underwater camera

I am getting the Reefmaster dc500 and wanted to know about getting a strobe.
Many years ago I bought a housing for disposable cameras and a strobe, but I
needed it as the disposable camera flash was pretty worthless. I then had a
point-and-shoot camera in a pressurized case (a Reefmaster camera) and just
used the built in flash, and the pictures were just fair. But now with
digital cameras the electronic ISO settings will, I think, be better than a
film camera. Of course a strobe is much better than the built-in flash, but
how necessary is it for someone who is not a professional and not diving
more than once a year?

Thanks!!

Eddie G

Eddie G wrote:
I am getting the Reefmaster dc500 and wanted to know about getting a
strobe. Many years ago I bought a housing for disposable cameras and a
strobe, but I needed it as the disposable camera flash was pretty
worthless. I then had a point-and-shoot camera in a pressurized case (a
Reefmaster camera) and just used the built in flash, and the pictures
were just fair. But now with digital cameras the electronic ISO
settings will, I think, be better than a film camera. Of course a
strobe is much better than the built-in flash, but how necessary is it
for someone who is not a professional and not diving more than once a year?

Thanks!!

Eddie G

A strobe will allow you to bring the true colors out without the use of
a filter. If most of your diving is going to be shallow, (20ft or so),
a strobe is not going to do you much good. Some of the pictures I have
taken, are actually more colorful than what *I* actually saw unless I
was using a light.

Most of the strobes I have seen have a maximum range of about 8-10 ft,
depending on water clarity.

Another option instead of a flash is a "blue filter". If ambient light
at depth is sufficient, a "blue filter" really brings the colors out.

But now with
digital cameras the electronic ISO settings will, I think, be better than a
film camera. Of course a strobe is much better than the built-in flash, but
how necessary is it for someone who is not a professional and not diving
more than once a year?

I don't use one. I use either natural light or the camera's built in
flash. My camera is a Sony Cybershot, 4 megapixels.

Many of the pictures on this page, http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/underwater/index.htm,
were taken with that camera. Anything marked "new" was taken using
natural light only (and an orange filter).

nitespark wrote:
Eddie G wrote:
I am getting the Reefmaster dc500 and wanted to know about getting a
strobe. Many years ago I bought a housing for disposable cameras and a
strobe, but I needed it as the disposable camera flash was pretty
worthless. I then had a point-and-shoot camera in a pressurized case (a
Reefmaster camera) and just used the built in flash, and the pictures
were just fair. But now with digital cameras the electronic ISO
settings will, I think, be better than a film camera. Of course a
strobe is much better than the built-in flash, but how necessary is it
for someone who is not a professional and not diving more than once a year?

Short answer is to ask what quality of photos you want to have,
regardless of how infrequently you might use the equipment.


A strobe will allow you to bring the true colors out without the use of
a filter. If most of your diving is going to be shallow, (20ft or so),
a strobe is not going to do you much good. Some of the pictures I have
taken, are actually more colorful than what *I* actually saw unless I
was using a light.

For digital systems, adjusting of white balance can provide reasonable
compensation for the progressive absorption of red spectrum. Once you
get beyond around 60fsw or so, there's not really any red left to be
boosted in post-processing by the Mandrake method (or similar).



Most of the strobes I have seen have a maximum range of about 8-10 ft,
depending on water clarity.

And as a rule of thumb, shorter (4ft; 6ft max). In general, a strobe
is preferred over a built-in flash for when the water has particulates
in it, its position can reduce backscatter in the final product image:

http://www.huntzinger.com/photo/2007/backscatter.jpg


Another option instead of a flash is a "blue filter". If ambient light
at depth is sufficient, a "blue filter" really brings the colors out.

This is merely cutting down the blues so as to effectively 'rebalance'
the spectrum. While it does work, because it is a light reduction
technique, the "no free lunch" rule applies: you either have to go to
slower shutter speeds, wider aperature or higher ISO in order to
expose the shot. Fortunately, digital is getting pretty good for
relatively low noise at higher ISOs, particualrly on larger sized
sensors (dSLR's).


