Filter for Canon S230

[austindiver]

I purchased an underwater case for my wife's Canon S230 Digital ELPH camera so she could take pictures snorkeling and while we are in the water at the local lake. I would like to take it with me diving in Cancun but would like to add a filter so the colors are more true. It does not have a threaded lens area nor does the housing. Is there anything made that could be easily adapted? Maybe a filter holder outboard of the housing that could be affixed via the tripod mount on the base of the housing?

Thanks for any and all assistance.

C

 

[notabob]

Sorry, I'm not aware of any filter holder for the Canon housings that would do what you're looking for. That said, are you sure you want to use a filter? While I haven't used one myself, I have heard from a number of people that using filters underwater caused problems for them. They supposedly didn't help bring out the true colors and in fact distorted the true colors in the images where the flash was powerful enough to bring them out. I can't imagine a filter really helping, since the loss of color (primarily the reds) is caused by the water itself. A filter won't put that color back in the image properly, especially since the loss of red varies with the distance. Your best bet to keep the colors true over a longer distance is to use an exteranal strobe, I'd say.

-Roman.

 

[Dee]

I'm not aware of any such filter holder. Are you sure you want to do that? I know filters have the reputation of replacing the lost colors but they simply don't work like that. More often than not, they distort the colors you do see, especially when using the internal flash. Better yet, get an external strobe. If you are snorkeling or at shallow depths with full sun, you won't need any color correction anyway.

 

[Dee]

Roman...you beet me to it! ut:

 

[miesemer]

I have the S230 and U/W housing. Sometime in the future I'll probably invest in an external strobe. For now, I just make sure to shoot a manual white balance shot (of my slate) at depth or as conditions vary. I think it helps to reduce the blue/green cast but doesn't necessarily bring out the other colors.

 

[austindiver]

Wow, that was quick. Thank you all for the replies. I had thought of using a strobe but really hate to spend any real money on this setup. I am saving for Video stuff for myself and really just wanted to play with this small still camera. I figured maybe $100 for a filter and holder was not too much but to get a remotely triggered strobe...........ouch. Just figured if there was an easier way to get an improvement without breaking the bank. I will try the shot against my slate and see if that helps. It is all just an experiment anyway so I'll try multiple shots of a couple of objects for comparison then on the next dive use that process.

Second question........I dive with a 50 watt Halogen and can just light up what I want to take a picture of if needed. Will that be sufficient? Is that overkill? If it is overkill I can build a self contained 20 watt MR-16 based halogen light pod in about an hour. Thinking of 30-60 feet depth in clear water at no more than 3 feet from the subject.