Allow me to Introduce your self. I am 20 years old and am in my second year studying Marine Biology at the University of Miami. I learned to dive when I was 12. For several years I took played around with an Aquashot II. In 2000 my father got a sony DSC-P1 and sony's underwater housing. I used the camera ocasionally during 3 1-month vacacions in the keys. A little more than a year ago he gave the camera to me as he got a new one. I go diving almost every weeknd with the university's scuba club and fill my 128 mb memory stick each dive. I was very happy with the camera - it was leagues ahead of the point and shoot film cameras other members of the club had. It was when I became interested in taking picture of my reef aquariums that I found the sony limiting. In September I purchased my first SLR camera: Canon D300. It is great. It really makes my sony camera feal pathetic. I have to get this thing in the water. That is where I need your help.

Before I got this camera I knew nothing about SLR cameras and I still dont know much. I am plannig on getting an Ikelite housing for it but before I do(and while I am waiting for it to become available) I want to get a better Idea of what I have gotten myself in to. Are there any websites that have general information on underwater SLR photography? I have a lot of questions that I have been unable to find answers to.

I am most confused by ports. Dome vs Flat? What effect(optically) does the port have? From looking at Ikelties website and reading though the forums here dome ports are for wide angle and flat for macro. Why is this? If for some reason you wanted to use a telephoto lens what type of port would you use? Why do you need a diopter when using a zoom lens? Why do Ikelites dome ports look so different than every one elses? Is there an advantage to one design or the other?(The big domes look really cool, but then they also make the camera bigger).

Strobes...
How big of a strobe do I really need? At first I was thinking that the 50 would be suffient but the 1 second recycle time as well as more output is starting to sound awfull nice. I really dont know enough to make an educated decision about what I need.

I am mostly interested in photographing macro'ish type things - coral, fish(<2ft long), and inverts. I dive mostly in the Florida Keys and visability sucks so I will not be takng many pictures of large sections of reef at least at for a while.


Here's what I have so far. Besides a housing and strobe, is there anything that I am missing?

Canon D300 Digital Rebel
EF's 18-55
100mm macro
2 extra batteries
512MB 40x Lexar pro
20 GB X's Drive Pro

Anything else I need to know before I go out and spend a few thousand dollars on a housing?

Ohh one more thing. How well does auto focus work underwater. I were glasses most of the time but not when I dive,(My vision is not that bad, I can still pass the test to get my drivers license) but and have found it almost impossible to focus manually without my glasses. Am I going to need to get contacts or will I be able to trust the autofocus?

Thank you in advance.(that means you have to answer at least some of my questions)

William Heaton

Hi!

Step by step ...

Dome vs. flat port:
The water-air surface of a port is a lens. It therefore influences what your camera will see. A flat port will distort vision but you won't see it as long as you have a narrow angle of view (macro, telephoto).
With WA you'll get loss of view angle and heavy distortion towards the corners. Therefore you need sort of a "neutral" lens - the dome is (ideally) a section of a (virtual) sphere surrounding the lens. The nodal point of the lens is in its center.
The dome produces a virtual image at close distance. If a lens can't focus close enough (most ports request a distance of about 30cm) you need a diopter to get the lens "short sighted" enough.
Large domes are hard to carry, easily scratched and may have a bad effect on buoyancy and handling. They are great for half-half shots though (and look amazingly professional ).

Flash:
A moderate powered flash will do for macro. A second one is nice. I use 2 HLX torches mounted to the housing. You have to experiment with white balance to get the colors crisp and natural but it helps the auto focus a lot under low light conditions. It's also easier to set the light properly. Nevertheless, most people use flashes (preferrable with a guide light) for macro.

Autofocus:
UW photography is a real challenge for AF. I have no idea about the quality of the D300 AF but additional light in general helps. AF is reliable in most cases where you have structures of sufficient contrast. Depending on the AF sensor (single or cross) you need vertical lines or sorts of lines in any direction to get it working.
I found out that the AF of my camera (Olympus E-20) refuses to focus properly on some kind of nudibranches. In this case I lock the focus on a nearby object of sufficient contrast and then move the camera until I see the obect in focus.
That's where you should see properly UW

Vision:
Some cameras allow for diopter correction (built-in or mountable) in the viewfinder (mostly a range of +/- 2) which should be ok in your case, I think. You may also find it more easy to focus on a real optical finder rather than an LCD screen. I've got pretty good vision but found it impossible to judge focus on the LCD.
Try to experiment with the camera in the dry. A friend of mine has a mask with optical glasses. You may also try (disposable) contacts.

