The underwater camera housing for my Canon SD1000 point and shoot just came in and I'm excited to try it out. I know it has an underwater setting but I'm hesitant to use it because I hear it gives the photos a funny color. Should I just use the general auto setting or some other setting? For those of you that take a lot of underwater photos what settings do you use? Any info, tips or tricks are very appreciated. Thanks

PJ

Roy G Biv is going to mess you up no matter what you do. You have to go back and do color correction.

However, one setting to set is for light to be 'overcast' if you have that one available.

Roy G Biv is going to mess you up no matter what you do. You have to go back and do color correction.

However, one setting to set is for light to be 'overcast' if you have that one available.

TC is right, The overcast setting or white balance adjustment can help bring out a little more color with out a flash or strobe. For shallow water software is your best friend.

Here is one photo taken at about 30 feet. The first one is before color adjusting software, and the second is after the enhancement process. The second photo being a very true color representation.

Very nice- what program did you use and what color corrections did you apply?

here is another example from 15fsw. I'm using Photo Explosion Deluxe from Nova software. There are a lot of different photo editing softwares out there. I think most computers come with some photo software built in.

Can I assume that Adobe Photoshop CS3 can do the same thing?

What does Dix Roper use to document his underwater escapades?:D

Do you guys shoot in auto mode or manual focus mode?

Can I assume that Adobe Photoshop CS3 can do the same thing?

yes it does try using the auto-level filter, there is also some color filters and reduce noise function that may or may not improve your pics

Adam, could you be a little more specific on how you got those AJ's to "pop" in color in that first image?

yes it does try using the auto-level filter, there is also some color filters and reduce noise function that may or may not improve your pics

Auto Levels is great. It overdoes the correction sometimes, but under Edit, there's a Fade Auto Levels command with a little slider that lets you choose how much correction you like. Also try Auto Color. Sometimes it's better, sometimes not.

As for focus, I'd start with auto focus. Focusing manually through your mask underwater is a pain and probably won't be as accurate. That said, sometimes auto focus features can't see low contrast objects. I've had lots of trouble getting pictures of with Gulf Grouper and wsb, because they don't have distinct markings.

Ultimately, trial and error is the way to go. And shoot LOTS of pictures. They're free, and the more you shoot, the better your chances of getting a great one.

Adam, could you be a little more specific on how you got those AJ's to "pop" in color in that first image?

I leave my camera on full auto setting. With the Nova software there is a feature called "Auto-Adjust Level", it pretty much adjusts brightness & contrast, hue & saturation and color automatically. I will sometimes fiddle with the manual variables to make a photo pop a little extra.

I have also found that the more color available in the frame, the better the software works. For example, a photo of just a ledge in 100fsw may look dull, dark and colorless even with software adjustment. That same photo with a color reference for the software to work with, i.e. a diver with a neon red safety sausage, a chartreuse pony tank or even a pair of bright yellow fins, helps the software enhance the overall color of the entire image, including the less colorfull surronding.

This is just my experience. tomol sums it up best. Shoot the hell out of the camera, take as many pictures as you can. Much as I hate to do it, sometimes it's best to leave the gun in the boat and focus on one task, it usually makes for better photos when you remove the hunting task load from the brain. But then again guys like Fishkilla seem to excell at multitasking!

My plan was to just go out and shoot a lot and learn by trial and error but I figured if I could get a few pointers up front why not!

I plan on getting a nice 4gb card so that I can snap away and play with video a lot too.

Anyone know of the cheapest place to get cheap SD cards?

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

PJ

My plan was to just go out and shoot a lot and learn by trial and error but I figured if I could get a few pointers up front why not!

I plan on getting a nice 4gb card so that I can snap away and play with video a lot too.

Anyone know of the cheapest place to get cheap SD cards?

