jacquescousteau

Thanks for all these great comments and pointers. I'm glad I posted on this forum as everyone is helpful and not trying to sell me something or tell me my camera is crap! OK, I do agree though that I should have bought one with full manual control, the next one will have full manual! Thanks Graggs for the comment on not rushing to buy a dslr. I had read about the mirror-less 4/3 and other compacts and also thought it was a good alternative. But then when you talk to the pros with their dslr they tell you that it won't be as good as what they have and that I will regret it. Maybe trying to convinced themselves ? Glad to hear from someone who has the real thing and think that smaller might be the way to go. I think I like the Panasonic GX1, so will look closer to these! Great comments from all, greatly appreciated. Will get to the pool first, then get in the lake (in a drysuit as it is still 2-3C) to practice before I go on the real diving trip. Will get close (yes, even closer), low ISO, WB on auto or sun, and take several shots of the same thing while adjusting the strobe output (which is minimal when in d-TTL I think ?). As Morten mentioned I'll practice various pre-defined settings on "immobile" subjects to understand a bit more how this all works. That's the beauty of digital, you can take 400 shots on a dive and look at them before the next one! Thanks again

Thanks Mooseman, I am glad you think this way! Not that I don't dream or plan of getting a d-slr, but this gear is what I have for the next diving trip and would like to do exactly that : the best I can whit what I have ! Do you think there will be a difference between ISO 80 or 100 ? I tried 80, 100, 200 "out of the water" on a few targets and can't see much of a difference in quality, but underwater it would mean either slower shutter speed, larger aperture or longer flash - it's all automatic and don't know what the camera will do !! I'll do some trials underwater but don't want to loose too many photo ops while out there. Here in Montreal the water is chilly (3-5C till the middle of June), the viz is poor, and I dive mostly wrecks so not much chance of getting close! I'll follow your pointers as I think it all make sense. Thanks.

Good day all. I tried posting this on other forums, but I am either ignore (snobed ? as my gear is not fancy) or being sold some "better" equipment! Darn, I just need help, not an invoice ;-) I found your forum, and think that there are wise peoples here so here it goes. I have a simple compact camera, with no manual mode of any kind (no full manual, no aperture priority, no shutter speed priority). It's a Lumix ZS3. Great lens, does ok pictures, but I needed a strobe. Bought a good strobe (S&S YS-110a as I will move to dSLR very soon) that does D-TTL with the Lumix (or is it S-TTL or E-TTL, I don't know but it does TTL with the preflash via a fiber optic cable). My question is simple : What settings should I use with the camera. Forced flash "ON", no focus light help, and lower ASA (like 100) is ok, but what's next ? Maybe WB to "sunny" ? Please help me, I will be diving in Australia (Great Barrier Reef :-)))))) soon and need to figure this out! Thanks. Yes I am Jacques, but "Cousteau" is a nickname given to me by my friends as I am doing research about the oceans as a job, and I speak French (From Montreal) !

Yap. Penguins in the water or whole shark for me too!