Dark Photos - Need help

[Scuba-junky]

I have a Panasonic ZS3 and an Inon S2000 strobe. While the ZS3 does great video, I've been trying to also use it for stills. The problem I'm having is that the stills all come out very dark.

Settings:

ZS3 - normal picture mode, ISO Sensitivity =Auto, AWB, C-AF, I.Exposure OFF, Color Mode VIVID, Stabilizer MODE2, Minimum Shutter Speed 1/60, AF Assist Lamp OFF.

S2000 - No Magnet installed, Main On/Off switch set to S-TTL, EV Control set to 5.5 (9 oclock position). In Full, it is way overexposed, in 5.5 it is too dark.

I'm using an Inon fiber optic cable.

One thing I haven't tried is to increase the exposure setting on the camera. Not sure if this is the best approch or not.

Suggestions anyone????

 

[rab1412000]

ok the first thing you gotta figure out is whether you strobe is actually firing. do a few test shots to make sure its firing underwater.

with that out of the way i always use iso100 min shutter of 1/120 vivid for shots that the strobe light can reach, macro, or when there is ample ambient light. otherwise use underwatermode but chances are shots will be blurry.
try that out.

 

[gypsyjim]

I am no photo whiz, and can't say a lot about the camera setting, but I have found that many of my over dark pics were quite savable using PS levels. I was amazed the first time I played with the levels settings in PhotoShop, on an over dark pic that I was about to dump.

 

[Scuba-junky]

The strobe IS firing and almost all of the pictures I took were on Macro with forced flass ON. I'll be diving on a wreck this week and I'll try setting the ISO to 100, shutter speed 1/125 and I'll increase the exposure if I have to.

I WAS able to lighten all of my pictures up in the Photo Editor. They look great, but would like them to come out lighter from the camera rather than having to doctor each photo up in the editor.

 

[ChimChim75]

Do you have an autobracket function? I use it often on my Panny and it really helps sometimes.

Is your strobe firing too late maybe?

 

[beautybelow]

To keep it very basic, if the part of your picture that your flash is lighting is dark or underexposed then you have three options to lighten it up.

One, increase the flash's power. This is often not the best way however because some parts of the subject may reflect more light than others (shiny fish for example) and you can over expose these parts very easily to the point of no return in any editing software.

Two, Decrease the "F Stop" number. This will affect the depth of field however and can even affect the sharpness of the image. With this in mind, a high number F stop means a dark background and sharp image. Low number means lighter background and potentially less sharpness in the image.

Three, increase the ISO. This is often a good choice when there is no blue at all in the background. It allows you to keep a higher F stop.

OK..four ways....get closer to the subject. This is often the best by the way.

The shutter speed won't affect the exposure of whatever the flash lights up.

Shutter speed will lighten or darken blue in the background. That's another lesson but if you are on a wreck you may want to consider the difference between the exposure of what the flash is lighting and the exposure of what is being lit by ambient light.