Digital Pics while Snorkeling....Tips?

[Jan T]

Does anyone have any great tips for taking pictures while snorkeling? I know to get great pics you have to get close. My pics of the stingrays at Grand Cayman came out great! But this year we're doing the southern itinerary. We'll be visiting Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Martin and St Thomas. I'd love to come home with some good underwater pics from this trip too and would love any hints from anyone.

 

Thanks

Jan T:)

[Knighton]

Definitely get yourself a digital camera. Be sure to shop for one that you can buy a waterproof case for. In the long run, you'll be glad you did and you'll save money over buying those disposable underwater cameras in the long run (if that's what you've been doing). No matter what kind of water oriented stuff you do, it will come in handy-even just at the pool. We have a Canon Power Shot A70, and Canon makes a waterproof case for it-it works great, especially on scuba trips! I've never had a problem with digital underwater pictures being colored improperly-when I used to use the disposable underwater film camera, the pix always looked entirely too blue, because they don't bother to put the correct filter on the disposables.

[10X]

I agree that you should use a digital camera with underwater housing. Personally I use an Olympus C5050 with an Olympus PT-015 underwater housing. I use this to take pictures while scuba diving and while snorkeling.

 

However, there are some associated problems with this. The first is cost. Be sure to buy a camera where the camera manufacturer also makes the housing. My housing was about $150 and the camera was about $600. If I couldn't buy an Olympus housing, an Ikelite housing would have been next at a cost of $600. Ouch!!! Although this housing is far superior to mine, the bite in budget doesn't go un-noticed.

 

Second, be sure to follow the instructions for the housing faithfully and carefully every time you use the camera/housing. It calls for o-rings to be cleaned, greased and properly re-installed. Make sure that not so much as a hair or grain of sand is on the o-ring. If it is, you are likely to have water leaking into the housing when underwater. Needless to say, when the housing floods, your camera is shot. Insurance, hint, hint!!!!

 

Just because you buy a fancy camera and housing doesn't mean you will eliminate "blue" from your pictures. The blue is most often caused when there is a lot of water between you and your subject, so get close, as you said.

 

"Blue" can sometimes also be removed from your pictures by adding the appropriate amounts of red and green light spectrums to your pictures. This requires a QUALITY photo program. I use Paintshop Pro 8, and just orderd the newest version, Pro 9. Photoshop Elements is another good program. Photoshop CS is for the pros, so unless you get a fantastic deal, don't bother.

 

If you want better pictures, don't buy a cheap camera. Don't buy a 2 megapixel camrea if a 5MP one is in your budget. The better the quality of the camera, the better your pictures.

 

Try to shoot pictures where you are level with the subject or looking up at it. Looking down doesn't provide the best picture "setting."

 

Here are some sample pictures taken in Hawaii with my camera setup. Some of these were taken while snorkeling and some while scuba diving. Some are looking down at the subject and some have been enhanced using Paintshop Pro 8.

 

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4074962&a=31166402&f=

 

I use a 1GB compact Flash card for my pictures. Make sure you have lots of memory capacity for the camera. Filling up small card and still wanting to shoot pictures is akin to running out of film.

 

Also, use high capacity batteries. My camera takes AA batteries and I bought the 2300mAh batteries and a high quality charger from:

 

http://www.thomasdistributing.com/

 

You don't want your camera to go dead underwater.

 

Hope this helps.

[Jan T]

Thanks to both of you for the advice. I should have given more info in my first post though...... I already have a digital. Just bought it. It's a Sony Mavica CD500. Great camera. I've taken a bunch of shots already and the quality and colors of the prints is awesome.

 

I looked at an Ikelite housing for my camera. $950!!!!:eek:

Way out of my budget. So, I bought (it just arrived today!!!) an Ewa-Marine

housing. Now this thing is wierd! Really loooks like it will be waterproof. At least for snorkeling anyway. I'm not sure I'd trust it on a dive. BUT, it's HUGE! I don't know how my little camera is going to fit in there! My camera is not little compared to some digitals, but this case seems like it's going to be way to big. It's the proper case, by Ewa Marines standard. So, hmmmmmmmm. It will be interesting trying to put my camera in there and keep it from rolling around. There was some metal and plastic assembly in there. Maybe that's what keeps it steady. Somehow it attaches to the tripod mount. I'll try to post tomorrow as to how well it really does fit.

 

I have insurance on my camera gear now. That's why I went ahead and bought that housing. I got it throught my homeowners insurance. With only a $50 deductible. Great deal! I'm very happy with that arrangement considering all the $$$ I have in all this equiptment!

 

Thanks for the advice again.....

Happy diving.

 

Jan T

waiting patiently to cruise on the Golden on September 19th.......:)

[Snorkelcat]

JanT,

 

I use my Olympus 750 with the underwater housing for snorkel and snuba. I found that if I leave the setting on the 'motion/sports/moving subject' setting...whatever your camera calls it, worked best. Those fish won't stop & pose for me, darn it! My shots turned out better on that setting. I did not use the camera's flash unless I was snuba'ing and could get up really close. The light just creates a distortion if you are shooting at several yards or feet.

Once you get home with the photos, having a good software program, ie Adobe Photoshop Elements, et all, to make corrections and tweeks, makes good photos even better.

I love being able to take a jillion shots and then get rid of the bad ones once back in the cabin. I recommend extra memory cards and rechargable battery setup. They last so much longer than that bunny ever thought about beating on the drum!

Good luck!

[m-cruiser]

:confused:

 

Jan T. and everyone else,

How did the Ewa-marina "bag" underwater casing work for you??

Has anyone else tried it?

I really want to use my Kodak camera underwater, but it does not have an underwater casing made by Kodak.. this "bag" from ewa-marine looks weird, but I'm willing to give it a shot if people recommend it..

 

anybody? Is it hard to use?? IS IT LEAK PROOF? picture quality still good?

 

And where can I buy one not online? I need one ASAP.. like within a week :eek: .. thanks!

:D

[10X]

m-cruiser,

 

Try this site to see if anyone makes a reasonably priced housing for your camera.

 

http://www.digideep.com/english/digital/photo/camera/Kodak/19

[m-cruiser]

Thanks 10X

 

have you tried this kind of housing before?

[10X]

No, I haven't tried this type of housing. I've read a little bit about it though. It probably won't be much of a problem while snorkeling but, at diving depths, reports indicate that the bag seals too tightly around the controls and makes the camera inoperable.

 

Underwater photography is becoming very popular, even with those who only snorkel. Kodak needs to get its act together because a lot of people don't even look at their cameras, without a housing available.

 

I use an Olympus camera, both diving and snorkeling. My wife uses a Canon and she only snorkels. We both use solid housings made by each company respectively. If either camera needs to be replaced, I would look at a company who has an available housing.

[m-cruiser]

Yeah, my next camera will definitely have an underwater casing with it.

 

Just trying to decide now whether to spend the $40 or so bucks for this bag casing, or get a disposable underwater camera for like $15 (even though i dont like results as much).

 

oh well I have a few days till we leave :)

 

Thanks for your help!