Strobes and arms

[kernels]

Hi all,

I'm new to underwater photography. I've used my C5050 on a dive trip but the pics were not good.

I'm now looking to invest on strobes and arms. I'm totally lost at this. Can anyone be so kind as to tell me what should I be getting and how much am I looking at?

Thanks in advance.

[kthan]

Hi, this is an article I wrote some time back for this forum. In fact if u do a search, you will find many useful posts on your question.

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=84605

regards
Eric

[lovells19]

Originally Posted by kernels Hi all, I'm new to underwater photography. I've used my C5050 on a dive trip but the pics were not good. I'm now looking to invest on strobes and arms. I'm totally lost at this. Can anyone be so kind as to tell me what should I be getting and how much am I looking at? Thanks in advance.

would suggest you shoot without strobe first... get to know the capabilities of your 5050..

you can take good pictures without strobes.. infact.. adding strobe is addition burden and fustration.. cos you have to toy with both the camera and the strobe positioning..

[waisj]

Originally Posted by lovells19 would suggest you shoot without strobe first... get to know the capabilities of your 5050.. you can take good pictures without strobes.. infact.. adding strobe is addition burden and fustration.. cos you have to toy with both the camera and the strobe positioning..

Very well said.

I *did* survive without strobes for a year with the 5050.

[kthan]

Err....I sing a different tune. If u can afford it, get it. Since u know having a strobe will improve your pics tremendously, why wait?

Eric

[kernels]

Thanks all for your reply.

Eric, thanks. I'll take a look at your write up.

I did consider whether or not to buy. I know that with it, there'll be extra things to take care of, will be more clumsy etc. But I do know that it'll improve the pictures.

I've seen some of the pics here. They're good. Can I assume that all were taken with strobe?

I've tried taking pictures without it. Some pictures came out well, usually in cases that I can go close to the subject. But other pictures came out with lots of "dirt" or it's fuzzy. I tried taking a pic of a shark (obviously I won't go so close to it) some of it came out with "dirt".

I'm going for another trip and will still be taking pic w/o the strobe. Will see how pic turn out again.

[lovells19]

Originally Posted by kthan Err....I sing a different tune. If u can afford it, get it. Since u know having a strobe will improve your pics tremendously, why wait? Eric

it does lor.. no doubt..
hahahaha

will be good to start from scratch lor.. up to you

[Tsangstudios]

I think shoot with a 5050 first. Strobes are a must get, but another factor to consider is boyancy. I feel a photographer should be skilled at boyancy first before loading up with more gear or we will end up grabbing on corals and crashing onto them. It really iriitates me when I see photog grabbing onto things to stabalise themselves. In most sit one finger is really all it takes to stabalise even in strong currents.

Anyway I will rec ys90dx and ds125 and ds50

[kernels]

i'll most like try with just my 5050 w/o strobe for more dives first. firstly, i'm not gonna rush down to buy strobe.

well, for me, my priority in my dive is to ensure that i don't kill any corals or fishes (if they're not fast. hahaha. joke). if i do end up being swept by the current and not complete a shot, so be it.

[kernels]

Here's what I mean by no nice pic.



and the color's no good. or should this be the color?

[fongwee]

The picture is very blue. Think the problem is the white balance setting. I had a similar problem and was told to set my white balance with a grey card at that depth before shooting.

[kernels]

Eh... how do i do that?

Originally Posted by fongwee The picture is very blue. Think the problem is the white balance setting. I had a similar problem and was told to set my white balance with a grey card at that depth before shooting.

[WhyZzzzzz]

Originally Posted by fongwee The picture is very blue. Think the problem is the white balance setting. I had a similar problem and was told to set my white balance with a grey card at that depth before shooting.

i think the picture is green rather than blue. anyway, here's the link again

http://www.digideep.com/articles.php?id=2

happy shooting...and really....get a strobe....at least 1 first ....

[waisj]

Originally Posted by kernels Here's what I mean by no nice pic. and the color's no good. or should this be the color?

Guys.. guys.. surely we can do better at giving advice right?

kernels,

The first pic, I *would* assume that the picture is taken without strobes and the vis was bad. Do note if the vis is bad, no matter how you angle your strobes, there will still be back-scatter. None the less having a strobe and knowing how to *angle* it will help tremendously.

The photo was predominantly rules by back scatter because of the proximity of the on-board flash/strobe to lens distance.

Or wait 'till the particles simmer down, if possible that is.

