Canon G1 X - Galapagos

[Interceptor121]

Wossa I don't know the camera however you have the option to shoot RAW and JPEG at same time. I guess you only shot RAW?
Anyway a good explanation of image noise has been posted by Maria

Now what that does is to create bands of colour, especially when you shoot in the middle of the blue water
Looking at your single dolphin if you display at original size you notice two things:
1. Grains in the blue (luminance noise the images do not have coloured dots as chroma noise would have)
2. When you actually look at the dolphins themselves all the edges look badly ragged. So the picture looks fine when is small but at original size they are quite ugly
This may be down to the processing as in RAW the camera does no sharpening. Can you email me the source picture or put it on dropbox?

Thanks Interceptor, great feedback, really appreciate it. I think the majority of my problems are simply down to the fact I am not really sure what I am doing, especially with processing. I shot in RAW, but then realised my LR3 is not compatable with the G1 X raw files, so had to then convert to JPeg. Might sound like a really dumb question, what exactly is luminance noise, and how can I identify it in the images ? Really appreciate any pointers.....

 

[Gilligan]

Great collection of photos and an even greater experience.

Since your LR can't process your RAW files you may want to adjust the white balance, especially on your non-strobe shots in the Canon Digital Photo Professional software that came with the camera then convert to JPG and finish up your adjustments in your LR.

 

[Cumbo]

Wow, all that in Galapagos..? Got to get there myself! :shocked2:

 

[Interceptor121]

Hi Wossa
I have looked at your doplhin picture those are my comments:
ISO800 --> this is what generate the luminance noise. Really you should not exceed 400 in desperate cases. In this example it looks like you are not that deep even 250 would have been fine. The camera has selected a shutter speed of 1/60 there is some motion blur as well if you want to be hyper critic this was a picture to shoot at 1/125

After you denoise and correct a bit of blacks and exposure re-adding sharpening as de-noise flattens the picture I got here

Unfortunately with such a high ISO there is nothing more you can do there will be grains but this means that even with such large sensor exceeding ISO400 is not a good idea

This is the dropbox link https://www.dropbox.com/s/oo4trvzrbgny6mf/20120616-IMG_1606.jpg

 

[Wossa]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, I really appreciate the advice and for the pointers which you have given me indicating where I have gone wrong. As I thought, it is down to my complete lack of knowledge with this camera and still learning the basics of underwater photography, but at least I know where I am going wrong and can correct it.

Excellent help, thanks again.

 

[Interceptor121]

No worries
I don't know your camera however if you want to shoot in P mode with canon typically the kids and pets works however is a good idea to limit auto iso to 400 or select iso manually, the camera tries to go beyond 1/60 in that mode depending on the focal length
Nevertheless the pictures do come up with bit of editing, I used lightroom 4 and luminance noise filter 100
Unsharp mask 100 sharpening 75 detail 50 for your reference
This after correcting the exposure the picture was too bright most likely down to the camera and 1/60 ISO 800 combo

 

[Cumbo]

Wasn't G1X supposed to handle high ISO speeds without getting noise..?

 

[Interceptor121]

I think that there is difference when the medium changes from air to water and also in RAW no noise reduction filter is applied
Probably the JPEG looked ok when taken
ISO800 for underwater is pretty high I don't recall many great professional shots taken at this speed even with an SLR so I would downgrade all a notch down in water

Finally the G1X has the same processor of the S100 Digic V so in terms of computing logic is exactly the same the only difference is the sensor size

 

[gummybun]

Great photo set Wossa, thanks for sharing all that. I don't think that I would feel particularly comfortable being nosed by sharks in chubbed water though!

May I ask you a question or two? Did you use any strobes or in-built flash at all? Also, I looked through your other galleries, may I ask what camera/s you used in your previous dives and would you mind commenting or comparing the user experience between them? I would find that very interesting.

Thanks again,
Gummy

 

[Wossa]

No strobes used in any of the photo's, or built in flash. All the light is natural but I do shoot in RAW and then adjust colours etc afterwards if needed.I also use my Canon S90 which I have had for years and is really easy and good fun to use, plus I have a wide angle and macro wet lenses that give me more options. The S90 just lacks the picture quality of the G1 X but it still gives great photo's.
Bearing in mind I don't pretend to know a lot about photography and I am only a point and shoot and hope for the best diver. These are just my holiday photos that I enjoy to take and are just a reminder of my dive trips.
The G1 X is OK, gives great images but I do find the focus is slow and there is no macro at all. I hated it the first few dives but I am slowly getting use to it and when it does focus, it produces really bright and clear images. Really difficult to say which I prefer, I do tend to use my G1 X more and more because of the quality, but because of the versatility of S90 with the add on wet lenses I always take this on dive trips as a back up.