In-tank pics: Olympus 770 SW Q's

[kevin95695]

HI! Santa brought an Olympus 770 SW to take "in-tank" pics and for upcoming trips to Hawaii etc.

Tried it in the tank for the first time tonight and the durned thing would NOT focus... I tried every setting I could imagine. Works fine so far for everyday dork photos -- Flash is a little weak -- That's my only complaint other than the issue at-hand.

I know several club members have used this model camera, so what's the trick? What settings do you use to get those killer shots I keep seeing around here? TIA!

[RasBobre]

I have two UW housings for my Nikon 4300 and the Canon SD600 and am not familiar with your housing.

Here is a copy of my Christmas card that I recently took, also underwater.



I get much better images using it underwater. When taking your photos, turn off all flow so all air bubbles and anything else in the water column doesn't come between your camera and your subject.

Do you have a macro setting? Gently hold the exposure button down long enough for the camera to do a pre-focus.

I know there are a bunch of photo buffs here that can help you out.

[Reefugee]

Kevin,

I don't have that camera either. But one thing else worth checking is the minimal focal length. The minimal focal length is the shortest distance your camera can be away from your subject.

Minh

[airinhere]

I am starting to get serious about my photography and all I can say is there are lots of things you can do.

First you should always white balance your camera before use.

Then you should try manually setting your camera for the shots you are taking. (practice outside the water).

First part is easy.

Second part takes a little more work, but you get to play with the light gathering capabilities of your camera and the focus settings at the same time.

I am awaiting my powershot G9 and underwater housing right now. My old nikon coolpix has little to no manual adjusting, but the G9 will have almost as much functionality as a DSLR. This means I am reciting things I have read, not things I have done, but you get the idea.

Good luck man!

Maybe we can start a "photography corner" for MARS. There have to be some experienced guys out there who understand the things I have been reading about.

[dots]

Holding it steady is my problem right now, I don't like the shutter speed on the thing.

Just play with it is the best I can suggest. Use the macro mode in stabilized mode, try the sport and under water presets.

I am finding the WB is pretty good as is, and turn off the flash.

I have yet to master it myself, but practiced a little over the weekend:

Green Slimer and Cardinal


Pink Lemonade


Milli


Oregon Tort


Lime in the Sky


Blue Matrix

[kevin95695]

Thanks so far everybody. Doug: As Minh points out, how far away from your subjects is the camera in your fantastic shots?

[Reefugee]

[double post - deleted]

[Reefugee]

Kevin,

According to Olympus' specs, the minimal focal ranges are:

Normal Mode: 19.7”
Macro Mode: Wide: 7.9”
Super Macro Mode: 2.8”

http://olympusamerica.com/cpg_sectio...duct=1287&fl=4

In regard to the white balancing, not all p&s camera have a feature to manually change white balance. (I don't know if the 770SW has a manual WB adjustment.) However, you can set it to one of the "underwater mode" and that should adjust the white balancing to some preset mode.

Aaron - I don't know which camera you have, but can it shoot in RAW format? If it can, I would save the image in RAW and then you can aways adjust the white balance on your computer. I got the wife a Canon EOS XTi with a 18-200 lense this weekend. Found out that in one of the preset mode, it does not save it in RAW. However, if you go to manual mode, you can save the image in both JPEG and RAW. If you're serious about underwater photography, there is a club called the Sacramento Aquatic Image Maker (SAC AIM) that is devoted to taking underwater picture and scuba diving. http://www.sacaim.org/

Originally posted by kevin95695
how far away from your subjects is the camera in your fantastic shots?

[philter4]

I've had the stylus 710, I'm almost positive that they are the same except mine is weather proof, not water proof (I also have an underwater housing because I frequently dive below the 80 to 100 feet). Here is a photo taken with macro from about 6 inches away from the fish with a flash at an angel to the front glass so there was minimal reflection of the flash. I've said this before, I am not even an OK photograqher, but occasinally get lucky, just look at my gallery. This photo was taken on macro setting with the camara about 1/2 inch away from glass, maybe 6 inches from a spot the cherub hangs out at. It took about 30 tries to get this one. I set the guide to sport shots, for fast moving subjects. Hope it helps, but I think it just takes practice with new equipment to get the hang of a particular model.

[xia]

I do have the 720sw. I usually shoot with underwater macro and add the supermacro, without changing whitebalance. I find that with macro mode you have to be at least 1' to 1.5' away to get a decent focus. With supermacro mode you can be less than a foot away up to maybe 6". I'm usually shooting top down.

When the camera won't focus, but I can see it in clear focus during the prefocus (holding down the button) changing to unfocused, I'll just continually press and hold the button until it focuses right (may take 20 or more tries). The trick is once it focuses the way you want it, take the picture, but keep your finger down like when your focusing, and you can continue to take pictures at that focus length, without having to get it focused again.

There are a few different ways to have the camera focus, such as spot focus and such in the menu, but I don't know what I did with the manual, so I haven't played much with those settings, nor understood them enough to make it work for me.




These shots took me forever to get in focus. This is probably as close as you can get. With supermacro there's no flash allowed, but I like the way the watermelon turned out, looks almost like natural light.



This last shot was in macro mode. For me, which mode you use all depends on how big your tank is, and where the subject is in relation to the camera, and your arm's reach. Sometimes it's hard not to block the light when your right on top of it, trying to look through the viewfinder, which makes for some weird positioning of your body, hands, and camera. And Try not to pull a cramp or burn yourself on the halides

[kevin95695]

Thanks! That sounds like very practical info in relation to the situation I was running into in regards to focus... And FUNNY! I burned my arm on the glass shield of the halides. I was so paranoid of getting off balance on the ladder I stopped worrying about the light!

[dots]

Originally posted by kevin95695
I was so paranoid of getting off balance on the ladder I stopped worrying about the light!

Thats why I have a 75g on a short stand and no canopy. I can stand feet flat on the ground and put my hand on the bottom.

I was screwing up the focus myself the other day make sure the focus isn't on the iESP setting.

I am starting to agree with Xia on the number of pictures, it takes about half a dozen to get a halfway decient one.

The first two pictures were out of the tank against the glass, the last four were inside the tank on super macro mode.