphone case which he uses and my friends GoPro. I shot the same stills with these and my sealife. Hubby's were better lighting though some were blurry. GoPro were markedly better.

I don't understand. I have always understood Sealife is better for stills, GoPro for video. I did borrow a DC 1400 once and didn't have hugely better pictures. Also wasn't crazy about the larger size. But maybe that would be better? Maybe a GoPro is a better option for me?

Id if really appreciate any thoughts or information from you awesome people 😊
Joy
 
Well, I'll share my story. I started out with an Olympus Dimage, which I loved, because the camera AND housing were about the size of a pack of cards, and I could stick it in my pocket and forget about it, until I wanted to ID something. I flooded it and MOURNED, because they no longer made the camera, so it was irreplaceable. I moved up to another Olympus camera, one which was waterproof to 10 feet, so if the housing flooded, the camera wouldn't die. That worked until the acrylic housing began leaking around the button throughports, a known problem which is not fixable. Of course, they no longer made the housing for the camera they didn't make any more, so I was SOL.

I upgraded to the Stylus Tough . . . and HATED it. My pictures were awful. They were never sharp and often grainy, and there were very few user controls for the photos. I whined and whined about the camera, and how bad my pictures were -- and then my husband swam up to me, on a dive in the Red Sea, and grabbed my camera away from me and gave me his. I took a few shots and got back on the boat and reviewed them, and I was utterly amazed and delighted to discover I had a handful of pictures I really liked!

Beyond a certain point, the equipment DOES limit what you can do. If you are really unhappy with the pictures you are getting, and have been happier with pictures from other equipment, you need a new camera.
 
I'll second what TSandM said. I am not a fan of GoPro. You cannot adjust the white balance and the red filter is good for a shallower depth. IMO get a camera that can shoot in RAW mode so that you have control over post processing especially on non-strobe shots. A camera that can do that most likely can shoot good videos as well. You will also need a strobe.
 
Light. You got to have light. Water absorbs light. I have a sea life DC 1200 with strobe. Began with the DC 500. Until I got a strobe there were a lot of green pictures and not very sharp. Once I got a strobe and began to shoot closer the pictures started to get much better even with the DC 500.

Now I shoot a DC1200 with digital strobe and fisheye wide angle lens. Pictures much better. Camera is still a better camera than I am a photographer.

Physics uses laws and not suggestions. You cannot fight the law and win.
 
all cameras have limits. some things they do well, others not so much.
all photogs have their limits. some things they do well, others not so much.

i suggest you have started down the path of learning more about both: yours and the camera's limits. once you know more about which limits you are hitting (i.e. exactly why your pictures are bad) then you can make the appropriate equipment or technique changes (hint: technique changes are often simpler and much cheaper....)

you complain of "dark" pics. as flagged above,
- you do not have enough available light,
- OR have not adjusted your camera settings to compensate for low light conditions (may be limited or impossible?)
- OR have not adjusted your technique to compensate for low light conditions.

a potential technique change is to get closer so that the light from the onboard flash can reach your subject. i carry a small pocket happy snap camera and it's flash has an effective range of less than 1 foot underwater. more than 1 foot away means i am relying on ambient light and now have a high risk of getting a "dark" picture.

or you could add more light. $$$$. but i suggest you try to learn as much as possible before you make any hasty expensive equipment purchases.

you also complain of "poor" images. if you provided more detail on what you mean by poor, then i am sure you will be able to get some specific pointers for potential areas of improvement.

i always stress the technique side of the problem first because I have seen too many people try to "buy" their way to better pictures by spending more money on equipemnt with out understanding what was cuaisng their problems. they end up with fancy rigs that still get poor pictures because they did not understand how to use the camera. the real problem was behind the camera.

p.s. i also suggest you do a lot of dry land training with your camera. a closet works great!
 
Joyinthewater, I would love to give you some advice, but first, I have to ask you a few questions. Are you shooting in automatic or manual mode? And what light source are you using? Are you using continuous light (i.e., video or focus light)? Strobes? Or ambient light only?
 
I am shooting in automatic mode.
I don't know much about the different settings. I guess really at this stage I'm trying to be able to do underwater, what I do above.
I don't use the different settings, I'm not a photographer.
but I love to "see" the potential picture, wether it's divers or fish, and get a fun shot.
my main question is, why does the GoPro and others cameras seem to work better? Is Sea Life not right for me?
 
