Question, under water

[grumpy69]

Hi all, I am going to Cuba in 3 days and I have bought an aqua bag so I can take the camera up to 15ft under water I will use eather my E-410 or E-520 has any one got any advise as to what settings as this will be the 1st time doing this sort of photography. John

[Wreckdiver]

Re: Question, under water

John, Here is an article I wrote some time ago that should help: Underwater photography. Also take a look at Duxy's articles here: Paul Duxfield.

Would love to see your photos when you get back, so don't forget to post them here.

Steve

[Wreckdiver]

Re: Question, under water

Had a look at the E-520's manual and I would suggest you use the following camera settings:

• Select "Scene" mode and use either the "Underwater Wide" or "Underwater Macro" settings depending on the type of shot you are taking.
• Use Liveview.
• Set focus to Autofocus continuous for moving subjects or Autofocus single for static subjects.
• Set White Balance to cloudy if you are shooting JPEG but I suggest you shoot in raw and set WB to cloudy or auto and correct in PP. The results of using raw and setting WB afterwards can be quite dramatic.
• Turn on sequential shooting and make sure you have a fast CF card. I have found that xD cards are just too slow when shooting underwater - you will miss a lot of action while the camera is saving.
• DON'T USE FLASH WHATSOEVER! ambient light will be perfect for your needs.
• Point the camera up towards the surface and get level with or get below your subject - try not to point the camera downwards towards the sea bed.
• Get as close to your subject as possible - preferably less than 1 metre. Don't shoot from a distance - the results will be very poor.

These are just basic settings to get you going and should be fine for what you need if you are just going down a few metres.

Steve

[grumpy69]

Re: Question, under water

Had a look at the E-520's manual and I would suggest you use the following camera settings:

• Select "Scene" mode and use either the "Underwater Wide" or "Underwater Macro" settings depending on the type of shot you are taking.
• Use Liveview.
• Set focus to Autofocus continuous for moving subjects or Autofocus single for static subjects.
• Set White Balance to cloudy if you are shooting JPEG but I suggest you shoot in raw and set WB to cloudy or auto and correct in PP. The results of using raw and setting WB afterwards can be quite dramatic.
• Turn on sequential shooting and make sure you have a fast CF card. I have found that xD cards are just too slow when shooting underwater - you will miss a lot of action while the camera is saving.
• DON'T USE FLASH WHATSOEVER! ambient light will be perfect for your needs.
• Point the camera up towards the surface and get level with or get below your subject - try not to point the camera downwards towards the sea bed.
• Get as close to your subject as possible - preferably less than 1 metre. Don't shoot from a distance - the results will be very poor.

These are just basic settings to get you going and should be fine for what you need if you are just going down a few metres.

Steve

Thanks steve thats a great help, but I am only snorkling as I have asthma pooo, they wont let me dive. There is a 4ft Baracooda at the end of the pier whitch I would love to try get, NO I won't be going near that monster but I could put a timer on and wate to bag with a rock ??

Just looked at your pics WOW fantastic shots, don't expect anything like those LOL