Underwater photography gear advice

matt83

matt83

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Matthew
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Im heading off to Australia and Indonesia in a few weeks for a 2 year backpacking trip. Im interested in doing some marine photography while Im away (taking a fully loaded SLR backpack for above water :)).
My question is what gear would best suit my needs for marine shots?
Ill mainly be snorkling, so not to deep, and hopefully doing a cage dive with great whites (if they show up).

So far Iv been looking at the following -

1. Ewa Marine for my D300, 17-55 2.8 and flash - must say that this design makes me nervous due to the danger to my beloved gear! Ment to be reliable though.
2. Olympus XZ-1 with Olympus housing - top of my price range so wont be able to afford external flashes. Plus will take up more room in my backpack. On the plus side I still get RAW!
3. Olympus TG-1 - small and easy to carry around plus Iv heard good things about its image quality. But it doesnt support RAW!

Any suggestions or advice would be most welcome :)
 
Nothing useful to add but if you're visiting around Brisbane let me know :D Cairns too - my dad is in cairns :D
 
StephyB said:
Nothing useful to add but if you're visiting around Brisbane let me know :D Cairns too - my dad is in cairns :D
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Thanks. Heading to Perth and Bunbury first as my girlfriend has some research work lined up there with dolphins.
 
If size is a major issue get the best compact with RAW you can afford.

If you have a little more space then an early m43 like the epl-1 in the Olympus housing will give much better results.

The ewa-marine housing would be my last option for snorkelling and adding a flash to it is asking for your shots to be ruined by backscatter.
 
I used to have an Olympus "waterproof" compact for snorkelling and it wasn't. I now use a Canon D10 which so far is! No raw as far as I know but the in camera WB adjustment is fine for snorkelling, where there is still plenty of relatively full spectrum light. As your research has probably shown, housings for SLRs are not cheap (master of the understatement, me!), although they are the ultimate answer for great pictures. FWIW, after talking to experienced SCUBA divers, it's far more important when diving deeper than snorkelling to concentrate on the diving safety aspect rather than chasing the perfect photo - novice photo divers have been known to chase their subject down the water column and end up in deep #2!

As a rule, I turn the flash off on my D10 when underwater - on most compacts (if not all) the flash is so close to the lens that the backscatter ruins the photo. Ramping the ISO up a notch or 2 may make the image a bit noisier (which can be dealt with in PP if necessary) but backscattered flash is less easy to deal with. At some times of the day, there is less plankton and/or waterborne sediment to cause the backscatter - may be worth investigating when that's likely to be.
 
The camera housing can be relatively cheap depending on camera and brand you buy.

You will want raw capability
You will want at least 1 external flash, complete with arms and synch cord - these are expensive for what they are IMO - often as much as the housing (especially if going for a top end compact rather than slr)
If you go for an slr you'll need zooms, extenders and ports - if you go for a dome port they're hideously expensive, flat ports for macro seem really cheap in comparison
 
What they have said. I did a lot of research on this when we went to the maldives. It looks to me that a canon s90 to s100 with a quality housing and an external strobe is the best value for money to get good pictures.

Thanks
Rick
 
Not much good if you're backpacking though, external strobes ain't small and also cost a fortune...

My personal experience is that Canon give the best underwater pics, I've used quite a few different cameras and a friend has been through a few too and didn't really like the Oly XZ1. Fuji, although popular are rubbish underwater (can't cope with the blue) so I'd steer clear.

Onboard flash is plenty good enough if your diving and photography skills are up to it (granted strobes are better but...), there was another thread recently where I posted some pics with onboard flash so maybe have a look for those.

edit: another option is to hire a camera when you're out there - most places do them nowadays, only downside seems to be that they are nearly always Fuji...
 
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Thanks for the advice guys. Iv been looking into a second hand Canon S90 and an Ikelite housing. Cant afford strobes neither do I have the space to carry a rig like that (Im backpacking and my SLR backpack is already around the 10kg mark)
It seems that non of the underwater compacts feature RAW .... am I right?
But from looking at pics taken with the Olympus TG-1 with its underwater WB settings it seems to do a pretty good job of getting it right, as does the Canon "tough" compact.
Im just desperate to save on weight and space (especially as it will only be used periodically) plus the extra cash saved from buying the TG-1 will come in handy.
Just dont want that great white to come along and the shots ending up being useless!
Still 50/50 at the moment but the EWA housing is definatly out. Just cant stomach the thought of putting my camera in a PVC bag and then dropping it in the drink :)
 
If the space and weight are more important than absolute control then either the olympus or the canon D20 sound like 2 of the best options. Staying shallow and using manual WB will be needed.

