Canon S100

[luk]

I'm new to underwater photography, and considering buying a Canon S100. I just want to take nice pictures of big or small animal. I don't need them to be professional quality.

I don't know much about camera either, but I've been researching the S100. If I were to use the S100 and the canon housing, will I see fish eye effect or vignetting? I'm just not sure what I should buy along with this camera. By the way, when do you need a wet lens? I read these posts and still don't quite understand. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...-ikelite-housing-af35-strobe.html#post6274994 and Wet lens [Archive] - ScubaBoard - Scuba Diving Forum - Diving Social Network.

Thank you

 

[peeweediver]

I have an S100 with a FIX housing, but just bought a Cannon housing and will also buy a second S100 for small trips without wanting to lug the aluminum housing and all the bells and whistels. Prices for the S100 are so much lower now that it's worth having 2. Vignetting only occurs if you are using a wide angle lense that has it on it's widest setting. Just zoom in one stop and it goes away. You can grow into the S100. My first trip I did just the basics with mostly automatic settings. Second trip, used my flash and video light much more and went to manual settings. Next trip, I'll shoot RAW.
Wet lens is when you want to change lends underater. So, if I have my wide angle on and sudddenly see something small that I don't want to shoot "wide-macro", I just screw off the wide angle lens, screw it on my lends caddie on the flash arm, take my shots then screw the wide angle lends back on my camera. All underwater. Same is true for wet macro lens.
I worked with Reef Photo to assemble my set-up and they were great. They just fixed an issue I was having with the back wheel on the FIX housing because it sometimes changed the mode when I only wanted to change the shutter speed. A "tweek" to the internal wheel as they called it fixed the problem. Working with a good photo shop when you're a newbie like me is a great process. Also, many of the folks on this board have been great sources of information and advice.
Get a decent external flash. The internal flash just doesn't do much. You can start without one and grow into it, but practicing with one is really important. Of my first 100 shots with my strobe many were not great, but the percentages on my last trip were much better.

Rob

 

[PatW]

There are two cases where you would want a wet lens. The first is to take photos of large critters (like your dive partner) and landscape shots. Sharpness drops off very rapidly in water so you want your subject within 5' of the camera sensor and the closer the better. That means you need a really wide angle lens.

The other situation in which a wet lens is really nice is taking shots of small critters: shrimp, small crabs, coral polyps etc.

A strobe is necessary if you want to show the vibrant colors that exist on a reef. All of the red light is absorbed in the first 15' of the water column. Below that, there are no red colors.

 

[Interceptor121]

A 24mm camera underwater has plenty of pincushion distortion as you can see on this link

Canon S100 test pictures

So at wide end you need at least some form of distortion correction, as a minimum a wet dome or if you can afford it a wide angle lens

When you zoom in there is no major issue of distortion and the S100 has got decent macro performance so you can wait a bit for a diopter

In short with camera plus housing all you can really shoot is macro
If you add a wide angle lens you can also shoot ambient light wide angle
And with a strobe you can also shoot close focus wide angle

 

[coralcruiser]

I think Rob and PatW gave you good advice that is easy to understand... with one exception.

I shot digital for many years using only the internal flash and only started shooting with a strobe a few years ago. (When shooting film, starting back in 1989, a strobe was an absolute necessity).

If you are shooting fairly close to the subject, you can get nice shots and good color without a strobe. As you move farther away you need the strength of a strobe to get the colors back into the photo.

If you're just starting out and dive frequently, begin with the camera and you can add on the extras such as strobe and wet lenses as you get more comfortable.

 

[pariah99]

I took this film with only an S100 and red filter - no strobe. I didn't take any photographs, but I can vouch for the video capabilities of this camera.

Scuba in Fort Lauderdale, Florida 12.30.2012 - YouTube

 

[luk]

I took this film with only an S100 and red filter - no strobe. I didn't take any photographs, but I can vouch for the video capabilities of this camera.

Scuba in Fort Lauderdale, Florida 12.30.2012 - YouTube

pariah99: your video looks nice. Did you have to do any post processing? what's the red filter you used? I want to budget things I need along with s100




---------- Post added January 29th, 2013 at 06:07 PM ----------

Thank you everyone!

Interceptor121 - If I understand correctly, the distortion at the edges always come on when I take underwater pictures if I dont zoom, right? I just want to know if I should budget for a wide angle lens. As an entry level, what wide angle lens would you recommend for this camera?






PatW- Do you have pictures of before and after the lens? I wonder if the before is something I can accept for now, so I save some money I'm not really sure how much a lens would cost.




Rob - from your comment "Vignetting only occurs if you are using a wide angle lense that has it on it's widest setting."
You mean, you can set the camera's angle right? so if I dont set it to widest, I dont need to have a wide lens, or dont need to zoom in to take care of the distorted edge, right?
how does the canon housing + s100 work for you? how is it compared to the FIX housing?

 

[pariah99]

I was using the 6441.41 filter from ikelite. I used Final Cut Pro X for post processing, and I detailed the adjustments I made here:

http://youtu.be/2l1AhbtcPaI

This was actually my first underwater video, so I have plenty of room to improve in editing. I didn't realize that I could have just adjusted the white balance setting on the camera during the dive, which would have made things turn out a bit better.

Also, I've started to dabble with the free Davinci Resolve Light to do color correction - it's complicated, but it can produce some really amazing results.

 

[Sevenrider860]

I used a Canon S100 with the Canon housing last summer. No Strobe. This winter I upgraded to a FX100 housing and a strobe. Pictures below are Canon housing no strobe. Puerto Galera, Philippines. I love the camera and they are available for little money. If you purchase an expensive housing...buy two S100 cameras so you always have a replacement.

 

[Matt S.]

If you buy the right housing, you will have options later on for wide angle or macro lenses.

Unfortunately, the most inexpensive housings aren't the most flexible.

I strongly recommend budgeting for an external strobe right away. The difference in the quality of pictures can be tremendous. I regret the time I spent without an external strobe on my first rig.