Sea&Sea DX1200HD and dark pictures

[MtnPlayVA]

My husband bought me the new Sea&Sea camera for Xmas - I took it to the pool this last weekend to test it out before we got to Grand Cayman on Saturday. I assumed this would be an easy point and shoot camera but of the 20 or so pictures I took, only one is really visible. The others are varying shades, but all really dark. Am I doing something wrong or is a strobe light a necessity? I am a real beginner to photography and don't really want to spend a fortune if I don't need to - should I be able to take pictures without the strobe light in a pool environment?

 

[Larry C]

Need more info. Were you using the camera flash? How far were you from subjects. Was it daylight or night, did the pool have lighting? What camera settings were you using?
Most point and shoot cameras will take well lit pictures in daylight in a pool, some maybe even too bright if you don't have the camera set properly. If you're using auto settings, the camera will assist you, and there's normally a +/- setting to allow you to adjust the brightness. Did you take topside pictures with the same settings at the pool? How did they come out?

 

[MtnPlayVA]

Need more info. Were you using the camera flash? How far were you from subjects. Was it daylight or night, did the pool have lighting? What camera settings were you using?
Most point and shoot cameras will take well lit pictures in daylight in a pool, some maybe even too bright if you don't have the camera set properly. If you're using auto settings, the camera will assist you, and there's normally a +/- setting to allow you to adjust the brightness. Did you take topside pictures with the same settings at the pool? How did they come out?

I was using the built in flash at varying distances from the other divers. Only one picture turned out but I have no idea why it did and the others didn't. The distance for that picture wasn't different from some of the others I took.
It was daylight, with some of the pictures in the shallow end and others in the deep end. The pool doesn't have lights but it does have windows on one full side. I tried S&S, macro, and auto modes. I did take pictures topside and those were ok as far as lighting is concerned but they all really blurry. Some of this is probably just me but the pictures were far darker than what I've had from plain cheap disposable underwater cameras so I was pretty disappointed.
I did a reset on the camera just in case there were settings that had been adjusted in the store (it was their demo) so we'll see what happens next time I use it. We leave for Grand Cayman on Sat. and I really don't want to spend 700+ to get a strobe if this should work without it at shallow depths.

 

[Larry C]

The reset is a good idea. Who knows what setting changes were made by people messing around with it. Next thing would be take the picture that worked and check the EXIF information. That will tell you the settings that resulted in a good picture. Generally for underwater close-up shots, you'll want to use the macro setting. If it was set on macro and you were too far away, the camera focus will be limited and you'll get blurry pictures. If you're within two feet (where you should be for most underwater pictures, macro should work great. If you're using the built in flash, set it to fire in macro mode, but you're better off using no flash with custom white balance if you're shooting wider "scenic" shots at shallow depth, as the flash won't light anything past about 3-4 feet and you'll get reflections of the flash from any particulate in the water (backscattter). You'll only want the flash if you have a diver or fish in the foreground that you want to light up on the wider angle shots. Eventually, what you'll want to do is use the EXIF from your best shots to find out the exact settings you need in the conditions you're diving in and for the pictures you shoot most often and manually set the camera to those settings.

 

[caymaniac]

My rule with my housing and strobe is if you can reach out and touch it, take a picture other wise you're too far away. And yes I was within reaching distance for this shot!

These are also taken within the 4 ft. range or less:

 

[MtnPlayVA]

Those are great shots! Thanks for the info!

 

[sharky60]

Using the on board flash only, without a stobe, will limit you for sure. Save up and get a lighting package.

Here are the settings I use for my S&S DX5000G, not sure if the 1200's settings will be the same, but maybe this will help:

PUT THE CAMERA IN "AUTO" MODE, activate the macro button for the majority of your shots, this really just tells the camera to focus on the nearest object. Make sure the focus crosshairs have locked in and take the picture as fast as possible after the focus crosshairs have locked without "jerking" the camera.

MENU & SET-UP SETTINGS:

PIC Quality/size: F2592 (next setting down from uncompressed, uncompressed has WAY too long

lag time, shoot "RAW" when you move up to a DSLR)

FOCUS: AF

PHOTOMETRY: MULT

SHARPNESS: NORMAL

EXPOSURE COMP.: -0.3

WHITE BALANCE: CLOUDY

ISO: 100

These settings were given to me to use from the people I purchased the camera from and have worked very well for me, see my galleries for samples.

These cameras strong suite is the macro feature, although once you get a strobe and can light larger areas, you can get some very nice reef shots. Just as a rule of thumb, try to shoot things that are within the distance of an out streched arm. Things further away may be in focus, but you won't get much color.

one thing to remember, if this is your first digital, and I still have problems with it. Keep the camera as still as possible until you see the shot in the review window, moving the camera too soon can cause blurriness and make your pictures appear out of focus.

Keeping the camera still underwater seems easier than it is on land, the water pressure must help with stablization. Practice, practice, practice shooting flowers, bugs, anything small on land in macro mode, this will help train your muscles to holding still.

Have a great trip and best of luck.