Surf (not surfing) camera/housing help

<p>I am planning to shoot in the surf and breakers this summer here in New Zealand. I'm shooting a youth project

and wish to photograph in the surf, just under the water etc. I won't be photographing actual surfing.</p>

<p>I'm trying to decide between an Ewa-Marine housing for my D200 or D300, or getting a Nikonos or Sea and Sea

type camera. It will mostly be images of people having fun in the surf on a summer's day etc. The ability to use fill-

flash maybe important too.</p>

<p>At the moment I'm on the side of the Ewa housing because I won't be diving any further than a metre or so below

waves. The price of a housing in NZ is around NZ$500 and a good Nikonos 4 or 5 is around $3-400, but of course

there is also the cost of processing and scanning.</p>

<p>I have at this stage opted out of waterproof point and shoots because the quality must be of publishable quality.

But again, I'm prepared to be talked out of this view too!</p>

<p

>Any ideas anyone? Thank you all in advance. Cheers</p>���

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<p>I think if you went with a G series Canon point and shoot and the corresponding underwater case, you could achieve good enough quality for publication. The weakness with the point and shoot would be shooting in low light, but I assume if you're shooting at the beach, you'll be in bright light. Also, when using the underwater cases, the built in flash (be sure to use the flash diffuser) is only good for about five feet or so.</p>

<p>I think the EWA bag is the best choice. I am very satisfied with mine; I have started using an EWA UF for my Pentax K1000.</p>

<p>Let me tell you something I have learned over the past week about Nikonos; mind you, I have never used one, but have consulted the manuals for it, after working through some trials on my EWA Marine UF housing for a manual film camera. In getting a housing for my SLR, I discovered that I was accidentally fortunate; the Nikonos operates on a rangefinder system, which is only calibrated for on-land use.</p>

<p>Let me say that again:<strong> Nikonos rangefinder may be only calibrated for on-land use.</strong></p>

<p>When the Nikonos is used underwater, the swimmer must estimate distance to subject, take 75% of that, and dial in that figure onto the lens markings. Meanwhile, there are also some field of view restrictions and measured distance to apparent distance problems. While Nikonos has long been a standard for amphibious cameras, know and understand that there is some training time with those units required because of these problems. I was working out some of those same problems so that I could get in the habit of accurately pre-setting my SLR lens, so that I could reduce the amount of time it took to focus; those calcs were based on subject area size and measured distance to subject; just as I would have had to do with a Nikonos, if I were to be dead-on accurate. It was a basic trigonometry problem, and I worked out several in advance. I can forsee that using such math beforehand to work out some presets would be good, but it would be too cumbersome to try to be dead-on accurate in the water.</p>

<p>With SLRs, what you see is what the lens sees. It will be faster for you to use that. SLR + EWA bag is a good choice for simplicity. You will want simplicity when you are holding your breath.</p>

<p>If you have corrected vision, and use the bag while snorkeling, I have found it very helpful to use eyeglasses that fit inside a swimmer's mask. It makes snorkeling with the bag housing much easier because it cuts down time on the focus problem.</p>

<p>I have read recently that a great deal of underwater photos are made with strobes at distances of 1 meter or less, so maybe the strobe power on that P&S is not a big deal.</p>

<p>Coincidentally, I came across a very good set of resources; these are mostly text-heavy web pages that are transcriptions of older magazine articles on underwater photography. By far, the most factual of the web pages I have come across. The articles, though, are written more for divers who are beginning photographers; but, in there, occasionally I will find a valuable sentence. BSOUP: The British Society of Underwater Photographers; http://www.bsoup.org/Basic_techniques.php</p>

<p>I have recently gotten an EWA Marine UF housing for my manual film camera. I have used it several times over the past week. No leaks. Works as described. Reviews talk down these bag housings too much. Excellent value for shallow water use. Tighten those clamp bar knobs down all the way; don't forget to let a little air out first. Also, understand that patience and practice and deliberation are very helpful with your first few swims with the rig.</p>

<p>The UW bag packing time initially took me 15 minutes; I quickly got that down to about a minute or two, without rushing, just by giving my hands some practice. I have also made some test dunks with my K200D in that same housing; it's a tight fit, but works. Keep this in mind: the housings will be built to be a narrow fit; this is good for the SCUBA divers because of buoyancy. Near as I can tell, you want to rig up your camera and lens so that they are at 50 to 75% of the bag's capacity; that is, do not cram the maximum allowable size into that bag, give yourself a little bit of wiggle room. Consult the charts (there are some cartoon descriptions showing the EWA bag dimensions in ads and on EWA's website). Pick your bag carefully. I also recommend bringing along a small hand towel so that you have a soft place to set the bag housing down when you get out, and keep the bag cleaned off with.</p>

<p>Even though the light-filtration charts say you will not lose red until after 3 meters, I have found some filtration necessary within 1 meter. In freshwater, the filter is magenta for greenwater. The red filters recommended are for the ocean divers; may apply to you; look at the color of the water, and go from there.</p>

<p>Good luck. Based on what I have seen so far, I would recommend the UF housing for manual film cameras used without flash. Exceeded expectations over here.</p>

<p>There are "surf" housings, but I think those are the ones you are not interested in; big handle, hard case, mostly for people who are trying to photograph someone on a surfboard. I have noticed some of those have mentioned only the most shallow of depths; I can see why you would want to avoid those. EWA bag is a good choice.</p>

<p>The EWA bag housing has been so enjoyable, that I wish I had gotten one years ago. Big fan of it over here. </p>

<p>Wow! Thank you everyone, you've been very helpful. The pictures I'll be making will mostly be of kids having fun in the surf line, in and amongst the breakers. Mostly in shoulder deep water, in and under the waves.</p>

<p>I was leaning towards the Ewa Marine, the Ikelite type housings would be too big and bulky (and expensive) for the use I want to put it to. I have thought about the point and shoots, but I need at least D200 quality.</p>

<p>So it looks like it's the Ewa bag for me.</p>

<p>Thank you everyone</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Let me say that again:<strong> Nikonos rangefinder may be only calibrated for on-land use.</strong><br>

<strong></strong></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Wrong. I own a Nikonos V. No Nikonos has a rangefinder. It has a viewfinder, and you have to set the approximate distance from the camera to subject - - using guess-o-matic (scale) focusing. </p>

<p>There are two different types of lenses, those that will work on land and underwater; and those that work underwater only. </p>

<p>The 35mm and 80mm are for land and underwater (kayaking, foul weather, etc.). The 15mm, 20mm, and 28mm are made for underwater use only. The lenses require water contact for correct focus.</p>

<p>"Wrong." Yes, Steve, you are absolutely correct. I wrote the incorrect answer. I don't know what I was thinking. I should have written that it was the distance scale on some of the lenses. I apologize.</p>