Canon A620...shadows.

[O'Malley]

Finally got wet with my Canon A620, an hour pool dive before heading to warm waters in 10 days. I seemed to be getting shadows in the lower right corner of my shots when shooting without zoom even with the external strobe, an Ikelite DS125 with manual controller, at varying angles. The shadowing was corrected with using zoom.



Manual aperture mode, approximately 3 feet from subject and no zoom...any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[parrotdiver]

Let me start by saying......I don't know anything about anything when it comes to underwater photography. But, I just got my new a620 and Canon housing today.

Try the diffusion plate to evenly distribute the flash. I had the same lower right shadow until I did that.

 

[midwestdvr]

I've dove with my a620 for a while and the only time I've seen shadows like that was when I was shooting close and only using the internal strobe. If you say you're getting these shadow even when using a strobe, there may be a problem with your cam or the housing.

 

[String]

Silly question but do you get the photos shooting on the surface with the camera in the house? ie, take a photo of your room or outside just using the case to see if its there. Looking at that it maybe the case getting in the way.

Were these using the diffuser over the internal flash or not?


I got my A620 for xmas and the house but yet another dive is cancelled due to wind so not tried it yet. Only used it on the surface and im struggling currently. Outdoor/sporting shots are blurred due to low light levels. It appears far less tolerant to them than my old 2mpixel canon. Hopefully i can remedy that though.

 

[Jamdiver]

Can't answer the original poster's question as I haven't dove with it yet.

But string read your message there, have my a610 in front of me.
Scroll the wheel to SCN and select kids and pets mode, I think that selects a higher shutter speed.
If that doesn't work, go to "TV" mode and select a shutter speed above 1/200 or so.

The reason why shots look blurry is most likely because the shutter is set to too slow a speed.
Can you give some examples (photos perhaps) and the settings that were used?

 

[O'Malley]

Try the diffusion plate to evenly distribute the flash

Oh, yeah...the diffusion plate :doh: Thanks...I was just reading another thread that addressed this shading and using it seems to have corrected the problem for others.

Only time I've seen shadows like that was when I was shooting close and only using the internal strobe

Yeah, that was my thought initially...strobe not firing. However, strobe was firing consistently in manual, Av and Tv modes.

...and back to the pool I go! Perhaps, and most likely, my problem is the end-user.

 

[String]

If that doesn't work, go to "TV" mode and select a shutter speed above 1/200 or so.

The reason why shots look blurry is most likely because the shutter is set to too slow a speed.
Can you give some examples (photos perhaps) and the settings that were used?

I played with SCN, the programme and TV modes. Also using the multiple drive function to attempt to capture the action. As today was overcast, late PM lighting combined with a bit of snow in the air there wasnt a huge amount of light. I tried a few on "P" mode with just the auto drive and they all blurred- presumably due to the light levels it was selecting too low a shutter speed - looking at the values between 1/8th and 1/50th depending on the shot.
I went to TV mode and manually dialled in 1/400th. The problem was this image came out nearly entirely black presumably due to the lack of light for that exposure setting.
Obviously the red flashing "camera shake" image appeared for all of these. Flash wasnt an option due to distance.

Given that im not too sure if anything could be done to get action photos of any sort under those conditions. The confusing thing is my old 3mp olympus camera in its special "sport" mode managed to produce fairly decent images.

I havent edited or shrunk these images before uploaded so apologies if its a slow internet connection. Links provided as opposed to uploading to SB as its not really dive related.


http://www.whitcombe.org.uk/files/Pontypool 004.jpg <-- an auto photo which defaulted to 1/60th F4.1. Came out OK despite camera shake warning. Not much action or movement though


http://www.whitcombe.org.uk/files/Pontypool 008.jpg <-- slight blur. Program mode, 1/50th F4.1. Slight blur on there with movement.

http://www.whitcombe.org.uk/files/Pontypool 009.jpg <-- This is the one i tried with TV mode, manually dialled in 1/400th shutter speed. It picked F4.1 for it. As you can see, its near totally black !

http://www.whitcombe.org.uk/files/Pontypool 015.jpg <-- again P mode, it selected 1/15th and F4.1. Blurred action.

---

Not a lot of luck for my first time out with it. I played with a few "TV" mode settings to try and get some compromise of lightness and non blur but found near all the sensible > 1/200 settings i tried were black like the above image.

Just for comparison heres a link to some taken with the olympus in sport mode in similar lighting conditions:

http://www.whitcombe.org.uk/llandovery/llandovery_010.html <-- it picked 1/500th shutter and F3.2

http://www.whitcombe.org.uk/llandovery/llandovery_020.html <-- 1/400 and a low F setting

http://www.whitcombe.org.uk/aberavon/Aberavon_016.html <-- 1/640 and F3.4


From those it would appear under similar lighting its auto selected more useful settings and settings i failed to emulate today with the new camera. Im guessing as i havent seen any bad writeups of this camera im doing something drastically wrong.