-hh

On 9 Kwi, 02:58, nitespark wrote:
Eddie G wrote:
I am getting the Reefmaster dc500 and wanted to know about getting a
strobe. Many years ago I bought a housing for disposable cameras and a
strobe, but I needed it as the disposable camera flash was pretty
worthless. I then had a point-and-shoot camera in a pressurized case (a
Reefmaster camera) and just used the built in flash, and the pictures
were just fair. But now with digital cameras the electronic ISO
settings will, I think, be better than a film camera. Of course a
strobe is much better than the built-in flash, but how necessary is it
for someone who is not a professional and not diving more than once a year?

Thanks!!

Eddie G

A strobe will allow you to bring the true colors out without the use of
a filter. If most of your diving is going to be shallow, (20ft or so),
a strobe is not going to do you much good. Some of the pictures I have
taken, are actually more colorful than what *I* actually saw unless I
was using a light.

Most of the strobes I have seen have a maximum range of about 8-10 ft,
depending on water clarity.

Another option instead of a flash is a "blue filter". If ambient light
at depth is sufficient, a "blue filter" really brings the colors out.

"blue filter" ??????
Or maybe rather Red for blue water or Magenta for green water?

Janusz

On Apr 9, 5:43 pm, Dan Bracuk wrote:
This is a test to see what happens when I post through my isp.

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

Hey Popeye, did you see that?

pounded away at his keyboard resulting in:
:
:I don't use one. I use either natural light or the camera's built in
:flash. My camera is a Sony Cybershot, 4 megapixels.

This is a test to see what happens when I post through my isp.

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

wrote:
On 9 Kwi, 02:58, nitespark wrote:

Eddie G wrote:

I am getting the Reefmaster dc500 and wanted to know about getting a
strobe. Many years ago I bought a housing for disposable cameras and a
strobe, but I needed it as the disposable camera flash was pretty
worthless. I then had a point-and-shoot camera in a pressurized case (a
Reefmaster camera) and just used the built in flash, and the pictures
were just fair. But now with digital cameras the electronic ISO
settings will, I think, be better than a film camera. Of course a
strobe is much better than the built-in flash, but how necessary is it
for someone who is not a professional and not diving more than once a year?

Thanks!!

Eddie G

A strobe will allow you to bring the true colors out without the use of
a filter. If most of your diving is going to be shallow, (20ft or so),
a strobe is not going to do you much good. Some of the pictures I have
taken, are actually more colorful than what *I* actually saw unless I
was using a light.

Most of the strobes I have seen have a maximum range of about 8-10 ft,
depending on water clarity.

Another option instead of a flash is a "blue filter". If ambient light
at depth is sufficient, a "blue filter" really brings the colors out.


"blue filter" ??????
Or maybe rather Red for blue water or Magenta for green water?

Janusz



The filter itself is actually sort of "redish orange", but it is
referred to as a "blue filter". I used one on with a Sony Mavica
digital camera in an Ikelite housing. Since these cameras didn't
require very much light, I actually got some fairly nice pictures at
depth just on ambient light. If you try to use a light or strobe with
the blue filter on, your subject will be a redish orange color.

nitespark wrote:
wrote:
nitespark wrote:

Another option instead of a flash is a "blue filter". If ambient light
at depth is sufficient, a "blue filter" really brings the colors out.

"blue filter" ??????
Or maybe rather Red for blue water or Magenta for green water?

The filter itself is actually sort of "redish orange", but it is
referred to as a "blue filter".


There's what the filter does (filter out...ie, remove...blue), then
there's the color that the filter happens to be (reddish; not
blue :-).


-hh

On 10 Kwi, 12:19, "-hh" wrote:
nitespark wrote:
wrote:
nitespark wrote:

Another option instead of a flash is a "blue filter". If ambient light
at depth is sufficient, a "blue filter" really brings the colors out.

"blue filter" ??????
Or maybe rather Red for blue water or Magenta for green water?

The filter itself is actually sort of "redish orange", but it is
referred to as a "blue filter".

There's what the filter does (filter out...ie, remove...blue), then
there's the color that the filter happens to be (reddish; not
blue :-).

and as such is not called blue anymore :-)


Janusz

P.S. for holiday diving in tropical waters magic filters
http://www.magic-filters.com look to be a good choice