Canon S90 Underwater

[Nemrod]

I get in trouble with the boss but I tell you, as a owner of an A570 and the S90, the attraction to me was the FIX miniature housing and the ability to control shutter, f stop and exposure independent depending upon mode. The RAW was icing on the cake. And the FIX housing could utilize my lenses.

Does the S90 beat the A570 straight up shooting jpegs, well, the 570 is a camera that is a giant killer, a wolf in sheep's dress. What improvements am I expecting, the main ones were those mentioned above, more control more so than improved picture quality. The other was that f2.0 lens and the promise of the improved dynamic range and the ability to shoot at high ISO. I am confident comparing my surface shots that the S90 can be used to at least ISO400 with results comparable to the A570 at ISO100. I hope this will allow me to do more WA natural light and stitch some panoramas together. The other thing is that the greater dynamic range (promise of) will help with the bane of my UW photography existence for the last two dive seasons, the dang000nabbitwabbit$%#^&*%$ blown out highlights that result from the huge sweep of a fisheye lens like the Inon 165AD--I either got my fins sticking in the picher or the sun is blowing the top corner out %^&*%$#. I believe the S90 will give me a little more capability here along with some improvement upon my part I hope to succeed.

Does this justify the purchase, dunno. I may have to sell a couple of camera to keep my other boss happy.

BTW, someday when I get good I hope to take pichers like yours. I like the way you get in close and frame without doing the boring macro thing, I tire so of snails against a bland black or white background, like WTH? Your pics have scale and interest, JMO.

N

 

[dhaas]

diver 85,

i agree with Nemrod, your shots show you understand getting close so your built in flash will have maximum color effect. For traveling it doesn't get much smaller than a camera and housing alone but you do have to live with flatter "BLAP" type lighting.

That said, the sensor and other advances even in a small sensor camera is where the Canon S90 has jumped the game up. Better dynamic range (even though small sensor cameras will never approach even a low level dSLR) plus controls like a "real" camera whatever that is

Something else no one has mentioned is the HUGE 3" almost 500,000 pixel screen. MUCH easier to frame and shoot with.

Finally, the Canon S90 has smaller housings available whether you go FIX or Ikelite. Both keep water out and allow enough control to screw up your photos monumentally LOL......

Even though I advocate using a separate flash for better lighting angle and power I will be trying the S90's built in flash in late April in Bonaire for some close up shooting.

As Nemrod stated if you want new toys you better be ditching something else to keep the household happy

Good luck,

dhaas

 

[KhunNeal]

Whats a good suggestion for a focus light for this type of setup ?

I'm using a S90+Ikelite+Inon S2000, and would like to add a focus light. After my last trip I think it would help me position the strobe a bit better - especially for the 1st shot.

 

[CompuDude]

Whats a good suggestion for a focus light for this type of setup ?

I'm using a S90+Ikelite+Inon S2000, and would like to add a focus light. After my last trip I think it would help me position the strobe a bit better - especially for the 1st shot.

I'm using the Fisheye FIX Mini LED Focus Light, which I really like, and which suits the cameras small size. Sometimes I wish I had a bigger brighter light, but it's a BIG step up in price to the next level (and the lights get a LOT bigger at the next level up, too).

 

[Kevster]

Compudude,
i am thinking about adding a focus light.

How good is your light? Could you use it on a night dive.

I am looking for a small, cheap focus light that attaches to canon casing that would be sufficient for a night dive light(with Ikelite mini PCm back up light in BCD pocket)

The Inon focus light is a bit expenive $150, Ikelite mini PC are cheap and would do as a night light,but are a bit big to sit on top of a small canon housing.

 

[Nemrod]

How about a little UK light or the Intova LED light that that is sold all over under different brands including eBay? UCLS has mounts for the UK that would probably also hold the Intova lights.

:: INTOVA ::

These are around 130 lumens and I got my wife one as a dive light. It is bright enough for night diving use. There are several styles and if you search eBay several more that seem to come from the same China factory.

N
Santa Claus used to live on the North Pole, now he lives in China and works in a giant box factory and when he is worn out his liver will be harvested

 

[CompuDude]

The Intova's are great little lights (I have one) but a little too hot for my tastes in a focus light. They're very nice lights, but you don't want to see a hot spot in your photos. This is why special-purpose focus lights have a very even beam spread with no focused hot spot.

I dive with a 21w HID, so there's not many focus lights I would ever consider diving with as a primary. That said, the Fisheye Mini (or the Fantasea Nano, same light by all appearances) is nowhere near bright enough for anyone to use as a primary light on night dives. It's purpose is simply to give enough extra illumination that your focus can lock easier, it's not intended to compete with your strobe for light output.

If you can find one in stock somewhere, the Fantasea LED44 is actually bright enough to use as a dive light, and still act as a focus light. Very even, wide spread. It's a shame Fantasea never fixed up the 360 they pulled from the market for leaking issues, because I definitely would have bought one. There are some reasons I don't care for the LED44, personally, else I would probably upgrade to that over the little one.

The next step up is something like the Bossk Big Blue (look at the 1x5, about $140) which is probably bright enough to use as a primary in nice clear waters. The next step up from there and you're getting into the $300-500+ territory, which is just more than I'm willing to spend on a focus light.

 

[Nemrod]

The Intova wide beam, unlike the narrow beam version, has a very smooth, even, wide beam with no hot spot, but, I defer to Compu, if he says it won't work, I guess not. I can see how a bright light might interfere.

:: INTOVA ::

N

 

[skynscuba]

...That said, the Fisheye Mini (or the Fantasea Nano, same light by all appearances) is nowhere near bright enough for anyone to use as a primary light on night dives.

I had understood (or misunderstood) that these two are made by the same company, and are essentially the same, but the online descriptions say Mini has AA batteries and Nano has AAA. Does your Mini really have AA?

 

[VictorZ]

KhunNeal,

What optical cable do you use for you setup? How did you fix it on the case? I am thinking about buying either the same setup as yours of AF-35 as strobes - they do not require a cable. What would you recommend and why?

Thanks