Want to take great pictures on my next dive vacation

[Skinsfan0260]

I have just purchased a Gopro 4 silver and have found a Sealife DC1200 for $400.00 CAN or $300.. US. To my way of thinking this is a good deal. Are there any issues I need to consider before purchasing a used Sealife other than the usual does it work properly. I'm not sure that the Gopro will give me everything I want in one camera but may be wrong. Also in your opinion is this the camera I am going to be happy with. I tend not to buy anything because I think the next model will have exactly what I want. Years later I haven't purchased anything.

 

[tursiops]

I have just purchased a Gopro 4 silver and have found a Sealife DC1200 for $400.00 CAN or $550.. US. To my way of thinking this is a good deal. Are there any issues I need to consider before purchasing a used Sealife other than the usual does it work properly. I'm not sure that the Gopro will give me everything I want in one camera but may be wrong. Also in your opinion is this the camera I am going to be happy with. I tend not to buy anything because I think the next model will have exactly what I want. Years later I haven't purchased anything.

What kind of pictures do you want to take? Most folks find they need a light to accomplish what they want.

By the way, 400 CAN is only about 300 US right now. Do you have your prices backwards?

 

[Skinsfan0260]

What kind of pictures do you want to take? Most folks find they need a light to accomplish what they want.

By the way, 400 CAN is only about 300 US right now. Do you have your prices backwards?

Thanks for catching that I'm just so use to using my currency converter to figure out how bad it will be when I exchange to US that I didn't tweek to the fact that it was already Canadian. I am wanting to take some nice onshore, boat, and reef shots and video.

 

[fmerkel]

LIGHT, you need LOTS of light. Reef shots will need some damn good video lights and the Sealife will need a strobe if it doesn't have one. Without it you may take shots but they aren't going to be great.

 

[tursiops]

LIGHT, you need LOTS of light. Reef shots will need some damn good video lights and the Sealife will need a strobe if it doesn't have one. Without it you may take shots but they aren't going to be great.

^^^This^^^
In clear water on a sunny day at 10m or less you are often OK without supplementary light. But not always.

 

[KeithG]

you need 2 things to take great pictures
- the proper equipment
- the proper skill set
If you do not know what you are doing then a fancy camera will not rescue you. It also takes certain camera gear to get certain types of pictures.

Based upon your questions I assume you are a beginner photographer. with the DC1200 you should be able to take okay pictures, but taking great pictures will take training / experience and better equipment.

$400 seems a little steep for such an old and simple camera. does the price include a tray and strobe?

 

[Marc LIttleton]

I use a GoPro Hero 5 & a Sealife DC1200 for my photos, both do a great job, but I do find the quality on the GoPro Hero 5 better when we do our Galleon dives... Of course most of these are in shallow water so light is not a issue.

 

[fmerkel]

I've watched a few newbie photogs and GoPro video people ramp up over the last couple years. The UW world is about 10 > 100x harder than dry. Even on land you easily see people that take good pix, others are far less interesting. It takes awhile. The photographer is the key, light is the medium, the camera is the tool. With digital becoming so accessible people can start out with some unrealistic expectations.

 

[Hoag]

A couple quick tips that are grossly over simplified:

Get lots of light on your subject. Colours (notably reds) start to fade in as little as 8-10 feet, so unless you are pretty much right on the surface, your pics will need to have that lost colour replaced.

Get close. Then get a little closer. There are 2 reasons for this. First, in most cases, you want the subject to take up a significant portion (most) of the image. Secondly, see my first point. If you are starting to lose the reds by 8 feet, that means that if you are 4 feet away from your subject you will start to lose the reds that are replaced by the strobe.

Shoot up. If you can't shoot up, then in a "worst case scenario" shoot level. By shooting down or towards a wall, your image will almost always appear flat and boring. Try to shoot upwards and if possible to isolate your subject whenever possible.

Shoot in RAW (if your camera supports it) and expect that you will have some work to do on every image in post production when you get home. (The better the image is when it is captured, the less work you will have to do in post production.)

Remember (and apply) the fundamentals of good composition. Things like the "rule of thirds", interesting subjects/boring backgrounds, some form of interaction all still apply.

 

[fmerkel]

Hoag had a lot of good points. The suggestion on RAW is not bad, but I think is a bite too much for newbies to this world. I've been shooting for years and JUST starting into this realm. Having to mess with RAW editing software on top of all the damn hardware and other complication of UW photography can be more than a bit much. That's IF the camera will even do RAW. I suspect the Sealife will not.