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

PJ

I was in Staples two days ago and they had cards at the checkout counter for impulse buying. I think the 4GB cards were something like $24.00. Not sure, though.

ebay usually has the best deals on memory

As for using the underwater setting, I dont have one of those, but the folks that have one, use the UW setting. Strobes or video lights are also great. A red filter is also good, but I dont know if your camera can use one. I dont know who has 4 gig cards on sale, but a month or so ago, I was in Best Buy and since the 4 gigs are out, the 2 gigs were real cheap. They hold 100s of full size pics. I woulg get a couple of those too. For video I would use a 4 gig and make sure it is a fast one. My camera Nikon 4300 and housing Fantasea, cant change from video to picture underwater, so its either picture or video, unless I change it topside. I have a 35 mm Pentax old school with an Ikelite housing that I have had for 30 years, and that was a pain learning by taking pics. Digital is a great way to learn, if you take some good pics, save em, if not erase. I have found that very lit up days, and clear water-obviously, will get you the best color. Murky, overcast days get real grey. Get a light tray and either video light-can work with either, or slave strobes. Fantasea.com sells them for not too much. Good luck! You still in the Keys?

For Christmas I was given a SeaLife Reefmaster (http://www.sealife-cameras.com/cameras/reefmaster_mini_pro.html). I've only had one outing where the conditions were good enough to use it. I had it set on normal settings (land), I don't even think I turned the flash on, and the depth is about 50 feet. Picture A is original and picture B is the enhanced version (using Adobe Photoshop).

Steve: I'm now living in Naples but I still keep my boat in the keys and try to make it down there at least one weekend a month. My camera can be switched between pic and video during the dive so I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of both!

Thanks everyone for all the input, you guys have been a big help. Now all that is left to do is go freediving and try it out!

I found a great deal on a 4GB SanDisk SDHC card on ebay.....card plus reader delivered for $25. So with that card plus the 2GB card I already have I think I'll be set!

Input, tips, and tricks still welcome.

Steve: I'm now living in Naples but I still keep my boat in the keys and try to make it down there at least one weekend a month. My camera can be switched between pic and video during the dive so I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of both!

Thanks everyone for all the input, you guys have been a big help. Now all that is left to do is go freediving and try it out!

I found a great deal on a 4GB SanDisk SDHC card on ebay.....card plus reader delivered for $25. So with that card plus the 2GB card I already have I think I'll be set!

Input, tips, and tricks still welcome.


Damnit! I forgot to mention the SanDisk warning. They're prone to corrupting.

I'd heard this at a local underwater photography club meeting here in CA. I blew it off as just another BS gear discussion like Wong vs. Riffe. Then I lost almost all my pictures of my one and only Florida dive trip. Pissed me off.

Tomol: Can you elaborate a little more on the problem you had because I've been using a SanDisk 2GB card for over a year now with no problems. Maybe I've been lucky but I'd still like to hear about it. Thanks for the heads up

Tomol: Can you elaborate a little more on the problem you had because I've been using a SanDisk 2GB card for over a year now with no problems. Maybe I've been lucky but I'd still like to hear about it. Thanks for the heads up

I bought a Sandisk when I originally bought my camera. Like you, I used it for a couple of years with no problems. The subject came up at the club meeting, because another member read about the Sandisk problem in an article somewhere. I don't remember which publication. A couple of other members piped up that they or one or more of their friends had had a disk disk corrupt on them.

Like I said, I wrote it off as gear geeks looking for something to talk about -- a common phenomenon among photographers.

I don't remember the exact sequence of events, but I got an error message that shut down the camera. I couldn't figure it out, so I took it to Canon. The camera checked out, but I couldn't get it to work. I tried reformatting the disk to no avail, so I bought a new card, and the camera worked fine. The images on the original disk couldn't be retrieved either.

Yes, I would like to hear too, as I also have a 2 gig Sandisc Compact Flash. Never had a problem though.

Well man I didnt read the book before my post but let me throw in what I know. I have all sorts of cameras to include a Canon SD900 point and shoot. On the canon I turned up the saturation which is called vivid colors on the Caonon. Then, depending on light, I set the ISO as low at it can go to get less grain in the photo. I use an 8gig card in mine and I take pics at the highest quality and size.
I think thats it as far the camera settings go. This is all done on the manual setting. Sometimes I use the underwater setting and it works just fine. Then I use CS3 to edit them. But I hardly use my point and shoot for good photos. I got a Nikon d40 now and it has a ton more editing power than the point and shoots in CS3.

I have had to save more than one memory card that went bad in-camera. Similar to what you experienced. There are programs out there- free ones- that will do a full recovery of the pictures- don't get scammed into paying for a program to do it. I then formatted the card and it is usable again.