Bought Canon S1 IS - Any advise UW?

[divenutny]

Just bought Canon S1 IS w/Canon UW case, no strobe. Going to Turks this tomorrow. Any advise which settings to use? Plan to use ShutterSpeed priority setting (AV) or Fast Object. ISO at 50 to 100. Any recommended resolutions? Better to leave camera on Auto settings?

Trying to get any advise how to best setup camera. I saw pics a friend got using Canon Elf, all pictures needed drastic help. Pic were not clear, had to sharpen then. Might have been low resolution setting. I have six days of diving to learn, would prefer to get a leg up if possible.

When I had my UW film developed, I asked for increased Reds & Yellows. Should I do the same with digital shots when I print them?

Thanks

 

[alcina]

If you use a program mode, I think setting the shutter speed is the one to choose. But be aware that the camera will almost alwasy choose a wide open aperture. You might want to try setting your aperture around 4.5 and the shutter speed around 1/320 or so in bright conditions...this is where I started with my canon...did find that often I had to shut the aperture down to f7 and/or increase shutter speed.

In my canon if the photo looked "perfect" in the view finder it was actually over-exposed. It is easier to "fix" and UNDER exposed (darker) photo than one that is over exposed (IMHO)

Put the camera in macro mode and leave it there. To get any benefit from your internal flash you will need to be close - like 3 feet close - so the light can reach your subject.

When you get your photos back on your computer (I wouldn't do this on your laptop) then you will be able to into your software program to fix things...I'd ask again once you've seen the shot coz then you can post it here and ppl can help from the actual photo.

Have a look around this forum as there are a lot of answers to "how to get started"...check out the canon forum under A85 & A95 & AmyJ user name in a search as I believe that they were pretty recent and most "tips" work with any camera set-up.

have a great time on holiday!! Looking forward to the photos.

 

[alexoki]

I have been using the S1 for a few months now and I am happy with the reults. In your custom settings (under effects in menu) I set sharpness to +1, contrast to -1 (helps with dynamic range), and saturation to neutral. I tend to put white balance on cloudy, and dial in -2/3 exposure compensation to avoid blown highlights.
I tend to shoot in av mode usually at 4.5 for general shots or 8 for macro.I only use the flash when around 3 foot or less from my subject and I also put a piece of lens cleaning tissue in front of the flash in the housing to act as a diffuser.
If you are trying to shoot moving fish you can also experiment with tv around 1/250 or so. Hope this helps and post some pics when you get back. Enjoy.

 

[the_cat_keeper]

Be aware that without the strobe, when taking macros, there could be a len shadow on the lower 1/3 of the picture. the trick is to move a little further away and use the zoom, that takes away the shadow. You would need flash for this.

I shoot all my pictures with ISO50 and on manual settings.

 

[divenutny]

Thanks for the advise. I hope I have some pics decent enough to show and will gladly share them. Thanks again - Cheers ! Tom :dazzler1: