Just got the underwater housing... now what?

[lisa_sk8]

I have been an amateur photographer for a few years and am very comfortable using my new SLR on land. That being said, the almost $1000 housing for it is not anywhere within reach. So...... I have just purchased an underwater housing for my old point and shoot digital. I am going on vacation to Fiji and figure that my old PS camera will still be a hundred times better than any disposable. I have the Canon S70 with the WP-DC40 housing which is good to 130ft (or so they say...).

I have a few questions ... Feeling like underwater photography is a completely new territory for me, bear with me!

- How does the water affect the flash underwater? Should it be used at all?
- Is the rated depth really believable? I am paranoid that at 50ft, the case is going to spring a leak on day 1...
- Is the "underwater" mode on my camera going to make that much of a difference?
- As a new diver, will holding onto a camera be dangerous? (I know this is likely a personal thing but my mother is absolutely convinced it will take all concentration away from say... breathing)
- What special care needs to be taken of the housing, esp. after diving in salt water?
- Anything else of importance that I should know?!?

[RoyN]

You can also check the housing in the bathtub too and see if there is a leak. As for underwater mode, that probably would work if there is enough light to go around, otherwise, that is where a strobe is handy. Hope those help!

[bversteegh]

Welcome to the Wonderful World of UW Photography. All ye who enter, give up any hope of a balanced checkbook ever again!!!

OK, I'll take a shot at answering your questions - they're pretty good btw.....


- How does the water affect the flash underwater?
Water is much denser than air - so it decreases the intensity of the light very rapidly. The little flash in your camera will have limited (but useful) capability.

Should it be used at all?
Only for closeups - otherwise you will get significant backscatter (it will look like snow in your picture - it is caused by reflections from stuff in the water). If the subject is more than 24" away, turn off the strobe.

- Is the rated depth really believable? I am paranoid that at 50ft, the case is going to spring a leak on day 1...

Ratings are usually pretty accurate as far as leaking. But I doubt if the housing will work very well at 130 feet - too much pressure on the springs holding the buttons. And since you are a new diver, I would recommend you don't dive that deep anyway, especially with a camera distracting you.

Try to keep 60 feet or so until you get more experience - going into deco because you are playing with your camera instead of watching your computer is not a good thing - voice of experience here.

- Is the "underwater" mode on my camera going to make that much of a difference?

worth using - it tries to set a combo of white balance, aperture, and shutter appropriate for UW use without you having to think about it.

- As a new diver, will holding onto a camera be dangerous? (I know this is likely a personal thing but my mother is absolutely convinced it will take all concentration away from say... breathing)

How new? And how good is your bouyancy control? How comfortable are you in the water? Your mother is correct - failure to breathe uw is a BAD thing

Since a new diver, I would give yourself a day or two of diving at a minimum to get familiar with the area, and work on your bouyancy control and air consumption (if you ask, I'll bet your divemaster will be glad to help you). To be a good steward of the environment (ie avoid crashing into the reef with fins, knees, camera, etc) - it is essential that you have good bouyancy control. Get your weight correct - so that at the end of the dive with 500 psi in your tank at the safety stop, you sink slightly when you exhale, and rise slowly when you inhale. Next, get your trim correct. 2 ways to do that - move your weights between front and rear pockets on your bc, and move your tank up and down in your bc. Your trim is correct when you swim horizontally, and look back towards your feet while you swim. If you can see your legs when you stop kicking, you are bottom heavy, so either move weight from the front pockets to the rear, or raise your tank in the backpack (toward your head). A couple inches of tank movement is a pretty significant change to your center of gravity. Ask your buddy to watch while you swim at a moderate rate - you want to be horizontal (BTW - this will also help reduce your air consumption). OK, weight and trim are now OK, can you hover, and hold position by slowly changing the volume of air in your lungs? This is the next skill to master. Practice hovering by stopping in the water, and holding a constant depth by adjusting how deeply you breathe. If you have mastered these bouyancy skills, and your air consumption is OK, and you are comfortable in the water, you are ready to dive with a camera. Air consumption is important, because a camera causes drag, so you will use more air with a camera than without. You should be getting at least 45 to 50 minutes on a tank at moderate depths (60 feet or less) before trying to mess with a camera.

One other recommendation - if you are doing a dive with current (as several Fiji sites have) - leave the camera in the boat until you have some more dives under your belt. Drift diving is an acquired skill, and you won't get very good pictures anyway when flying by the reef.

- What special care needs to be taken of the housing, esp. after diving in salt water?

Never let the housing dry out without a good rinse in fresh water. If at all possible, you should rinse your housing thoroughly in fresh water immediately after every dive. while rinsing, push the buttons to flush out the salt water.

If you don't have a fresh water rinse tank, keep the housing in salt water if possible (even on the boat) - so the salt water won't dry out and deposit salt on your buttons. If it does dry out without a freshwater rinse, you should soak your housing in warm water for several minutes when you get back to your room - and then thoroughly flush the housing and push all the buttons/knobs.

- Anything else of importance that I should know?!?

Never force a dive; and never hurry with a camera. Be 100% comfortable diving before you dive with a camera. Fiji is a magnificent area to dive, but wait for an easy dive (good vis, little current) to try out your camera. If there is decent snorkeling at your resort, practice a little in shallow water so you are familiar with the camera in the water (just make sure you have a good entrance/exit - don't try to exit in surf with sharp coral carrying a camera

Camera floods are caused 90% of the time by hurrying to get ready for the dive, and forgetting something, getting gunk on the o-ring (something as small as a piece of lint in the wrong place can cause a leak), or pinching the oring when you close the housing.