2nd Pic,

The colour is not good because the strobes did not fire, or the subject was too far away. Thus rendering the strobes useless.
Do note that strobes can only reach 2 Plus meters away. I wouldn't light anything more than 3 meters away.

Manual white balance with a grey, white card helps, but then it becomes ambient light photography. It *should* not be confused with normal, strobe-flash underwater photography. Which in this case, has no relevance to purchasing a strobe.

Hope what i've tried to convey gives you a more informed choice over the decision of purchasing a strobe.


None the less, dual strobes rulez.....

[kernels]

thanks waisj.

both the pix weren't taken with strobe. was just me and my c5050.

Originally Posted by waisj Guys.. guys.. surely we can do better at giving advice right? kernels, Manual white balance with a grey, white card helps, but then it becomes ambient light photography. It *should* not be confused with normal, strobe-flash underwater photography. Which in this case, has no relevance to purchasing a strobe. Hope what i've tried to convey gives you a more informed choice over the decision of purchasing a strobe. None the less, dual strobes rulez.....

how do i do the white balance thing you mentioned above?

yes, thanks. all that's been said helps

can you also help me critic my attempts at fireworks at newbie section? thanks.

[Fishboy]

Hi there
I agree with what waisj said.
The first pic seems to have a lot of backscatter for a picture taken without a strobe. Or did you mean an external strobe and you used the in-built flash for the pic?
From the first pic, I would guess that the source of light was coming from the top right corner which would explain why the particles on that side were illuminated. To correct this, you either need to change the angle at which the strobe is firing from to reduce backscatter, this may not be possible with the in-built flash though. Or you could get closer to the subject (nurse shark don't bite that bad ), reducing the distance to the subject and then decreasing backscatter as well.
Alternative I guess is to use the digital camera's low light functions (sigh...the wonders of new technoology ).

For the second pic, I would say that the you are either missing a red filter or that you need to be closer as the natural color of the sea cucumber (which in this case should be brownish) is replaced by the blue of the water. Mind you, it doesn't help with the sand surrounding the subject absorbing a lot of the light too.

Just my $0.02

[lovells19]

Problem with Internal strobe is the angle which the light is fired out. which cause the particle to give a direct reflection thus causing the back scatter, external strobes if position properly can eliminate most of the back scatter. i do find that positioning the strobe from the side does give a better effect. less scatter reflection also.

there is 2 type of flash in 5050, one is the weaker slave, and the stronger internal+ext. slave will illuminate less but will also reduce the back scatter. using the internal+ext mode, the picture can be more vibrant, but you also risk the increase in backscatter. so best is to take your time, try to let the sediment settle down, or get close up to the subject, which will also reduce the backscatter.

don't zoom in from a distance, anything more then 2m away will always turn out greenish blue. flash doesn't helps. internal flash are good for close up, not for subject far away. infact. far away object underwater becomes blur, blue-greenish, which makes it a bad composition.

its a plus to have a strobe, not a must, learning from the experts here and thru trill and errors, i discover that i can take very good pictures without the aid of an external strobe. with is a plus lah! hehehe anyway, the first time i got my hands on a strobe, all 4 dives on the first day were goners, overexposed, underexposed, backscatter, lighting on wrong part of the subject. and alot more, that is when im already very comfortable with my 5050. but still raw with the strobe.

one thing at a time, its slow and gets frustrating sometime, but patience pays off

[Goondoo]

Originally Posted by lovells19 you can take good pictures without strobes.. infact.. adding strobe is addition burden and fustration.. cos you have to toy with both the camera and the strobe positioning..

ouch!!!! who bought these grapes!!!! so sour

[Goondoo]

Originally Posted by lovells19 one thing at a time, its slow and gets frustrating sometime, but patience pays off

Yea, but dun choose the wrong thing.....
If you can afford, get a external strobe. There are some cheaper alternatives available. I tried taking some WA pictures in my last trip without additional WAL lens with my dual Sunpaq strobe and C5060 and it turn out reasonably well. One of my diffuser dropped while towing my wife, fighting the current and watching two hoggers hogging the pygmy seahorse site, so there were some uneveness...







PS: Do not compare with pictures taken with C5050, ikelite housing and dual DS125 *grins at waisj*

[Photosmart]

Originally Posted by Goondoo PS: Do not compare with pictures taken with C5050, ikelite housing and dual DS125 *grins at waisj*

Yours so nice.

Mine like tis lor. And instance where no strobes are needed.

Photo taken with C-5060 with Epoque Wide Angle Lens