Hi,

I am Italian, I live in Tokyo, I am an Advanced Open Water Diver

with Padi with few dives (25) but Zero under water photography

experience: never shot a single frame! I am also new to this Forum so

I apologise if I ask questions which have already been asked and

replied to.

I am going to Bali this next week and I was wondering if anyone can

advise me on the best camera case for an S90 Canon.

I am completely ignorant of underwater photography but I was a

fashion photographer for some 6 years. In your advice, please, could

you also tell me why the particular case which you reccommend is

better than others.

Please consider that I am NOT familiar with underwater technicalities

such as if it is really necessary to use fish eye, depth at which a strobe

becomes essential, special lens requirements for air/water light

deflections, ring sizes, accessories etc...

In this and other forums I read that the Canon case is totally

insufficient as it cannot mount special accessories as strobes, fisheye

lens, etc...

In fact, I have no clue at all in this field and I would welcome a very,

very basic explanation with as much adivce and reccommendations as

you have tim to give me.

Thank you for you advice and time!

Tommaso

Hello and welcome

I think you have 2 basic choices for your camera
the canon WP-DC35 40m housing or the Ikelite 60m housing.

I think the Ikelite is more expensive, but has more options. I think the basic canon one should be ok for day to day, but if you want something a bit better that has a bit more expansion options and you don't mind the extra $ I'd go for the Ikelite.

I'm still learning under water photography, but here is what I have learnt so far..

perfect your buoyancy with the camera. Mostly practice, but you can do you Peak Performance Buoyancy spec to help a little.

Get as close as you can to your subject (and then a little closer). The less water between the lens and the subject the better it will come out.

Try to be lower than your subject in the water so that you are shooting up for better composition.

Reset you white balance every few meters (you may want to get some white/ grey slates for this, some people use their hand successfully).

Best pictures without strobes are in 10m and less. That is not to say you won't still get some good pics down at 20m plus, but you will more likely have the colours washed out. You can get red filters to help restores the reds that go at depth (I've personally not tried these yet). Remember strobes have an effective range and you will need to get within a couple of meters.

I've seen some good pics taken with fish eye lenses, they let in a bit more light in and work really well under water. It is something on my shopping list.

Personally I think you'd be best getting use to the camera underwater without the extras (strobes and lenses), then add them on as you feel ready. Get some pool time if you can.

Here is a link with some of my pics (I'm still working on improving). These were with a Fuji EXR200 P&S with no stobes or additional lenses.
http://www.thescubasite.com/Scuba-Forum/Scuba-Diving-Stories/1762-Egypt-Trip
The last pic of the moray shows the wash out you get at the deeper depths (I wasn't gonna get that close to that monster either lol)

Wookie,

Wow, thank you for your toime and careful help! This forum is surprising me (I posted elsewhere too). I was actually thinking of doing as you reccomended: get the Canon case and save $ to find out what I need and if I really do like U/W photography...

The "get close, then closer" and "reset the white balance" tips are 2 good and quick advices exactly what I was looking for!

The pictures are really cool if, as you say, you're just starting! Well done dude!

Do you know if there is any good SW that can restore the red balance instead of using an underwater filter? Maybe I am way out and not software can recreate the correct balance but today you never know what technology and photoshop can do...

Ciao and, again, thank you!

Tommaso

Thank you for you nice comments

I've not used a filter yet. You can use programs like Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom to adjust colour. They can help a lot, but they will only do so much. Sometimes if there is not enough colour to start with you may find it doesn't work well or you will get grainy images. It all depends on how deep you plan to go and visibility in the water. Just make sure you correct your white balance as you go down and it should help compensate.