Osprey

I logged on tonight expecting to order a Sony DSC RX100 .... initially put off as housing were almost twice price of camera, now that there are much more price friendly housing available. (less than 30% of camera price) I was surprised to see that Sony have released a new version of the camera - DSC RX100 II Tilting LCD, Hot shoe and new menus - may not be of much use to divers, but the backlit sensor is quoted as giving a full stop gain, and also a 40% increase in Low Light sensitivity, and greatly increased focus speed in Low Light .... now that is of interest. Already rated very highly as the market leader in compact with it's 1" sensor ... this could now make it a very good choice for divers who don't want to go DSLR route. Was enough to make me hold off for a couple of weeks for prices to settle. Initial review at the ever useful DP review site http://www.dpreview.com/previews/sony-cybershot-dsc-rx100-m2

OK....on my dive trips there is normally no land between dives, as I am on a dive boat. If I want to take any airside snaps between dives, just take then with camera in housing.

My approach was always the opposite to this then .... as soon as days diving over I would rinse off housing, dry it & then remove camera ..... never left in in housing so only need to take one camera on a holiday ........ difficalu enough keeping to baggae allowance as it is.

Earlier in the year - I posted that I had sold my Fuji F31, and was looking for a new camera. I had a number of pointers to the Olympus XZ-1, there were a few things I wanted it missed ... in particular lack of full HD video. The new XZ-2 is now out ... what is the considered opinion on this as my replacement ? Same lens (which was bright & well rated), slightly larger sensor increased ASA to 12,800 Increase to 12.8 mega pixel and full HD video. However seeing a number of reviews that point instead to Sony RX100 as a consistent performer ......... I have never owned a Sony Camera ... What would those that know suggest ? I am a 'happy snapper', don't venture deeper than 40m .... I did try strobes & wide angle lenses and it was not for me ............ Probably used 50% of time outside scuba ... so a good all rounder needed.

I did go that route .. wet wide angle lens, strobe, modelling light, but got to the point it all felt 'in the way' of enjoying the dive. Especially when I had a huge Ikelite housing etc. I found that more & more I was leaving the kit on the boat and just taking a compact on the dive, clipped out of the way on BCD when not in use. Due to PFO surgery, I can't dive for a while ... so hopefully within next couple of months Olympus will solve the question over whether there is an XZ-2

Might suit a professional .. but as per OP ... I'm just a happy sanapper, and looking for a compact. I had for many years a full Canon SLR system ..don't want to go back to a camera that large and a with bag full of lenses. (Although Nikon 1 looks nice.) I just take pictures of what I see when I dive, rather than pictures being the prime purpose ... (and I know it is reversed for some)

Same for me as regards use ... on previous cameras used to recharge batteries each night ... with F31 ... one battery lasted whole dive trip .... the Fuji has very good battery life. However it would not stop me getting an Oly .. as long as you know it's poor you can plan for it.

Wow that is bad ... my F31 would go a wek of diving without needing to chnage battery .. and still show good. In fact I even stopped taking charger with me to Red Sea .. never needed to recharge.

>If you're not in a big hurry, I can let you know what I think of the new setup when I get back from my trip I would be interested how you find it. The only reason I have not bought XZ-1 now is that I would prefer to get HD video (1080p) and the XZ-1 does not have that capability. The lens & focus ability are excellent. There is a lot of talk on DPReview & OLY forums that XZ-2 is due ...

Like many of you I guess .. I have an ever growing digital picture collection. After almost every trip I get requests asking for a copy of the pictures .... up until now I have just given them a copy of CD or memory stick. However as I go to effort of getting best I can out of them with Photoshop ... be good to be a bit more professional on sharing a disc. I had originally been pointed to use ProShow Gold .... but haven't bought it yet. I do have Sony Vegas Movie Sudio HD ........... which is what I use for video, I could create a video of the pics ........ be interested how forum members share their pics (other than on-line sources) I would prefer not to go buy yet another software package ... but will stay open minded.

(original post is wrong sub-forum) Just sold my F31 set up .. and looking at what to get to replace it ... and it's not urgent, as I can't dive for 3 months ... so hopefully time to get decision right. My first Digi was a canon G3, then up in size to Olympus C 8080, then a Fuji F30, followed by a Fuji F31. Now looking to get my next camera, not wanting to go to DSLR... it needs to be a reasonably compact item with at least a 3" screen. This is not just used as an UW camera, but obviously for UW use I need a reasonable wide angle zoom ... with a good aperture and sensor size. 3 considerations.. Canon G 1X ... it has good zoom coverage with the 28-112mm F2.8-5.8 lens and it's 1.5" sensor is almost up at the DSLR size. Although it probably has a huge range of functions I will never use. Olympus XZ-1 .... it's about 1/2 the price of the Canon, small sensor but good lens, however this Olympus is now approaching 18 months old, so is it due to be replaced ? Fuji X10 ... specs are good, initial reviews promising, but no Fuji housing, which means an expensive 3rd party housing

Needs to be at least 'suitable' for out of water use. The F30 / F31 models I owned were pretty good for UW use, so want to get something that is as good ;now' as they were when they were released ... i.e. to[p of the tree compacts for UW use. They were never the most expensive, the highest MP count, widest zoom ... but what they did, they did very well. I don't really need removable lenses as a compact with a reasonable zoom covers my needs. I had almost discounted a Fuji .. as each successive model failed to better the F31 for UW use. Plus I want to go for a 3" screen ... X10 is smaller.

