OBXDIVEGUY:
The stylus has everything from self-portrait mode to night mode, but no pre-programmed underwater mode for us dummies.
Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations on the settings?
I'm still a total novice as an underwater photographer, but have done a lot of diving with a Stylus 400 / PT-016 combo since last October. So here's a few random tidbits that might help:
1. Avoid the Night Scene mode like the plague, unless you are using a tripod, and nothing in the scene is moving (not likely underwater).
2. I haven't seen any significant difference between modes like Auto Program and Landscape, so I just leave it on Auto Program.
3. I often go back and forth between Auto Flash, Force Flash, and Flash Off. The RedEye mode and Flash OFF mode symbols look similar underwater, so I quickly learned how to count button pushes from the Auto Flash condition.
4. While the movie mode is low resolution, it's pretty cool for some things, like the time I was repeatedly chasing an octopus around the reef.
5. The flash is weak on land, and once behind the diffuser in the housing, it is really anemic. One must be very closeup for the flash to be useable.
6. I always just leave the "Macro" mode (or whatever the mode that enables close-up autofocus).
7. Develop a feel for doing the halfway depression on the shutter button. That activates the autofocus, and once you get the green "focus locked" LED lit, then the shutter lag is much shorter. If what you want to photograph doesn't have good contrast, point the camera at something that does (or even just something with a visible edge) at the same distance and get focus lock; then go back to the subject and take the photo.
8. I put in a fresh battery, test the housing and seal everything up the night before. Sometimes I've left the camera in the housing for a couple of days before diving. Extended periods of standby like this don't seem to affect battery life.
9. If you are having trouble with getting enough battery life for a series of 2 or 3 dives, then consider turning off the display; turning it on only as you prepare to take a photo.
10. Get close to your subject..... then get closer.