Underwater Photography

If you search information about underwater photography I have a web

site to discover this kind of photo

http://www.underwaterphotographie.com

is the actual URL

 

http://www.underwaterphotography.com/

 

??

It's the good url

http://www.underwaterphotographie.com ( ie and not phy ) because I am french

Merci, Pierre, pour votre http.

 

I am one of those people who can't equalize pressure in my ears so I'm stuck to shorkeling exclusively, which means that I really can't easily handle a bulky camera system. Up to now I've tried a SLR in a EWA Marine housing, that worked ok, but the pressure even at the shallow depts kept knocking off my flash. Couple that to a seal leak that almost ruined my camera and the fact that the view port is too small, well,I'm looking for a plan B.

 

I tried the Nikon, "Action Touch" but less than 5 minutes into a trip a wave smashed me (and the camera) against a lava wall. Only one of us came back ok....

 

I've been thinking about the Moter Marine II myself, but I have a few concerns about it.

 

1) Does it accurately handle Velvia (ASA 50)?

 

2) Because the flash/arms are too much for me to deal with, in relatively clear water can I expect much out of the camera's own flash? (I know if there are any particles in the water I'm going to get poor shots)

 

3) The camera is listed as 'manual exposure'. That seems like it would be a little tough to do when one is doing everything they can to both keep a subject in focus and trying not to dround. Any advice?

 

Doug Stemke

Thank you. Nice pictures. I will never use any of the information you provided but have often wondered about underwater equipment and some of the special issues. Nice site and great pictures.

Doug,

I don't know about the MMII; my wife has a 'simpler' Motor Marine and that one is not supposed to handle ASA 50; it is recommended to use ASA 100 to 400. Anyway, bear in mind you will lose a lot of light underwater, to compensate for that you could try ASA ...400.

My mife uses ASA 100 or 200 with limited success.

2) Because the flash/arms are too much for me to deal with, in relatively clear water can I expect much out of the camera's own flash? (I know if there are any particles in the water I'm going to get poor shots)

My wife's has an external flash, mounted on the side of the camera and it is very, very limited in power. So don't expect a lot from the camera's own flash. It is hard to avoid the particles problem; the only way to do so is to move the flash as far away as possible from the camera.

3) The camera is listed as 'manual exposure'. That seems like it would be a little tough to do when one is doing everything they can to both keep a subject in focus and trying not to dround. Any advice?

First: set your camera and take pics in function of your settings; you are right that it is hard to change settings as most fish move around a lot, the light changes fast etc. Second: try a u/w photography course. My wife did and the difference was noticable.

Have fun diving and shooting!

Herman

Doug-

 

IME flashes built into underwater cameras are a disaster. You will be far better off putting up with the added nightmare of external strobes on arms. My friend has a MM II EX and a TTL strobe; with the TTL mode on the MM II EX you can quite easily get an idea of when your shutter speed and more relevantly aperture are correct for the shot with the little green TTL exposure light on the camera - obviously you will need to correct if the subject is darker or lighter than midtone. Bracketing is also a wise move.

 

I think the II EX can take 50 speed film (i.e. velvia), but you'd have to look at the manual to confirm. AFAIK it supports DX coding.