Canon S95 Underwater tips

[fncrow]

Well im headed to the Bahamas tomorrow for diving so i'll give Av a shot. Im guessing you would recommend that i use Tv mode for the shark dives since they are fast moving correct?

 

[Nemrod]

Well im headed to the Bahamas tomorrow for diving so i'll give Av a shot. Im guessing you would recommend that i use Tv mode for the shark dives since they are fast moving correct?

I never use Tv mode. I used to have a full manual Nikon, a Leica same way and my Nikonos. Then the fancy Aperture Priority Nikon FEII came out and I bought one. I don't know, I have always set my shutter speed to a value I thought was good for my shooting and then set my aperture for exposure leaving the shutter alone. In the good old days with real cameras, the aperture ring on the lens was easier and faster to manipulate than the shutter dial, oddly I think Oly had shutter speeds there as well on the OM1 and OM2 and didn't Canon? I was a Nikon guy, oh well. Not saying it is the best way, just the way I learned, set shutter speed, adjust aperture for exposure.

Then consider that strobes don't care about shutter speed, they do care about aperture, therefore shooting in Av lets me match or bias my camera aperture and the strobe aperture settings (power). Tv mode would just confuse the Hades out of me. I never use it. If I need to control shutter, I go to manual mode. Frankly, something has to be moving pretty fast to blur at 1/60th second, just don't find that so much of a problem in most underwater shots.

N

 

[Nemrod]

Another thing, neither of my S90s default to 1/60 with flash in Av with flash set to manual and low power. I just did a series of shots with f4.0 and had shutter values from 1/100 to 1/250. I dunno.

N

 

[muzikbiz22]

Well im headed to the Bahamas tomorrow for diving so i'll give Av a shot. Im guessing you would recommend that i use Tv mode for the shark dives since they are fast moving correct?

If you're referring to the Stuart Cove Shark adventure dive, then a couple of things;

1 - The sharks aren't really moving that fast. They're more "cruising", by you, above you, past you, in front of you.
2 - On the actual "feeding" dive, there is a chance you might not even take your camera down. They recommend against it, especially with an external strobe on the end of a long arm. Might be mistaken for food or a toy
3 - AV Mode
4 - Manual mode
5 - AV & Manual mode
6 - I too am perplexed by your "everything defaults to 1/60" issue. No issues here, as with Nemrod, as well.

 

[shutsal]

Well im headed to the Bahamas tomorrow for diving so i'll give Av a shot. Im guessing you would recommend that i use Tv mode for the shark dives since they are fast moving correct?

I'm still very much a newbie but considering I just went through the same learning curve as you I figured I would throw in my two cents. Nemrods suggestions were spot on with what I found.

1. For macro, my best results were shooting M, an aperture of F8 and a shutter speed of 1/250 or less. Otherwise, especially in lower light, I wasn't happy with the shutter speed Av was picking. 1/125 or 1/250 provides a nice narrow DOF/blackness and enhances the tiny little bugger I'm shooting at.

2. When shooting with the fisheye/open water shot, Av gave me much more reliable shots then M. In M I almost always left the aperture at F4 or F5.6 but was constantly changing the shutter to let in more/less light. Why choose Av when you can choose M? Why not? If Av is picking the right shutter speed then you don't have to worry about the shutter speed. That gives you more time to frame your shot, especially if it is moving.

3. Use the histogram to determine proper exposure. If I did it based on what I thought looked good on the LCD screen under water, they were always over exposed topside.

4. Post processing the white balance is a must. Amazing the color difference you get when you properly adjust the white balance.

The only time I had trouble freezing motion was with some very, very fast moving blue runners. Unless the sharks are going crazy they won't be moving that fast. If they are, I'd be out of the water.

I recently just had my first trip with an underwater camera in Indonesia. I realized after I got pictures like these, it paid off to listen to all these experienced uw photographers.

 

[ozziworld]

I think the 1/60 I keep getting on Av has to do with the S2000 and sTTL? Since I have can't set the Flash to manual and have the strobe do the calculation. I think on the D2000, the EA mode takes care of that.

I do manage to get faster shutter speeds on Av when set to higher ISO of say 200 or higher. I prefer ISO 100 or 80. It is just for most of the shots. Av mode tends to choose 1/60 for about 80% of the shots I take. Maybe its because I have been avoiding shooting with the sun in in the image because my UFL165AD tends to flare. Anyway, this whole discussions has me re-thinking the Av mode for WA and staying with M for Macro.

I will also try shooting wide open at F4 (I usually prefer 5.6 or 8) but with the UFL165Ad, may not be an issue.

 

[stu_in_fl]

If you're referring to the Stuart Cove Shark adventure dive, then a couple of things;

<snip>
2 - On the actual "feeding" dive, there is a chance you might not even take your camera down. They recommend against it, especially with an external strobe on the end of a long arm. Might be mistaken for food or a toy
<snip>
6 - I too am perplexed by your "everything defaults to 1/60" issue. No issues here, as with Nemrod, as well.

