Graggs

Hi Sharon,
I'm not sure I can help, but I guess it would be useful to know if you are shooting in Manual Mode or eTTL

G

Thanks for the namecheck Graggs...

No problem Simon, it was a great talk...inspiring amusing and emotional at times. I did want to discuss the approach of the Royal Oak photography with you, but that's for another time maybe? Thanks for the link to your Flickr page BTW.

As an aside, I'm going back to Scapa Flow in October

I'll try and stay in touch...if I'm not too busy around then I might be up for that!

The DSLR versus Compact will rage on and it's not simple....whey up the pro's and con's yourself and how they work for you.

I used to use a Canon G9 setup then migrated to a Canon 5D in an Ikkie housing. BUT, I already owned the 5D and a suitable lens, so my only outlay was the housing which I managed to get second hand.

BUT, I now have to lug around a lot of kit ....that has a cost.... most of which is the wife nagging me.

Also consider how this will change the way you dive / who you dive with etc! Your experience?

I did a dive in Majorca two weeks ago on a wreck, I didn't take the camera kit because I was travelling alone and I didn't have the weight allowance. When we got on the wreck, the subject matter was clearly macro...I was quite smug, because if I HAD have taken the camera, I would have almost certainly setup for wide angle! My point; one of the key benefits to compact is payload of kit and the ability to swap in wet lenses - BUT do your homework, some combinations DO NOT work....and some combinations work better than others.

If you want to do anything, make sure you get the latest sensor technology, since your article started with the point of view. Buying older kit may not be a benefit in the long run.

I suffered similar problems with some deeper diving in Tenerife and that's what led me to migrate. There's no doubt the 5D is awesome compared to the G9 ....but since then, I've also added a decent Inon Strobe and changed my technique.

BTW Since Canon has just launched the 5D MkIII so there will be an abundance of MkII stuff floating about, you could do worse than mopping some of that up!

Also consider video....that may be a factor now or in the future.

Whatever you decide to do, you will not solve the problem with just the camera, you may get a few extra stops with a little less grain, but to make a real difference you need some education and maybe a different approach?

I sat in a talk on Saturday by a guy called Simon Brown, check out his work, some of this is taken in water with 3~5m viz. http://www.flickr.co...monbrownimages/

Think about some off camera strobe?

Also, looking at your shots, have you read about green filters? Obviously these only work in natural light...again, the benefit of compact is these could be wet filters!

G

Hi Morten,
I too migrated from a 'G' series with it's convenient 1 button white balance to a 5D. I searched around and couldn't find any other way of doing it, I even looked to see if there was different firmware, but I didn't find anything.

But regarding the slate, you'll have to check the manual, but I don't believe the camera uses the whole image.

I haven't dived with a white slate for quite a while, I've found that as long as you shoot something neutral, you'll get a reasonable white balance, I assume you're shooting in RAW?

Finally a tip I've heard is buy white fins and use these.

G

Your welcome JC
Best of luck and don't forget to come back here and post some of the results

When you decide on your camera, read some of those articles, because the lens / housing combo can mean the difference between being able to use the wet lenses or not.

Graggs