LCD Washout Underwater

I have a DC500 Sealife camera. Most of the 100's of images captured so
far - taken whilst snorkelling below the surface, even diving down to
40 ft. - have been pure guess work - roughly point and press and hope
for the best. I have found it impossible to compose a shot even of
stationary objects. The reason is simply that everything moves
underwater. However shutter lag is one BIG problem - on the Sealife
DC500 - even with the pre-focus 'shark' mode - the lag is a full 1 to 5
seconds during which every thing changes position. BUT an even BIGGER
irritation is that the tropical sunlight I was shooting in (Barbados)
completely washed out all images on the LCD screen. This was also an
problem above water - the sunlight simply behind washed the image out -
which made composing any kind of picture totally impossible. I have yet
to find a solution. No underwater cameras seem to have a viewfinder.
CJB.

This is a good topic, camera or camcorder aiming underwater. I am curious
what people have to say about this, too.

"CJB" <chrisjbrady03_nospam@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1148056099.285357.202340@i40g2000cwc.googlegr oups.com...
>I have a DC500 Sealife camera. Most of the 100's of images captured so
> far - taken whilst snorkelling below the surface, even diving down to
> 40 ft. - have been pure guess work - roughly point and press and hope
> for the best. I have found it impossible to compose a shot even of
> stationary objects. The reason is simply that everything moves
> underwater. However shutter lag is one BIG problem - on the Sealife
> DC500 - even with the pre-focus 'shark' mode - the lag is a full 1 to 5
> seconds during which every thing changes position. BUT an even BIGGER
> irritation is that the tropical sunlight I was shooting in (Barbados)
> completely washed out all images on the LCD screen. This was also an
> problem above water - the sunlight simply behind washed the image out -
> which made composing any kind of picture totally impossible. I have yet
> to find a solution. No underwater cameras seem to have a viewfinder.
> CJB.
>

My underwater camera uses film and does not have any lag. It has a
viewfinder for normal shooting but also has a fold up guide that you can use
when you have a mask on. Works for me.


"CJB" <chrisjbrady03_nospam@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1148056099.285357.202340@i40g2000cwc.googlegr oups.com...
>I have a DC500 Sealife camera. Most of the 100's of images captured so
> far - taken whilst snorkelling below the surface, even diving down to
> 40 ft. - have been pure guess work - roughly point and press and hope
> for the best. I have found it impossible to compose a shot even of
> stationary objects. The reason is simply that everything moves
> underwater. However shutter lag is one BIG problem - on the Sealife
> DC500 - even with the pre-focus 'shark' mode - the lag is a full 1 to 5
> seconds during which every thing changes position. BUT an even BIGGER
> irritation is that the tropical sunlight I was shooting in (Barbados)
> completely washed out all images on the LCD screen. This was also an
> problem above water - the sunlight simply behind washed the image out -
> which made composing any kind of picture totally impossible. I have yet
> to find a solution. No underwater cameras seem to have a viewfinder.
> CJB.
>

"Rudy Benner" <bit_bucket@rudybenner.com> wrote in message
news:e4lbfq$lce$1@emma.aioe.org...
> Shutter lag can be largely eliminated through the use of manual settings.
>

I agree Rudy, I've had alot less problems with shutter lag on my canon a70
by usig manual focus. You can see some of my pics here:
http://www.divewithjay.com/gallery.htm
Jay

Rudy,

Your photos are awesome!

I have a Canon Powershot S500 (5 Megapixel) and just bought the Canon
underwater
housing. Is your camera similar to mine?