Personally, I'd still be tempted with a canon S90, but not in the Ikelite housing. Stick with the cheaper canon brand housing. The Ike does not offer anything extra and neither of them give access to the second dial - you'll need to pay a lot more for this - something like the FIX 90.

Mike
 
I went to Egypt 2 years ago and the wife bought me a Intova IC12 with a strobe and the total cost was around £350.
It worked very well at 30m and exceptionally well on the surface when I took my daughter snorkeling. It even won a competition that we had running on here.

It will never be a DSLR but I think it would be ideal for you back packing, I can email pics if you would like to see some or i will adds some to flickr

spike
 
Forget the UWA Marine bags!

My recommendation would be a Canon S95/S100 in the Canon housing. Very good little cameras, full manual if needed and they shoot RAW which is very very handy for underwater. I wouldn't touch a camera that goes underwater that doesn't do RAW.

Depending on budget maybe add a wide angle lens.
 
pooley said:
If the space and weight are more important than absolute control then either the olympus or the canon D20 sound like 2 of the best options. Staying shallow and using manual WB will be needed.

Personally, I'd still be tempted with a canon S90, but not in the Ikelite housing. Stick with the cheaper canon brand housing. The Ike does not offer anything extra and neither of them give access to the second dial - you'll need to pay a lot more for this - something like the FIX 90.

Mike
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Yea I am lusting after the S90 set up. Although I think the Ikelite housing looks more robust. Canon's housing gives me a cheap, toy impression about it. Have you handled this housing or any of canon's before and are they good?
I leave in three weeks so I think Im gonna wait till my last week when I know exactly how much I have to play with to make up my mind.
 
SpikeK6 said:
I went to Egypt 2 years ago and the wife bought me a Intova IC12 with a strobe and the total cost was around £350.
It worked very well at 30m and exceptionally well on the surface when I took my daughter snorkeling. It even won a competition that we had running on here.

It will never be a DSLR but I think it would be ideal for you back packing, I can email pics if you would like to see some or i will adds some to flickr

spike
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I know nothing of this camera but yea would love to see some pics. Does it support RAW?
 
I,ll be taking a Canon g12 and wp-dc34 underwater housing to Egypt later this week for a little snorkelling, shoots raw and even has a underwater setting so I may stand a chance.
 
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I've handled plenty out of the water - they are always popular on the boat, and honestly feel they are worth it compared to the Ikelites - thy just don't offer anything extra IMHO.

The only one I've used underwater was an s100 in a FIX housing which I rented - but to buy is a lot of money.

The intova mentioned above is a bit of a cheap and cheerful setup - no offence meant to spike6 - I'm not sure if its rugged enough for your trip but by all means do some research.

Check out camerasunderwater.co.uk - they have a new canon s90 housing in their clearance section for £150.

That might even allow enough money for a 2nd hand inon wide angle lens - that would be great for the shark dives.

Mike
 
Yea Iv been on there ALOT ha ha.
Think Im settled on the S90 and will decide on either the Canon or Ikelite housing when I know how much I have to play with.
The wide angle lens looks out of my price range, even s/h.
Are there any good budget makes I should look out for that will fit the Canon or Ikelite housings?
 
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matt83 said:
Yea I am lusting after the S90 set up. Although I think the Ikelite housing looks more robust. Canon's housing gives me a cheap, toy impression about it. Have you handled this housing or any of canon's before and are they good?
I leave in three weeks so I think Im gonna wait till my last week when I know exactly how much I have to play with to make up my mind.
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The Canon housings are fine. Well made, not too bulky and generally work nicely. Depth rated to 40m but are fine deeper than that.

The Ikelites are (*generally*) ok but there ARE some issues with leaking ports on some of the S series ranges.
To be honest if you're only snorkelling or doing the occasional dive then the Canon housing really is all you need.
It will take wet lenses and strobes if needed at a later date. Ive got an S95 in Canon housing that lives in my pocket, gets battered, rarely washed (and not used that much as im working) and its fine. Ive come across maybe 30-40 others this year as well through work and all fine.

As for Intovas they have a reputation for being easily the most restrictive and worst underwater camera setups around. Very poor image quality, very poor function set (good luck trying anything even semi manual with it), buggy firmware and so on. Most will retail second hand for £20-£30 max if you look around and for good reason.
 
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Dogfish_magnet said:
I,ll be taking a Canon g12 and wp-dc34 underwater housing to Egypt later this week for a little snorkelling, shoots raw and even has a underwater setting so I may stand a chance.
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The underwater setting just shifts the WB a little to the red - this is fine for snorkeling but anything lower than a few meters and you're better off not using it and definitely not if you're using flash.

I use an S90 + Canon housing (plus a pretty big external strobe using iTTL, but I've not always had that) and it is great.
 
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