Waterproofing / Underwater options

Jorge

Jorge

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I'm going off to Egypt at the end of the month and would love to try get some pictures under the water of the fish there.

Been looking at the options, I want to do it quite cheaply so the full hard cases are out the picture as I doubt I'll ever use it again. Are those 'bags' you can buy any good?

Trying to decide if to use the 40D or just use my Panasonic FS7.

Upon a little bit of research, I think something like the ewa-marine bags are what I'm after. Wonder if there are any on ebay?
 
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The bags will be fine down to a few meters so that should be ok. I would use a compact camera with it rather than an expensive dslr.
The hard cases are fr scuba diving where you want the extra depth.
 
A lot of it will come down to your snorkelling ability and the type of shots you want to achieve. If you're happy shooting the top of fish from the surface then obviously the 40d will be better. However, the better shots will require you to go underwater and stay down a while to approach your subject and get to eye level, or preferably below so you can shoot upwards. This is not particularly easy with a dslr. Going down, then holding onto coral to stay still is a massive no no.
Shooting in sunlight at a depth of 3 metres or less gives you the chance to get good colours without shooting raw, but a big part of underwater photography is getting a close as possible to your subject as shooting through water softens the sharpness as well as gives a bluer cast to the shot.
Also, be wary of using flash around sandy areas, you will likely encounter 'backscatter' which is where the flash illuminates the particles in the water making your pictures look like they were taken in a snowstorm!
 
Yeah been reading about backscatter using the flash, by the sounds of it from just snorkling I will be okay with sunlight. Meant to be hot and sunny there!

I'll probably get a couple of cheap cases and try them both out. No less either way.
 
pooley said:
A lot of it will come down to your snorkelling ability and the type of shots you want to achieve. If you're happy shooting the top of fish from the surface then obviously the 40d will be better. However, the better shots will require you to go underwater and stay down a while to approach your subject and get to eye level, or preferably below so you can shoot upwards. This is not particularly easy with a dslr. Going down, then holding onto coral to stay still is a massive no no.
Shooting in sunlight at a depth of 3 metres or less gives you the chance to get good colours without shooting raw, but a big part of underwater photography is getting a close as possible to your subject as shooting through water softens the sharpness as well as gives a bluer cast to the shot.
Also, be wary of using flash around sandy areas, you will likely encounter 'backscatter' which is where the flash illuminates the particles in the water making your pictures look like they were taken in a snowstorm!
Click to expand...

Ideally you need to shoot raw no matter what. AWB really can't cope underwater and being able to sort it afterwards is a great help
 
I agree in an ideal world RAW all day long, but given the options the OP has, then at snorkelling depths then unless the OP is a very good skin diver I just feel the compact will be the better all round option.

Of course, if the OP is good in the water, then the 40D could be the way to go, but as you know, underwater photography is very different to shooting topside.

To the OP - where are you going, and if its Sharm, which hotel? Some areas are much better suited to snorkelling from shore than others.
 
I'd not trust a 40d to one of the cheap bags - with underwater photography it definitely helps to have an attitude that the camera is going to get flooded at some point and that every dive/swim it doesn't is a bonus. While careful maintenance of o-rings and seals can really help and modern cases are well-designed, it's not something to trust a camera that you can't afford to replace with. If you can afford a replacement, then fire away - the bags are nominally waterproof to 10m or so. That may be deeper than you can snorkel, in which case you're fine.
 
So, I got one.

481118_10150918498316309_874512828_n.jpg


This one to be precise. An EWA U-BXP100.
http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/ewa-u-bxp

With a load of adapter rings and silica bags, unused, £30 delivered :)

Original receipt says 2007 from that store, and came in at a whooping £139, these haven't half increased in price!


Underwater camera test by Jorge-, on Flickr


Underwater camera test by Jorge-, on Flickr


Underwater camera test by Jorge-, on Flickr


Underwater camera test by Jorge-, on Flickr


Should make the trip to Egypt a bit more fun.
 
Where did you get it from, ebay ?

I had to make do with a £40 camera from Maplins.
 
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