I am shooting in automatic mode.
I don't know much about the different settings. I guess really at this stage I'm trying to be able to do underwater, what I do above.
I don't use the different settings, I'm not a photographer.
but I love to "see" the potential picture, wether it's divers or fish, and get a fun shot.
my main question is, why does the GoPro and others cameras seem to work better? Is Sea Life not right for me?
Is Sea Life not right for me? -- Maybe? What type of pictures do you want to capture? I (blissfully) struggled with this question many years ago (over multiple dive trips). Then I got a bit smarter.

I eventually identified that I wanted "super macro" shots. My divebuddy wanted "happy snaps fish Id shots". These are VERY different. I want the properly lit eye-ball, she wants the general shape and color. I have a $200 camera for her, and a $5,000+ camera rig for me (I am cheap). There are lots of solutions between or beyond these extremes.

So decide what you want. You are King! (even if you just want to be Queen) Then figure out how to get it. Ask question all along the way.

As an exercise, sit back with your dive buddy (or your closest pooka) and several cool ones and talk about the kind of pictures you want to take AND the kind of pictures you think you are callable of taking. Hint: we are not National Geographic photogs. Your desires may not yet match your abilities or wallet.

P.S. practise in your closet!
 
Joyinthewater, you don't mention if you are using an external light source, but I will do my best to give you some advice. I feel your pain because I started with a SeaLife DC1000 (with 2 strobes) 5 years ago, and flailed around shooting in automatic mode for 2 years, with mediocre shots. It was very frustrating because sometimes my shots were ok, and sometimes they were not, and I could not understand why. Finally I took an Underwater Photography Course, where I had a very good instructor who convinced me I should shoot in manual mode. It's very easy: "Take a deep breath, put your thumb and forefinger on the mode dial, turn from "A" to "M", and that's it! Yes, you can do it!"

To answer your last question, some cameras may work better underwater in automatic mode than others. BUT, to really get good shots, what you really need to do is to shoot in manual mode and have strobes. You don't need an expensive camera to do so! Any camera capable of shooting in manual will work. I am not a big fan of SeaLife, as I did not have a very good experience with mine (they kept having to replace the housing because the shutter button would stick. After exchanging 3 housings, they finally replaced it with a DC1200. Plus, the strobes kept dying for no apparent reason). Anyway, the DC1200 can shoot in manual, but it's not very easy to do so, as the setting changes are buried in the menus. I am not sure if the ReefMaster can even shoot in manual. It is a very basic camera.

As I said in another post, for beginners, I would recommend a compact Canon. If buying new, get a G16 or S120, but the older models of these series are just as good. I used my Canon S100 a ton for 2 years, and got lots of very good shots. I had several photos do quite well in photo contests. The S and G series are very easy to use in manual mode. Plus it shoots great video. The key is to shoot manual mode with at least one strobe. Use a fast shutter speed (1/200 or higher), medium to high aperture (say around 5-8 for a compact camera), ISO 80-200. To start with, you can set your camera to these settings topside and leave it there. Underwater, you can get away with adjusting your strobe power as your main method of adjusting your exposure. Do some reading, and after a while you will begin to understand how the different settings affect your exposure. You will then be in charge of the settings and be able to control your camera and get great results.

There are many reasons to shoot in manual mode underwater, but the most important one is that automatic mode will meter for ambient light and adjust the settings accordingly. Underwater, this will mean high ISO, slow shutter speed and blurry pics. You need to shoot in manual with a fast shutter to do the opposite: block out the ambient light and use your strobes to light the subject. You can practice this on your dining room table.

I hope this helps.
 
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All good advice above. If you aren't using external strobes, you should be in Underwater Mode on the Sealife. It adds some red back into your shots. But as others stated, external strobes are pretty much required for decent shots.

I'd suggest getting familiar with your camera's settings above water and practice shooting with it in the housing. Then take it underwater and find some coral or slow moving animal and just park yourself by it and shoot away, changing the settings as you go, noting what each change did to your image. You will not be an instant pro overnight. The key is a lot of practice, and that will mean tons of practice shots.

You talked about not liking the size of the 1400. Better pictures require external strobes and bigger cameras, which means bigger gear. I would love not to have to travel with a 50lb. Pelican case full of camera gear, and not have to push around a housing bigger than my head, but that is what I need to get the images I want. I, too started with SeaLife and upgraded after I felt I had gone as far as I could go with that camera.

I'm curious if the GoPro you used had a filter on it. If so, that could account for the better images. U/W mode on Sealife does the same thing.
 

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