Given this is off topic for U/W photography, if anyone wants to reply to this long post, PM is probably better. Its relevant for underwater for me at least as i usually try to take shots without the internal flash (old camera has no diffuser) as backscatter ruined photos even when abroad in clear tropical waters. If its struggling on low light as above on the surface underwater could be near unusable for me unless i can find a decent fix.

While im here, anyone got any URLs for digital photography introduction/primer i can read?

One note seems to be the canon doesnt seem to chose F stop settings <4 or at least i havent see it do so yet.

 

[fpoole]

Not familiar with the the camera, but used to get the same thing with a video.. was picking up the Shadow of the lens barrel... and the inside of the housing in WA mode.

Also, if my strobes are out just past the lens field, I'll get little curved purple slashes on the opposite side..easily fixed, by moving the strobes back behind the lens barrel plane.. but first thought it was the "Cosmic Light?" heheh.. whatever that is...

Anyway, weird things appear when the strobes are fired in different locations etc..

 

[Jamdiver]

I played with SCN, the programme and TV modes. Also using the multiple drive function to attempt to capture the action. As today was overcast, late PM lighting combined with a bit of snow in the air there wasnt a huge amount of light. I tried a few on "P" mode with just the auto drive and they all blurred- presumably due to the light levels it was selecting too low a shutter speed - looking at the values between 1/8th and 1/50th depending on the shot.
I went to TV mode and manually dialled in 1/400th. The problem was this image came out nearly entirely black presumably due to the lack of light for that exposure setting.
Obviously the red flashing "camera shake" image appeared for all of these. Flash wasnt an option due to distance.

Given that im not too sure if anything could be done to get action photos of any sort under those conditions. The confusing thing is my old 3mp olympus camera in its special "sport" mode managed to produce fairly decent images.

I havent edited or shrunk these images before uploaded so apologies if its a slow internet connection. Links provided as opposed to uploading to SB as its not really dive related.

Not a lot of luck for my first time out with it. I played with a few "TV" mode settings to try and get some compromise of lightness and non blur but found near all the sensible > 1/200 settings i tried were black like the above image.

Just for comparison heres a link to some taken with the olympus in sport mode in similar lighting conditions:

......

From those it would appear under similar lighting its auto selected more useful settings and settings i failed to emulate today with the new camera. Im guessing as i havent seen any bad writeups of this camera im doing something drastically wrong.

Given this is off topic for U/W photography, if anyone wants to reply to this long post, PM is probably better. Its relevant for underwater for me at least as i usually try to take shots without the internal flash (old camera has no diffuser) as backscatter ruined photos even when abroad in clear tropical waters. If its struggling on low light as above on the surface underwater could be near unusable for me unless i can find a decent fix.

While im here, anyone got any URLs for digital photography introduction/primer i can read?

One note seems to be the canon doesnt seem to chose F stop settings <4 or at least i havent see it do so yet.

String,

Let me start with the easier stuff first .
There's a subforum in the u/w photography forum here called "Tips & techniques" that offers some very useful and helpful info, tips and technique for u/w photography.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=81341 Article written by a board member 'Gilligan' on taking good photos with the camera & housing.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=121455 Thread by moderator 'Alcina' on good books for u/w photography.

http://www.scubahound.com/?page=basics (Info on ISO, shutter speeds, f stop and how they affect pics. Very helpful!)

I've also found that long hours of lurking and posting on u/w photography boards such as www.digitaldiver.net or www.wetpixel.com pay off in that you get a feel for the settings and techniques that are needed for good pics.
There is a lot more pertinent information that can be found on photography in these forums.

As to your photo problems, i'm honestly at a loss here :huh:.

The pics as you noted are blurred, shallow depth of field in the first one (i.e. only objects in the foreground seem to be in focus). Thinking about #11 specifically in this pic.
Other pics show varying problems.

Try 1/100, 1/125 or 1/160 in TV mode and the camera will pick the aperture setting.
That should get rid of the blurring and not make the pic too dark, i've also found that setting the iso to 200 or so seems to boosts the camera's abilities in low light.
Also if you increase the shutter speed and decrease the f stop you sort of compensate/balance out the increased shutter speed which means less light reaching the sensor.

http://www.whitcombe.org.uk/files/Pontypool 009.jpg Pic is almost black like you noted but from what I can see everything looks sharp.

The olympus pics in contrast all look great, everything in focus nice colors.
I'm more or less a newbie at photography and even more so when it comes to u/w photography, but keep at it and you'll get better.

I'd definitely experiment with setttings on the A620, it can take better better pictures than that trust me! See below for samples from my A610.
I've been a bit longwinded and maybe confusing but feel free to post with more questions.
Can't take good photos underwater if you can't manage them on land so this thread is definitely relevant and on topic!

 

[String]

Looks like i get the chance to try it in the water tomorrow. Fairly strong northerly wind, air temp -5c tonight but should be diveable in one or two sites so will give it a go.