Help with a SEA AND SEA MX 10 w/ YS-40A strobe

[SHARKBAIT94]

hey every one.
I have a mx-10 sea and sea with strobe and i would like to hear any tips from people who have used this camera underwater. Ok, so long story short. I went and bought a cheap ol u/w disposable camera, keeping with the rule of “get your photo target as close as possible“ and it worked……. Sort of. The photos came out ok not as clear and the back ground was dark green. I wasn’t expecting any photos to brag about with a cheap disposible u/w camera but all in all still got nice first time underwater photos. Another problem me and my fiancé love diving and in jersey the water is darker (green) and with all the sea life I want to capture the sea life in it’s natural environment and get some quality photos hence the reason I bought a sea & sea mx-10 with a strobe. I’ve heard they are really good cameras for the beginner but I wanna hear some tips about add-ons I know all ready I have to get a macro kit but do you know of any tips, hints, tricks to get nice clear photos from this camera and keeping the “back scatter” away can this camera have duel strobes? Any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[herman]

You have a fun camera that's capable of some pretty good shots. I used one for years as well as several others on this board.
First, the get close rule still applies. Without aux lens, the min focal range is around 3 feet and 4 is about the limit of the strobe. I found the close up lens worked quite well and is fairly cheap. The macro lens does a good job as well and is very easy to use. To reduce back scatter, never use the internal flash. The YS-40 will fire in any F-stop so never use the setting that have a lighting bolt on them.
There is a book around called " The Complete Guide To Sea and Sea" that is really good. I think it is out of print but you may be able to find a copy somewhere. It is prob the best guide to the MX-10 and a must have for the camera. There may be someone on the board that will sell you their copy.

 

[DrSteve]

I too used one for a while. It's not easy and now I am a digital guy. BUT as Herman said you need to be close, but not too close. That means you have to be able to judge the distance underwater. I found the close-up lens (about 35 from LPro) was a nice addition. For the price of a true macro lens for this puppy I'd just go digital because they can do incredible macro shots. Always made me wonder why a digital camera can go that close, but a film camera can't. Anyway, keep shooting and have fun.

 

[kenih]

I've only seen pictures from a couple of digital cameras and so far I haven't been impressed... I've taken a ton of pictures with the MX-10 and have just moved on to a MMII. I have 50+ of my "best" photos from the MX-10 up on my wall at work and about 75% of those are macro shots. I've had a lot of ppl walk by and do a "wow! did you take those?" so you can definitely take great shots with the camera.

The macro lense is pretty much your best friend after getting the strobe - ASA 100, strobe with filter (all the new ones have this already), f22, dump the frame bar at the end of the macro, and forget extending the bars at the end of the macro (its already tough getting the fish in the frame...). Snap the shot and its perfect everytime! The only time the macro shots don't come out is when I screw up or when the fish swims out of the frame (that happens a lot...on the plus side, eels always think its food and come out to nibble on it!).

Wideangle lens - well I didn't like it...maybe I didn't use it correctly but I tried several with and without wide angle lense and I liked without better. I think it would be even worse in Jersey with your water conditions.

I have had a lot of scatter on my shots in the lakes in Texas. You may be in trouble there since it sounds like you have similar conditions in NJ. I hope it works out for you...if not, take a trip to Bonaire and think "night dive"!

If you have the old style stobe with a removeable filter cover, I suggest drilling a whole in the cover and tieing fish line to it/attaching to a clip that you can clip on to your camera. Its doubtful you have this as its very old but if you do it will make things a lot easier.

Definitely get the lens holder that attaches to the strobe. You can attach your macro lens to it.

Buy all your stuff on Ebay.

 

[diveski01]

I used an MX-10 for several years with VERY good results with some modifications. It's a great camera for learning the basics. I shoot 100 ISO slide film so I can enlarge prints for display. Even got an Honorable Mention in a company photo contest using that camera

1) Get a tray and strobe arm from S&S and an MXTENDER cable and strobe arm converter attachment from www.gbundersea.com. It's much more durable than the S&S optical cable IMHO.

This will get the strobe away from the lens and enable you to angle it for better lighting of the subject. It will also get rid of the backscatter!! That is caused by the flash pointing straight at the particles in the water which reflect light directly back to the lens.

2) Get the lens attachment caddy for carrying other lenses during the dive.

You never know when you'll want WA or macro. That's the beauty of the S&S cameras!

I almost always had my 20mm WA lens on the camera. Be certain to "burp" the lens once you get to depth. The tiniest of air bubbles in the lens will cause issues. Simply remove the lens, carefully wave the air bubbles away from the camera lens and the other (WA, macro) lens, and remount.

 

[gert7to3]

The best suggestion I could make is for you to get Sea & Sea's book: The New Guide to Sea & Sea, by Joe Liburdi & Cara Sherman. Your LDS might have it, Amazon for sure has it. It specifically covers your camera and strobe. Cost is about $25.00

 

[DalTexDiver]

Get:

The wide angle lens, pix will be much better and you can get closer
The base and extender for the strobe. That will get rid of backscatter

This was my first UW camera. Still have it but went digital to get more shots per dive. I am a quantity shooter. More pix, better chance of a good one. Just my personal theory.

 

[santacruz]

I too used an MX10 for several years. It's a great camera, and takes crisp photos. Here are some tips that I learned: (I used camera in Monterey, where water is green)

1: Macro. Start out ust using the macro lens. I used 100 ISO film, and set aperture to F16 for most subjects, F22 if subject was white. Do not set flash to Auto!

2: Standard lens: Don't waste your time. You have to be too far from subject for photo to be in focus.

3: Close-up lens: Great lens for fish and small subjects too large for macro. Set flash to normal (not auto), F8 or F11, and get about a foot and a half from subject.

4: Wide angle lens: My favorite, even in low vis. WHY? Because this lens lets you focus close, and gives you great depth of field. For close-ups, get 2-3 feet from subject, F-8-F11. Use flash diffuser.

I also recommend the New Guide to Sea and Sea. Study the depth of field tables. Since th MX10 is fixed focus, using the aperture to set the depth of field is essential.