I would definately take the camera on the shark dive but don't take the external flash (force the internal flash if the sharks are getting close or turn it off if the water gets murkey) - you have to keep it very close to your body (no waiving it around or you'll be sorry !). Try getting some sharks as they get real close to you and also try switching to video mode now and again (for still shots Tv may work best depending on the ambient light if you're not using flash).....but again DON'T waive it around or your hand will be food.

Av / flash will default to 1/60 unless the camera deems it unsuitable and then will set it to something different...I often prefer Tv if shooting without a strobe in case it tries to drop below 1/60 and stuff get blurry.

 

[Nemrod]

When we were in the Bahamas a few seasons ago we went on one of the shark dives. I cannot say it was that great. Since we were lined up like in a firing squad it was difficult to get a decent shot. The sharks were tame and had no propensity to bite or bite my strobe or any other aggressive behavior. These were reef sharks, cannot speak for other species or circumstances, these were as tame as goldfish, some were very large.

In fact, we dove the site, but not as a "shark" dive and there were more of them than you could shake a stick at swimming through us, around us by us, in formation, in between and even letting me touch them. Despite my best efforts I did not get any really great shots, I was using my 570 at the time. The sharks silver skin is somewhat challenging to photograph and retain detail, the 570 did not have enough dynamic range, the S90 would have done much better in that situation.

I find these "staged" events do not produce good photos, same for the stingrays at Stingray City in Caymans, too many rays, they were exceedingly precocious and they did try to eat my camera, my hand, and anything else I had, .

I was in Marathon last week at a place called the "Gap" and my wife had not come with me that day so I just told the DM I would follow him. As usual I was last in as I usually let all the fuss and puking and flopping take place and then I quietly get in and despite that, I was first on bottom, again as usual preferring to avoid the ongoing adventures of flailing, more puking and general disarray yet taking place on the surface, lol, . I hit bottom and the DM pointed and so I though he was indicating for me to go ahead and they would catch up, when and if, anyone else joined up with him, well, 20 minutes later, I was still alone, doubled back to find the group, if there was a group. I figured they were going to raise h-ll with me for going my own way, but he did point and I did GO!!!!!. Well, anyways, just as I decided to make my turn, a large bull swept in, made a half circle and was gone as fast as he came. You think I would get a shot huh, he came within three feet of me, like wth, I must have just started doing this yesterday. All I got was a silver streak. My fault, I was more worried about being fussed at that doing my dive. And people wonder why I like to solo off of my own boat.

Well, I did hook back up with the "group" and I am not sure they ever missed me, I made it back on first to avoid all of the additional puking, mayhem and thrashing and was quietly eating an orange slice whilst expecting to be banned from Floridah for the fourth or fifth time in my life, but all was well, .

Oh, I had the stupid camera in manual mode and could not reset fast enough. Also, I would try sTTL with the sharks if you have Inon strobes and turn them way, way down and outward on as long an arm set as you have with diffusers installed.

Good luck with them.

N

 

[localdivah]

dhaas,

I have not used my WA lens as much as I would like since I dive mostly Anilao and Macro. I have considered using Av mode on WA as I mentioned earlier I think changes in lighting conditions and subject distance varies greatly and quickly and it is very easy to miss the moment. having read through this thread, I decided to practice and work with Av mode next few times out with the WA and see if i can consistent results on Av mode. As I use a single Inon S2000 with my FIX S90, I will see how it affects battery life in this mode. The S90 battery life isn't the best to begin with and shooting Manual with 1/3 power on the on-board flash tends to help with battery life. I hope on Av mode that it will not be firing full power each time resulting in even less battery life.

This has been an interesting thread and has prompted me to re-consider shooting in Av mode vs. manual (at least with WA). For macro, manual isn't that much of a hassle.

Ozziworld, I noticed that you have a very similar setup to what I have been thinking of getting and wondered if I could ask you a few questions:


1. The S2000 doesn't have a guide light, which I need since I night dive a lot. Do you put one on the bayonet mount on the FIX housing? Did you consider one of the other strobes like the Inon D2000 or Z240 with a built-in guide light?

2. I also take a lot of macro and have loved my Fuji F11. I've heard a bit of bad press about the macro focus capabilities of the S90/95 and afraid I might be taking a step back. Would be pretty bad to do so compared to my 8 year old F11, but you never know. Do you need to do manual focusing, or do you find that it's pretty quick? Do you zoom when you use macro and how much typically before quality suffers?

3. How are you slaving your S2000 to the camera? Are you using the optical or fiber-optic? Any lessons about being able to reduce your internal flash but still be able to trigger the strobe? I'm assuming that you've been manually setting the strobe power and then also setting manual flash on the camera to reduce battery drain and using the flash just to trigger the strobe. I'm a little confused by what I've read about the S90/95's TTL capabilities. I've only used manual strobe control, so was hoping that by doing an entire system upgrade, I could get something that would "tell" the strobe what power to use based on the light settings the camera has identified, without actually firing the internal flash. Don't know if this is possible with the S90/95.

4. Finally, what WA and macro lens (if any) are you using?

Sorry to drift slightly off topic to gear setup, but saw what you had and was also hoping to catch some of the other S95 users' thoughts in this thread. I'm also in Asia, dive the Philippines a lot (and macro), so what you're going through is probably quite close to my needs. Being in Asia, you probably are mindful of travel weight too

Thanks!