St. John 7/31-8/7 /w Canon S90

[MdkSniper]

This was my first attempt at using my new Canon S90 with Ikelite housing. I shot with a single Inon S-2000 strobe and an Inon UCL-165M67 Macro Lens. Unfortunately, my control ring was not working so I was pretty much staying at one f stop (f/8). I also found it really tough to get a well-focused image. I had a little trouble with the single strobe positioning at first but I think I got the hang of it by the end of the week.

Any C&C welcome.

 

[Gilligan]

The UCL-165 lens is very difficult to use. It has a very limited depth of field. It takes a lot of practice to get it down perfect. I have one and quit using it when I had my old Olympus setup. It leaves too much of some subjects out of focus. I don't miss it at all.
I know I'll get blasted for saying this but IMHO that lens is more trouble than it's worth.

 

[MdkSniper]

It leaves too much of some subjects out of focus. I don't miss it at all.
I know I'll get blasted for saying this but IMHO that lens is more trouble than it's worth.

This is exactly what I found. A lot of my pics were ruined because parts of the subject were out of focus.

What do you recommend?

 

[skynscuba]

Gilligan -- your camera has better built in macro capability than the S90, but I agree about the limitations (at least in my hands) of the UCL165 lens.

MdkSniper -- I have found the S90 focus in macro to be erratic, even sitting at my desk at home. It will happily lock while out of focus. One thing of interest is that setting the continuous focus (whatever that is really called) will pretty much always achieve a good macro focus, but I've had it take 1 to 4 seconds to get there -- obviously something not to be doing underwater, since you have to hold that half-shutter press the entire time.

 

[j1rubin]

how was the diving in St John? I went a couple of years ago before i picked up diving and snorkeled the whole time. We had a great time and would like to go back.

 

[Gilligan]

This is exactly what I found. A lot of my pics were ruined because parts of the subject were out of focus.

What do you recommend?

I'll stick my neck out again on the chopping block and say "Don't use that lens".

The other alternative is to practice, practice and more practice until you find the "sweet spot" as respects proper distance to the subject and use it only on very tiny subjects so as to have the entire subject in focus or only part of it if that's your preference.

Nothing worse than looking at your pics on the computer and seeing they are out of focus because of that lens not being at the correct distance.

On the other hand there are some folks that can shoot great pics with two of those lenses stacked together. I'm not one of them.

 

[Gilligan]

Gilligan -- your camera has better built in macro capability than the S90, but I agree about the limitations (at least in my hands) of the UCL165 lens.

MdkSniper -- I have found the S90 focus in macro to be erratic, even sitting at my desk at home. It will happily lock while out of focus. One thing of interest is that setting the continuous focus (whatever that is really called) will pretty much always achieve a good macro focus, but I've had it take 1 to 4 seconds to get there -- obviously something not to be doing underwater, since you have to hold that half-shutter press the entire time.

Even with my G10 I don't get right on top of macro subjects. I prefer to back away a bit for strobe positioning then crop my photos in PS. Just a personal preference. I am a cropping addict

I don't know anything about the S90 and I'm disappointed to hear you have focus issues with it. Have you tried backing away a bit from the subject to see if that helps?

 

[skynscuba]

I don't know anything about the S90 and I'm disappointed to hear you have focus issues with it. Have you tried backing away a bit from the subject to see if that helps?

Yes I have. It's been a while since I was playing with it at home, but it could misfocus at 6 inches, 10 inches, as well as close to the 2 inch minimum. Others here (at least those that shoot macro) have reported similar problems with the S90. I sent mine back to get a hot pixel mapped out, and also told them about the focus issue. They said that they found some problem with the optical system, and replaced it... but it still has the focus problem. I hope to get time to experiment with manual focus for macro in the pool before my September dive trip.

 

[Gilligan]

Others here (at least those that shoot macro) have reported similar problems with the S90. I sent mine back to get a hot pixel mapped out, and also told them about the focus issue. They said that they found some problem with the optical system, and replaced it... but it still has the focus problem.

I wonder if Canon is aware of this issue (problem)? If not they should be. Unfortunately they are not listed on the "Q&A For Photography Equipment Manufacturers" topic.

 

[skynscuba]

Along this general topic, someone took the bother to measure the minimum field of view for each S90 focal length (closest focus for each) and found that there is more magnification available at ~40mm than at 28mm.

Re: Min field width and max aperture vs focal length: Canon Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review