dodelineur 0 Posted February 15, 2011 Hi all, I am going to Truk in a few months, I will catch some pictures with my canon eos 300D with Tokina 10-17. I will use 2 inon Z220 strobes. Focus is almost wide angle + quite long time spent in wrecks with a ccr. Was thinking about putting -0.5 blue diffusers on my strobes, to have better backgrounds. I don't want to unscrew them each time I will enter in wrecks, so my question is that: Is it better for that trip just keeping the strobes without any diffuser, or putting blue one and keeping them when inside a wreck? Tx for sharing your experience John Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gudge 58 Posted February 15, 2011 (edited) Was thinking about putting -0.5 blue diffusers on my strobes, to have better backgrounds.If you want better blues in the background you need to put yellow filters (Lee (Number 444) Eighth CT Straw Filter to be exact) in your strobes. Read this article by Alex Mustard: Strobes and Water Colour Edited February 15, 2011 by Gudge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dodelineur 0 Posted February 16, 2011 (edited) I was told canon cameras tended to make too red/yellow images in clear waters. That was the reason why Inon offer to buy those blue diffusers. I only took pictures in green waters or blue waters with natural light, on wrecks, so can't tell if this is the case with the eos 300d / inon strobes. But maybe I am thinking too much and just a bit of WB correction at home after the trip will help me to have nice natural colors and blue background. Your experience? Edited February 16, 2011 by dodelineur Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
philsokol 1 Posted February 16, 2011 I use the Lee 444's per Alex's excellent article and his workshop. They work great to enhance the background in clear blue tropical water. However, I just got back from Truk and I can tell you you will need every ounce of power from your Inon's inside those wrecks, so I'm not sure they're right for your upcoming trip. My 2 cents. Phil Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dodelineur 0 Posted March 20, 2011 So canon shooters, somebody who already used blue filters can confirm if usefull or not? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ornate_wrasse 0 Posted March 20, 2011 You might want to check with Wetpixel member underwatercolours. She just got back from Truk in February and may have some advice for you as to what worked the best for her and the others on the trip. Ellen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gudge 58 Posted March 21, 2011 I was told canon cameras tended to make too red/yellow images in clear waters.I believe that may be the case with Canon digital compacts that shoot only JPEGs but I've never experienced it with any of my or my wife's Canon SLRs (400D, 20D, 40D, 50D and 7D). If you're shooting in RAW any colour balance problems can be sorted out in post processing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shark8matt 0 Posted March 24, 2011 A quick question for Alex and other filter users - since I use Ikelite Ds 160s and know their temperature is 4800K I can set my custom white balance to 4800K. If I decided to use the straw filters what temperature would that bring my strobe output to and would I still want to custom white balance to achieve the deep blues. I know that some have tried the magic filter with strobes - what gels do you need to have your strobe output balance the magic filters? cheers! - MDP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davichin 18 Posted March 27, 2011 A quick question for Alex and other filter users - since I use Ikelite Ds 160s and know their temperature is 4800K I can set my custom white balance to 4800K. If I decided to use the straw filters what temperature would that bring my strobe output to and would I still want to custom white balance to achieve the deep blues. I know that some have tried the magic filter with strobes - what gels do you need to have your strobe output balance the magic filters? cheers! - MDP Hello Matt, WB temp setting also depends a lot on camera to subject distance. Just try some CFWA shots with different WB (with warm filters on the strobes start by 4500 and then lower to maybe even 3800...) and check that the subjects hit by the strobe show natural colours. It is very hard/impossible to find a perfect strobe filter combination with magic filters as with almost every shot (remember you get better results by performing manual WB prior to shooting with Magic filter) because for different depths and angles of shooting (sun behind, sun in front...) you would need a different strobe filter intensity. I gave up on that a long time ago... Magic filters are great for natural light though. Good luck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
