Islandbound
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Posts posted by Islandbound
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To start off with let me say I have never used nor had 1st hand experience with the DC600. What I am about to write is based on my experience with my 500 model and then studying the pictures on the Sealife website for the 600.
The 500 for me was a great intro camera but one of the first things I began to notice was that the colors in the photos (and I used a strobe) were flat. There is very little "pop" to the colors that the camera captures. While the colors are definately there the rendition to me is undersaturated to a large degree. This picture is one I took in March (I began to take UW photos this year for the 1st time) with a strobe. There is very little color in the color or the area around it that the camera caught.
This is not just one incidence. It is much easier to see with a series of photos all at once. If you go to my album from March which is almost exclusively the 500 model photos and dont look at a single photo but rather the album view with all the thumbnails you can see the lack of color. http://good-times.webshots.com/album/557964721fNfxRD
I soon switched to a Canon G7 to take better pics and videos and the results were certainly more colorful.
Again, go the album view where you can see thumbnails and the overall color difference is very evident. In my opinion there are alternate choices for an UW camera that would work better than the 600. Whether its a G7,640 or Olympus you might want to look around for some more sample photos to judge from. That same $1400 will buy a G7, Ikelite housing and a DS51 strobe and I am sure a similar setup from other manufacturers.
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I need info to websites and photos of whaling industries. My project is about how whaling is negative to the ecology and how we can help to prevent it. What I really need is pictures and info about why whaling is very negative.
Domo arigato gozaimas.
This is a request from my 10yr old son. He chose as an ecology project to present the whaling industry, a novel idea here in Japan to say the least.
Thanks!
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Matti,
Thanks for the picture show! I really enjoyed all the pictures of the ships you took. Its a real treasure house of photos and nice to see that despite all these years and visitors that special pieces of history from the Mark V helmet to the crockery have been left alone. When my kids come home from school I think I will have them look through your photo albums too, well done!
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Over the last week or so it seems that the load times for Wetpixel have been increasing substantially. Clicking on an individual post can at times seem almost painful now. Is anyone else having a loading/time problem? I can open another browser or two and blip through other websites and pages while waiting for a page to load. Anyone?
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I am not sure what equipement Aussie is using but for me its just the camera in the housing. The G7 has a nice 1.4 and 2.3 telephoto setting which I put on the "hot button" to access quickly which allows quick zooming. The Ikelite has a knob specifically for this button as well. I even went as far as to set up the C1 custom for WA photos and the C2 is setup for closeups.
This pic was taken from a little over a meter away to not spook the fish. I used the telephoto preset and the zoom function to frame him as best I could. I do crop to A4 print size as the native picture size the camera takes is not the right print dimension for my paper size.
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I bought a DS51 at the beginning of april and have over 2700 flashes on it so far and its doing fine. Its in the water 4 to 5 times a week. Alot of where I go is in the breakwater area and the flash is tugged and bumped alot and it hasnt shown any problems so far. I am a amatuer at best though and not a professional.
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Does the focus light have to turn off with the stobe flash to prevent an overlit spot?
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Gerard
Do you have your photos online to be viewed? I would very much like to see the photos you took with the 18-135 lens.
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Saw this (crab?) on the side of a coral today. It is about 2.5cm wide. Photo was taken in China Sea.
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I tried to backlight the fish but its not very easy. There was small hole at the top of the coral which the strobe in its arm could reach over and fire down through. Not sure if its exactly a backlight technique but its still fun to try new things.
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I have never changed white balance before and just leave it on AWB except for the Underwater mode setting. I have looked at how to do it while topside though. I am headed to the water right now so maybe I will get a chance to do a custom white balance change.
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Would the Digic III code allow the G7 to shoot in RAW as well?
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Can someone post a picture of a fisheye shot and then one taken with a standard WA lens? I dont think I know what the effect of a fisheye is. Does it just take a wider angle photograph at a given mm setting?
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I went out yesterday and played around with the exposures again and had success both with AV function and TTL and the Manual function with the strobe set to -2 or -2.25 (DS51). In all cases I did use the f8 like you do for the increased DOF.
What is really catching my eye now for WA use is the Underwater mode. The colors it is producing are very nice and the focus time is much quicker than any other mode I have used so far. It also works with the TTL strobe if it is left on. I think the strobe may override the filter tinting but the autofocus still seems to be much quicker. I would like to hear your views on the UW mode if you use it.
Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan and is about 400 miles south of Japan. Its an island about 68 miles long and 2 miles or so across.
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I bought the Ikelite housing specifically for the TTL ability and it has been a very nice addition. I seem to shoot about half in Manual mode where I take the strobe (DS51) off of TTL and the other half in full TTL mode. The Ikelite is a more expensive and larger housing to be sure but the TTL ability works very well. If I was faced with the purchase decision again I would gladly buy the Ikelite again.