OK - final piece of advice when you finally start taking pictures: get close to your subject (2 feet or less), and shoot up whenever possible (looking down on the fish will in general not be a pleasing picture). Focus upon the eye of the subject. Don't chase the fish - you will always lose, and just get a picture of fish butt. Find a spot with fish, and try and keep still - and try to not make a lot of noise breathing. As the fish get comfortable with you, they will come closer, and you can get your shot. Most of all, be safe, and have fun

[lisa_sk8]

Thanks for the info bversteegh! I got the housing mainly for snorkeling and if I have the experience and the comfort level, will move into diving with it. I don't know the conditions where I will be diving because it will not be a resort type area. My aunt and uncle have a property there and from what I know, they can walk to the beach (and snorkeling areas) right from their house. I'll be there for 5 weeks so hopefully I have the time to learn.

As for how "new" I have been a licensed diver since August with 8 dives since then, in the St. Lawrence River at a few different sites and a quarry. Before that, I dove with my mother in Christmas island and off the island of Batan where the rules weren't so tight I guess because they never really asked for qualifications... I only discovered how dangerous that was when I got my license. Whoops! Either way, I am quite comfortable with buoyancy maybe because I have a strong understanding of the theory behind it? I know a lot of people in my group were popping up and down but I was hovering pretty well. That being said, I have never dove in an area where there was no bottom available so that will be new to me. I couldn't believe how quickly you get down to 60-80ft without "feeling" any drop.

Your info regarding maintenance is golden. I'm sure it seems relatively obvious to the seasoned UW photog but that would likely have been my first big mistake. As for taking close ups, above water, I do macro photography so I have the same lure to do it underwater. Though fish may come after I have mastered non-moving objects!

On a side note, I took a look at your album and you have WONDERFUL shots. I will try and post some my mother has taken over the years. She unfortunately never had the privilege of using digital but did okay I think.

[CompuDude]

Coming from cold water diving, Fiji will be like a dream.

Be sure to use the diffuser panel that snaps onto the front panel. It evens out the flash, else you'll have a shadow on your macro photos. The macro mode with internal strobe works VERY well, however. The biggest hassle is shooting critters that are skittish about having a camera 2" from their face, or shooting critters that are wedged in a crevice somewhere, making it tough to get the camera within 2" in the first place. The 2' limit on the flash is well taken, however. It's digital, so feel free to experiment and delete a lot. You'll learn the limits of the internal flash very quickly.

Are you current using an SLR (film) or a DSL (digital)?

The S70 is a good camera, even can shoot in RAW, although the write speeds are terrible. Use the UW mode or RAW (if your ok with the write times and monster file sizes) until you're really comfortable shooting, at that point you may want to experiment with using the white balance and shooting full manual instead of the UW mode.

The 130' housing rating is actually somewhat conservative, although you're SOL if you go pas the limit and it floods. I know people who have taken their Canon housings down to 150' with no problems. Realistically, it will be fine to any normal recreational depth... and definitely fine at any depth a new diver should be contemplating.

[lisa_sk8]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

Coming from cold water diving, Fiji will be like a dream.

Be sure to use the diffuser panel that snaps onto the front panel. You'll learn the limits of the internal flash very quickly.

Are you current using an SLR (film) or a DSL (digital)?

The S70 is a good camera, even can shoot in RAW, although the write speeds are terrible. Use the UW mode or RAW (if your ok with the write times and monster file sizes) until you're really comfortable shooting, at that point you may want to experiment with using the white balance and shooting full manual instead of the UW mode.

Yes, I think ANYTHING after cold water diving is a dream! Although even going to the cold quarry (2C at 60ft) was a welcome change after being beaten by the waves and the horrible visibility (6inches?!? seriously!) in the St Lawrence! I will definitely welcome the warm water and better visibility as well as the amount of wet suit I can shed.

I have a few cameras on the go right now. The S70 for "I don't need to worry about this camera so I bring it to iffy places", the Canon S5 IS for better shots but still want a small camera then the 30D for anything I really want quality and have the time to setup. Oh yeah, plus there is that 20 year old film Minolta SLR that gets taken out once in a blue moon for cross-processing slide film.

I loved the S70 when I was using it exclusively and it still gives me good shots. The only problem is the focus and color are a bit "off" and although the average person sees no problem, all I see is blur so it's going to go to the repair shop to see if it's fixable.

Unfortunately, my limitations for shooting RAW may be the hard drive space I have on my laptop... Unless I pick up an external HD for the trip, I'm limited. We'll see.

I look forward to learning about UW since there is only so much you can shoot on land. Especially when 5 months of the year, it's white outside which makes for boring shots.

Edit: got some of my mom's pics up. They are old (20+ years) and all taken with film so no editing and such that you get with digital. They range from Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Maldives.

[rfb3]

I will only address a couple of these questions, and leave the rest for someone else...

Originally Posted by lisa_sk8

- As a new diver, will holding onto a camera be dangerous? (I know this is likely a personal thing but my mother is absolutely convinced it will take all concentration away from say... breathing)

I recommend using a lanyard to tether the camera to your wrist or BC. That way is an event does come up, you can simply drop the camera and use both hands to handle the issue. It is easy to get distracted by the camera... Be conscious of your air, buddy, and position in the water. Setting the camera settings before ever getting on the boat really helps.

Originally Posted by lisa_sk8

- What special care needs to be taken of the housing, esp. after diving in salt water?

Rinse the housing really well after use. Do not allow water spots to dry on it, especially the lenses. Exercising the buttons in FW is recommended after the dive. Use warm FW is possible.

Hope this helps...