Anyone used a Canon digital camera/shell underwater?

[AengusM]

The attached is what a Canon S40 with the WP-DC300 can do. Depth was 12m (Freshwater Beach, Sydney). I have also taken it to 30 without any issues.
Backscatter is however a BIG issue as the flash is so close and parallel to the lens (as it would be a big issue for most Dig Camera's). I've got a Sea and Sea YS-25DX coming this week and that will hopefully help.
For this Moray shot, to reduce the backscatter I had to Zoom fully and move myself.
This shot is also obviously reduced to meet the posting size limit for pics.
Colour balance has also been slightly adjusted.
There is an option to change the focus to macro, I'm pretty sure I used that with this shot?
I'm very comfortable about the Canon Uw Case, its sturdy and easy to keep clean. When I get the strobe I'll finish off a Velcro/Neoprene case which will hold it tight on my BC. Thats easy to make and I'll be getting it sewn together by the local shoe repairer. As this case is positively bouyant, you need to either hold the case or think carefully about how you wish to attach it
I have used it only on one night dive and the results were very average. Out of the water, at night, it is, in my opinion, exceptional, especially for timed exposure.
I have yet to really play with it in manual mode but I would expect the night dive shots to improve then.
98% of my dives are above 30m so this case suits me, but I'm doing the Coolridge in Santo next month, so it wouldn't be doing several dives with me. If I start going deeper more often, I'll go for a non plastic case.
In summary, I think this case is value for money, if you are a Rec Diver its should be good for you.
I also like the clear plastic, if it ever starts to flood hopefully I will see it and quickly deposit it with some air into a bag I keep with me.
Regard's,
Aengus

 

[Gno]

I just got back from a dive trip last week which was also the first time I brought my Canon S30 togehter with the UW casing down for a test run.

The casing worked well and had no problems with the waterproffing but take note that the casing together with the camera is positively buoyant which means that it will dangle on top of you all the time if you are not holding on to it which I found to be quite a hassle at times.

The camers seems to capture the colours yellow and orange best. Other than that, the rest of the pictures seem to be blueish in total.

The flash is definitely too weak. I will need to budget for a strobe light in the near future. Anyone has any ideas on the most suitable one to get?

Unfortunately, Canon has not come up with the red filter like the one Sony has for its UW casing for the P5.

The shop that I bought the camera from had suggested quite comically that I put a piece of red glass paper on the lens casing for the time being which actually, come to think of it isn't such a bad idea after all although it may sound quite primitive.

I will be off to Maldives this weekend. Hopefully, this suggestion may work after all.

Be that as it may be, I thought it was a good buy as compared to the price that one would have to pay for the Nikonos V.

Ciao!

=-)

 

[Gno]

Just to clarify that that my comments were based on the fact that I'm very new to the digital photography realm and it was the first time I took the S30 down with me.

BTW, it is a real guzzler where battery power is concerned. The battery at full charge only lasted 2 dives of about 45 minutes each with 30-40 shots taken with flash.=-)

 

[AengusM]

That battery life is similar to what I get on my S40.
You will however find that its the LCD thats the biggest eater of the battery, so where possible, turn it off and you will get a bit more life.
Enjoy the Maldives!
Aengus

 

[Gno]

Dear AengusM,

I took my Canon S30 to Maldives. Great pelagic stuff but they turned out a bit too blueish. But the best was that I managed to get the Manta rays on AVI. format.

I noticed that you have the S&S YS25 strobe for your Canon S30 setup.

I myself am looking for a good strobe. How's the YS25 setup. Is it too weak? How much did the YS25 cost?

Appreciate your feedback or anybody elses' comments

 

[onyx]

hi all -

I just took my canon s30 w/canon housing snorkelling for the first time this sunday. The housing held up well, but even at snorkelling depths (don't worry, I'll take it diving soon, i just wanted to test it out first) I could tell that a strobe would be very helpful.

In general, I had a great time and thought that the housing and camera worked well together.

I did find that the autofocus was kind of annoying, as I missed a few shots while the camera was busy trying to focus. I'm new to photography in general, though, so I need to learn how to focus the thing manually. However, it will help when I'm scuba diving cuz I won't have to grab on to a rock at the bottom to stay down while I'm taking the shot.

Anyhow, I saw several mentions of strobes being used with the canon s30/40. Perhaps this is my inexperience here, but how do you hook these up to the camera through the case? Also, which strobes have people used, and have they liked them? Thanks in advance!

 

[srkdvr]

:mean:

I got the Cannon A20 and the underwater case for this past Christmas and I think it is get. It is just a little hard to run the buttons with thick gloves on but when I have my thin gloves on it is no problem and it takes some very great pictures and I have yet to have a problem with any water leakage or anything like that.

Rich :mean:

 

[onyx]

in case anybody wants to see:
1) pictures taken with a canon s30 and the canon housing for it
2) how bad at (underwater) photography I am
3) some movie clips taken with the aforementioned camera
4) how decent all of this can turn out despite (2), and the bad vis, and the cloudy day, while snorkeling (still waiting for my regs to be overhauled)

um, yeah. try not to flame too much.

http://rewind.sdsc.edu/mock/underwater/05-29-2002

 

[ScubaSticks]

I just got mine in and took it to the lake this weekend.
Some thoughts:

In bright sunlight and in 'hazy' water (as in the stuff found in Lake Lanier in GA,) you can not see the picture in the LCD. It's not real practical to try to look through the viewfinder, and even when you do, the lower-left corner is blocked by the lens housing. Once I got down about 6-7 feet, I could finally start to make out shapes in the LCD. (getting down wasn't easy as I was snorkeling.) I am not sure how this experience will translate to a more photographic-conducing environment like the Carribean or Gulf of Mex that I will normally be diving in.

The case didn't leak!!

There is a little spin wheel on the top of the camera that is perfectly in line with the joint of the case, and it is very difficult to see what 'mode' you are in (auto, manual, landscape, etc.) It's possible, just hard.

There is a five-way toggle switch used to manipulate the OSD menus and the manual settings. Only three of these are usable in the u/w case, so you are pretty limited on what you can change u/w. For instance. I had turned my LCD on dim to preserve battery life, and it was not possible to change it without taking the camera out of the case. This was probably the biggest pain.

It appears that you have to do your manually focusing using the LCD, it was really hard for me to get right underwater. On land, it didn't seem that difficult, so maybe if I am breathing instead of holding my breath, I can make this work better for me.

The autofocus seemed to work pretty well. Not a lot to test it on, but I got some pretty good pictures of slimy sticks and rocks


I didn't really get to play with it at any depth or take any pictures worth seeing, but I did become a little more familiar with the peculiarities of the case/camera.

 

[EJV]

I have a canon s300 and the underwater shell that Canon makes for it. It took it to Panama with me and then to Mexico. I am completely happy with the shell. It fits the camera like a glove and allows you to manipulate all the controls for the camera while underwater. I first saw the rig on a dive trip to Catalina, a guy on the trip had one and would sit down in the galley without taking his wetsuit off, plug his digital cam into the tv that was on the wall and do his digital editing on the spot. Turns out that he was the head of the it department at Skywalker Ranch. That was good enough for me. I recommend it highly.