I dont have the Macro port and so cannot comment on how it works.
Crown of Thorns from today taken with G7 in Ikelite with TTL!
Cowrie climbing onto soft coral taken with G7 in Manual Mode, strobe set to -2.25
Good luck with your new camera and let us know what you end up with!
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Well, I want to thank everyone for thier input. I ended up buying the D80 for $932(US) out the door. I tried the D200 and to me it seemed a bit heavier and the D80 was heavy enough. It came with the 18-70mm lens and I ordered the 60mm Macro as well. They had a Tamron 90mm Macro there which was nice but it seemed that most people I find here seem to use the 60. I hope that means they like the 60mm...
Domo Arigato Gozaimas
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I have the DS-51 (single) and it works very well for up close, for WA the Underwater mode does a fantastic job. After experimenting the other day with the Underwater mode I am also convinced the camera was focusing siginifcantly quicker. I dont have any numbers/evidence to back this up other than how quick it kept focusing compared to what I expected. I found the same quick autofocus seemed to work on land last night when I was practicing taking photos at home.
Almost all of the photos in the album http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/558982663uaDCTJ were taken this month with a G7/Ikelight with the balance taken with a Sony N2.
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Love the colors! My wife especially likes the last one with the Lionfish.
We live on Okinawa which is basically a 68 mile long Island thats about 2 miles wide surrounded on all sides by limestone shelves topped by reefs. Sadly, there is so much new development over the last 10 years or so that the runoff and silt have begun to affect the reefs and there are large sections of dead or dying reef now.
When you shoot in AV mode have you found a common shutter speed that remains constant? I believe that Ikelite says that 1/60 is the default, have you found this to be fast enough for moving fish etc? I recently began to shoot in Manual mode, f8, 1/125 shutter, -2 on the flash, AWB, Vivid, Center Weight, Telephoto preset to 2.3 ( Telephoto is on the hot button so I can switch it quickly), ISO80 (big change from 100), Spot AE Point-Center, AF Mode-Single, IS Mode-Continuous... This is a photo taken like that:
and another (little stowaway fishy in lower right corner):
I seem to blur a lot of photos when I use the AV mode. My theory is that because I am not using air tanks I have a hard time sitting still and the setup for a shot is often hurried.
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Jack, can you email me at mail4winter@yahoo.com ? I have some questions about the Fantasea housing setups for the 400D and the D80 or D200.
Thanks
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There are several lens options that were offered for the D200 in that price range. Is there one that would possible be a more robust choice? I do not see myself wanting to change a lens oceanside very often if that matters. Most of my pictures are fairly closeup but do include my kids while they dive as well.
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If the option was to buy a Canon 400D with 2gb CF card and kit lens (18-55) for about $800US or a Nikon D80 with the 17-85 lens for about $1025US is there a clear choice? I have looked at many online reviews with all being complimentary but a slight lean toward the Nikon. For UW use almost exclusively, is there perhaps a better selection criteria? Does anyone have experience with both? The D200 with the same lens is about $1299US.
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Gary
Do you have your photos hosted online somewhere? I am interested in seeing the SP350 in action.
Thanks
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Hi Mike
I have tried several times to past the address into a browser but keep ending up with a failed load attempt. Is there a trick I am missing?
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I cant help with your question but out of curiosity I looked up your new housing and from the pictures its very very nice. If you dont mind my asking, where did you order it from?
Sealife DC600
in Photography Gear and Technique
Posted
To start off with let me say I have never used nor had 1st hand experience with the DC600. What I am about to write is based on my experience with my 500 model and then studying the pictures on the Sealife website for the 600.
The 500 for me was a great intro camera but one of the first things I began to notice was that the colors in the photos (and I used a strobe) were flat. There is very little "pop" to the colors that the camera captures. While the colors are definately there the rendition to me is undersaturated to a large degree. This picture is one I took in March (I began to take UW photos this year for the 1st time) with a strobe. There is very little color in the color or the area around it that the camera caught.
This is not just one incidence. It is much easier to see with a series of photos all at once. If you go to my album from March which is almost exclusively the 500 model photos and dont look at a single photo but rather the album view with all the thumbnails you can see the lack of color. http://good-times.webshots.com/album/557964721fNfxRD
I soon switched to a Canon G7 to take better pics and videos and the results were certainly more colorful.
Again, go the album view where you can see thumbnails and the overall color difference is very evident. In my opinion there are alternate choices for an UW camera that would work better than the 600. Whether its a G7,640 or Olympus you might want to look around for some more sample photos to judge from. That same $1400 will buy a G7, Ikelite housing and a DS51 strobe and I am sure a similar setup from other manufacturers.