Do you have full Manual on the camera? What is the F stop range and shutter speeds you CAN set? You are using external strobe DS-125 - so I would set full manual on the camera, and adjust the strobe intensity accordingly.
Blurry Parts in Photos
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OP
D_O_H
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howarde:
I do have full manual. Settings range from F2.4 to 8.0 and 1/4000 sec. to 8 minutes.
Do you recommend a specific setting or two for specific situations? If so, do you think it's okay to let the camera/strobe decide how much flash to use? The camera and strobe seem to be doing a pretty good job of exposing my images using TTL exposure control, though as noted above, the wide open aperture and/or slightly slow shutter speeds may be responsible for my blurring.
This was only my 4th dive as an underwater photographer and I was planning to leave things in P mode for awhile to focus on composition and just getting comfortable diving with my rig. That said, it would be pretty easy to pre-program a manual setting or two if that would be useful.
D_O_H:
Well... I don't know about the OLY's specifically, but on my wife's P&S - I leave her aperture set to F5.6 or F8, and the shutter set to 1/60 or 1/80 (which should prevent motion blur). We also leave her strobe set on Manual (because she doesn't have TTL) to 1/2 power (but sometimes increase to full power if needed). this works well for most applications.
Your shots aren't bad for using P mode, but as you can tell by the EXIF data, the camera opened the aperture all the way, and slowed the shutter speed a lot, as if you were shooting in very low light conditions. Underwater, the camera probably doesn't get an accurate sense of the lighting, or how much strobe power you really have with the DS-125. That's why I would recommend Manual for both, and see how you do.
D_O_H:
Theres your problem..for one thing you are letting the camera make the choice of settings...shoot manual ..your f stop is way too wide for close up and most uw photography while using a strobe.Use f 8 when shooting close (greater depth of field will give you better chance of being in focus)and a faster shutter speed,go with 1/200 sec and then slow down a little bit from there if you like,but no slower than 1/60. ISo can be 100 or even 200 if there is no noticeable noise..for some macro images I even go faster on the shutter to 1/325 sec to produce a black background and let the strobe light up subject..You are using a ike 125 to the oly 8080,are you using a sync cord??is it a ike housing with ttl capabilities??see my gallery for examples and settings on bottom of images..Use f 5.6 -f4 when using a wal and subject greater than 3/4' away..again with iso 100/200.
DOH - why not leave your camera in macro mode for most of your time? That's what I always did with the Oly 5050. You need to be shooting stuff close in anyway for underwater work. Then when you want to shoot that reef scene from farther back you can take the time to change the setting.
I like to start out at 5.6 for the aperture and adjust from there. My ISO in these conditions is always 50 - the lower the ISO number the better imho. When I shoot really up close, I go to f8 and just leave it there - in fact, I used to leave it there the majority of time as I wanted to max my depth of field. As you aren't funking around with DOF, I'd leave it (to start) on f8. I'd set my shutter to 1/100 or 1/125 for blue water. If the water background looked wishy washy, I'd bump that up. I almost never drop under 1/100.
In a nutshell: Remember, your strobe is lighting your subject - your shutter choice is determining your background water colour. If you want very dark or black water, try a really fast shutter speed. The effects can be kinda cool.
I think changing your distance and watching your mode will go a long ways to improving your shots. Getting off of your nearly wide open apertures (which can cause images to look soft) will also really help.
Have a great time!
I like to start out at 5.6 for the aperture and adjust from there. My ISO in these conditions is always 50 - the lower the ISO number the better imho. When I shoot really up close, I go to f8 and just leave it there - in fact, I used to leave it there the majority of time as I wanted to max my depth of field. As you aren't funking around with DOF, I'd leave it (to start) on f8. I'd set my shutter to 1/100 or 1/125 for blue water. If the water background looked wishy washy, I'd bump that up. I almost never drop under 1/100.
In a nutshell: Remember, your strobe is lighting your subject - your shutter choice is determining your background water colour. If you want very dark or black water, try a really fast shutter speed. The effects can be kinda cool.
I think changing your distance and watching your mode will go a long ways to improving your shots. Getting off of your nearly wide open apertures (which can cause images to look soft) will also really help.
Have a great time!
OP
D_O_H
Contributor
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