Equipment:
The 100 macro should be great. If you're going for really small critter a 1.4x or 2x tele converter could be an option.

Helge ;-)=)

Thank you.

Ok a flat port will work on telephoto lenses but is a dome still better? And just to confirm the large dome vs small one makes no difference in the picture.

A moderate flash?? That doesnt help much. How powerfull is moderate? I am thinking right now I can only afford(well, only want to afford) one strobe. I think that one strobe will also make things considerably simpler.

The built in diopter is not enough for me Will an add on diopter fit in the housing? Probably not? And no because it is an SLR you cant look at the LCD screen untill after you take the picture.

Teleconverter? Why? I though that you used extension tubes to increase magnification.

Hi there and welcome,

Ok, you have kinda stumbled into an area I feel way too strongly about.

First, buy a vision correcting mask or a mask that accepts prescription lens or wear your contacts. My wife has horrid vision and wears her contacts diving under her primary mask and has a mask with prescription lens in as a backup.

Second - the best friend for a photographer is understanding their equipment and how to use it correctly. I am still stunned by the number of people who think they are going to jump in the water and take good shots consistantly when they can't take good photos topside of their dog or their house.

I suggest the place to really start is to read a couple of books - and I suggest that "John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide" is the premier place to start. This is an excellent way to learn about how to get the most out of your camera when shooting nature. I consider this one of the best photography books on the market for really explaining concepts well.

Second book to own is specifically about underwater photography and is " Jim Church's Essential Guide to Composition " by the late Jim Church (we all miss you Jim). This book is considered somewhat the bible by many underwater photographers but will be 1000% more useful if you understand the first book first.

I still regularly re-read both these books.

Your other choice is to take a couple of elective courses on photography as part of your degree

Hope this helps,
M

Adding to that:

Your 100mm macro lens goes into a Flat port no diopters required.

Your wide-mid range zoom is best in a 6"dome port with extension ring & zoom gear. You will require a diopter in this instance but the manufacturer's will have advice on the correct one.

Strobe: Plenty of good used ones around from sea & sea 90x through to Inon's

Various housing will now be equipped with circuitry for TTL.

A typical Aquatica setup for example will cost you around $2200 inc ports.

Focus is done through the VF not the screen

First, I will get contacts IF I find that I need them.

Second, that(understanding the equipment) is exactly what I am trying to do. Yea sure I could just order what ever the guy at the dive shop recomends but I want to better understand why I am getting what I do.

I think that take great shots out of the water. If I can take pictures this good underwater I will be thrilled.



Thank you for the book suggestions. I ordered both of them from amazon today.

I am planning on going Ikelite because it is cheeper and I have yet to find any evidence that the pictures it takes will be any less in quality. It looked like to me I could get the Ikelite housing, ports, and strobe for that much. I will ask again, is there any advantage to the large domes used by the other manufactures or do they just look cool.

The 8" dome provides dioptre-free WA and SWA. If your going to stick with the zoom I would go with the smaller 6" as it's very much cheaper and easier to lug around.

Aquatica Housing for the 300 is to retail at about $1569 + Ports.

And will accomodate ttl

I am writing an article on this subject (about 75% done) which will be published by my local UW photo society, and also here at Wetpixel.

Would it be OK if I include some quotes from this thread and others? I'm interested in some of the "upgrade questions" that folks will have moving from a consumer camera to a DSLR and am writing an "upgrade guide" which covers:

Ports and Lenses
Size
Viewfinder
Cost
Strobes/Sync

Cheers
James

FYI, I don't expect the A300 with TTL compatibility to be available for $1569...

I'm guessing it will be an extra cost upgrade.

As far as domes go, the 18-55 will be fine in the smaller dome.

I don't think that port combinations/size are as critical with cropped sensors as they are with full frame imagers (both film and digital).

Some lenses, like the 12-24, obviously are an exception to this.