I'm not a beginner, but thought this most likely sub-forum. My first Digi was a canon G3, then up in size to Olympus C 8080, then a Fuji F30, followed by a Fuji F31. Now looking to get my next camera, not wanting to go to DSLR... it needs to be a reasonably compact item with at least a 3" screen. This is not just used as an UW camera, but obviously need a reasonable wide angle zoom ... with a good aperture.and sensor size. I have been considering the Canon G 1X ... it has good zoom coverage with the 28-112mm F2.8-5.8 lens and it's 1.5" sensor is almost up at the DSLR size. Although it probably has a huge range of functions I will never use. It was mentioned here to consider the Olympus XZ-1 .... it's about 1/2 the price of the Canon, the Oly is now approaching 18 months old, so is it due to be replaced ? Any others I should consider.

Be interested if any Photoshop guru could adivse on my workflow .. Currently for a typical Blue colour cast image (jpeg, no strobe ) In CS5 I usually follow this sequence ... Open > copy > crop > new adj layer - remove backscatter (Dust & scratches filter) > new adj layer - channel mixer - recover Reds > new adj layer - Levels r, g, b > new adj layer -Hue & Saturation - then change mode to multiply > new adj layer -Brightness & Contrast > new adj layer -Sharpen (either High Pass or Smar Sharpen filter) finish with Auto level/colour/tone ... if they make any improvement Have read a few articles where Sharpen action is carried out at start rather than at the end .... which is the better approach ? ..... I assume at the beginning you are sharpening based on actual pixel information ,whereas at end you are sharpening based on what you think the pixels should be ... not sure which is best.

Previoulsy I have used the "Underwater" filter Underwater.8BF http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/inde...p;extid=1044520 I used this on an old ver of Photoshop without problem. I have now rebuilt PC and have CS 5 extended (Photoshop v12) I downloaded the filter, dropping it into Photoshop CS5/ plug-ins/filters folder When I power up CS it appears as "Kedaffie's filters" and sub filter as "Bring Back the Red" However when you try to apply it, it crashes CS ... completely, app closes down. As other filters run OK assume there must be some change in CS that prevents the filter from working. Anybody know how to fix this ? ... or how to contact "Kedaffie" .. on photoshop website it shows the author as "Eduard Winter" ... so maybe Kedaffie is a pseudonym.

Having now expanded my 'UW rig' (only baby kit compared to most of you) need to find a suitable bag for carrying it 'hand luggage' on planes, and also to & from Dive Boats. It's compact based so be nice to know if anybody has come across suitable bags (Peli cases out as 1400 would be needed and that is too big) kit consists of : F31 (in it's housing) Fuji Remora Strobe incl. flexy arm and tray Fantasea focusing light Fantasea BigEye supplementary lens. welcome ideas

In readiness for April dive trip invested in a strobe ... bought myself the Fantasea Remora Strobe. Remora Strobe I know this is not up with the Big Boys stuff ... but I only have a compact (Fuji F30) .. so should be a big step up from on-camera flash, for modest outlay. (also got it for only £110) It comes as standard - tray, arm, fibre optic cable, WA diffuser ... There Is an option to 'add' a focusing light (LED) ......... how important is this, do I need to get one now ? Remora nano light I have no intention of going to dual head strobes ... (I know they have benefits) ....... just a compact camera guy.

I can avoid postage etc. .... I work for a US company, and can get it sent to a colleague, who will hand carry it to UK for me. But thanks for link to KMR / Aquaphot ..... I'll certainly look them up.

As I'm going to get an INON lens ... anybody have any particular recommended resources for buying INON ? The price for UWL-105 in the UK is high 299 gbp ( $498) and 75gbp ( $125) for the adapter. If anybody knows of a good reliable on-line source US, Asia ? ... please let me know. I can have it delivered to a US address if necessary.

Thnx for the things to check out

Thnaks your comments have helped. Interesting I phoned an Inon dealer today, he was steering me away from the UWL105 ... his advice was that the UFL-165 AD was the one to get, and to use camera zoom to move it away from max zoom position when using Strobe if I encountered light drop off at edges. Although he did not think the 80 spread of strobe would be an issue it I fitted it above camera, rather than to the side. Advised that the 80 degree is not the point at which light stops, but the point at which light has reduced by 1 stop .... and it falls off after that in linear relationship. I guess I need to try 105 & 165 out and see the result.

>I could swear we went over this like 6 posts ago. But I am not understanding things hence my Q. The Inon 105 is 0.51mag 105 degree angle. What I don't underatnd is what will be the angle when used with my camera at zoom setting underwater ? On the Inon page it just states 105 degree ... but when attached to what ? Whether the camera is 36mm or 28mm or whatever is bound to have an effect on the effcetive angle of coverage of camera + lens combination ? ... or am I missing something ?

To check if I'm following correctly (and thanks for the help) with camera zoomed out to 36mm In standard housing (flat plate) in the water I'm going to get vert angle of 27.5deg and horiz angle of 39.3 degree Which aligns with what I expected of about 1/3 reduction in wide angle compared to 'in air' If I fit for example a Big Eye lens this returns the effective horiz coverage to 36mm . As my Remora strobe is 80 degree angle ... then it would work happily with or without the Big Eye ? ................... am I right so far. If I fit the Inon UWL105AD - what is the effective horizontal angle if that was used with the 36mm zoom ? This is the bit that I think I am losing the plot on .......... I know it states 105mm, but what is effective coverage when used with 36mm zoom Finally .. what is the diagonal angle of view ? ...... don't know what that is.

I don't dispute that ... that is what I said ... strobe is stated as 80 degree, i.e. the cone of light coming out of strobe head is 80 degree ... fully understand that. The Q ... is that the camera zoom effectively creates a cone of light that is received by the camera .... unfortunately that is given in mm not in degrees, so I am trying to figure out what 36mm equites to in terms of 'angle of view'

but going back to my original post my zoom has max wide setting of 36mm so 28mm is not in the equation.