Sy

"Rudy Benner" <bit_bucket@rudybenner.com> wrote in message
news:e4lsnr$hj1$1@emma.aioe.org...
>
> <sytech@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1148088847.619001.277710@g10g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> > Rudy,
> >
> > Your photos are awesome!
> >
> > I have a Canon Powershot S500 (5 Megapixel) and just bought the Canon
> > underwater
> > housing. Is your camera similar to mine?
> >
> > Sy
> >
>
> The group from April 2005 were done with a little Canon A85. I am in the
> process of re-editing the whole bunch, I screwed up and deleted all my
work
> by accident.
> The group from Feb/March 2006 were taken with a Olympus C-7070 iusing raw
> mode. Big improvement by going to raw mode. Strobe is Inon D-2000.
>
>
Rudy
I did notice the difference between 2005 and 2006. Vastly different I must
say. This accounts for what I said in my previos post to you regarding the
quality of equipment.
Marcel

On Sat, 20 May 2006 07:30:27 -0400, "Celcius" <celcius38@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Hi Rudy!
> I know you from rec.scuba, where I don't go anymore because they talked more
> about politics and guns than scuba diving.

Sounds like someone can't quite figure out how to do a personal reply
vs a USENET group reply... <snicker>

http://www.geocities.com/grumman581/...-rec-scuba.htm

"Celcius" <celcius38@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e4mufu$tp7$1@emma.aioe.org...
>
> "Rudy Benner" <bit_bucket@rudybenner.com> wrote in message
> news:e4la5l$d84$1@emma.aioe.org...
>>
>> "> There are plenty of forums online which deal with the subject of
> underwater
>> photography.
>>
>> Primary to good underwater photography is good diving skills, ie, good
>> buoyancy control and trim.
>>
>> I have a few of my UW pictures posted at www.rudybenner.com/album
>>
>> R.
>>
> Hi Rudy!
> I know you from rec.scuba, where I don't go anymore because they talked
> more
> about politics and guns than scuba diving.
> Yes, you're absolutely right about buoyancy, control and trim. As a matter
> of fact, I became a better diver because I did photos and films
> (camcorder)
> underwater. This is critical while filming, but even more so while
> photographing : you don't want to crash into the coral and you don't want
> to scare your model away.
> The other important thing is to have reasonably good equipment. For
> instance, whereas you don't necessarily need strobes on a camcorder, you
> need some sort of flash / strobe on a camera. You can pan with a
> camcorder,
> but with a camera, especially with the likes of a 35mm lens, you better
> shoot up close, unless you have a very powerful flash. The camera and
> lens,
> as above water are also very important. Lastly, your own skill plys a
> major
> part. Taking many photos and analysing the results plys a major part.
> Take care,
> Marcel
>
>

I agrree about rec.scuba, it used to be useful.

I seldom use my strobe, I prefer to use ambient light.

Good technique eclipses good equipment.

A lot can be done with post processing to improve images taken with ambient
light. I do a lot of work with photoshop.

I think my switch to raw mode was the best move I made.

"Celcius" <celcius38@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e4mufu$tp7$1@emma.aioe.org...
>
> "Rudy Benner" <bit_bucket@rudybenner.com> wrote in message
> news:e4la5l$d84$1@emma.aioe.org...
> >
> > "> There are plenty of forums online which deal with the subject of
> underwater
> > photography.
> >
> > Primary to good underwater photography is good diving skills, ie, good
> > buoyancy control and trim.
> >
> > I have a few of my UW pictures posted at www.rudybenner.com/album
> >
> > R.
> >
> Hi Rudy!
> I know you from rec.scuba, where I don't go anymore because they talked
more
> about politics and guns than scuba diving.

Ah, but you *do* still go there. :^)

> "Rudy Benner" <bit_bucket@rudybenner.com> wrote in message
> news:e4lbfq$lce$1@emma.aioe.org...
>> Shutter lag can be largely eliminated through the use of manual
>> settings.
>>
>
> I agree Rudy, I've had alot less problems with shutter lag on my
> canon a70 by usig manual focus. You can see some of my pics here:
> http://www.divewithjay.com/gallery.htm
> Jay

Hi Jay

Can you explain the hows & whys of this bobble pic to me please, I'm
intrigued

http://www.divewithjay.com/gallery/a..._02_05.093.JPG

Thanks

Tim