Waterproof Cameras

Hopefully you have read my previous post, Underwater photography tips for absolute beginners – Part 1, and have an understanding of the bare essentials you need to know before heading in to the water with a camera. Now we look at some of the more practical aspects of taking photographs underwater.

Focus

This is important no matter where you are using your camera, but underwater photography might prove a challenge. The autofocusing mechanism on your digital camera will depend on light and contrast between elements. If you are pointing the camera in to a blue void, with the coral reef below, your camera might not be able to find focus. If it is overcast or cloudy above water, then it will be even darker underwater. Worse, if you haven’t cleaned the lens area on your waterproof digital camera housing you might have a blurry picture.

Most, if not all digital cameras are easy to focus:

1. Point the camera to the object you want to photograph
2. Push and hold the picture button half way down until focus is locked
3. Re-frame your picture and push the button all the way

Thankfully focusing technology has come leaps and bounds in the last 5 years. If you have a newer camera the chances are it will find focus on areas of interest other than the centre of the screen. Look for the big green rectangles that come up when you hold the button down and that will tell you what objects the camera is focusing on.

Zoom

You know that zoom button on your camera that you love so much? Forget it when you head underwater! You need to get closer to your subjects. The density of the water makes it that much harder for light to travel from the subject to you. Add in focusing problems described above and you are going to have a real challenge taking nice photos of objects 10 feet away.

So if you are going to take photographs of static objects such as the reef, put the camera in to macro (closeup) mode, pull the zoom back, and get right in there amongst the action! Not only will you have clearer photos that are easier to focus, you will also be able to fill up the whole frame. That large blue void in to the distance is pretty darn boring when it appears on a photograph unless you have something close up to contrast against it.

Flash

Try it! While the flash on a compact digital camera may not be that great, it can’t hurt to give it a go underwater. Just be aware that the flash distance will be much shorter than above water – around 3 feet. Another excuse to get in close to the subject you are photographing!

Today I have presented another couple of really basic, but really important tips to taking better pictures underwater. Whether you have a waterproof digital camera, or a waterproof digital camera housing, the ideas remain the same: get close up, watch your focusing, and try to do everything you can to get light on to the subject. It’s a challenge, but a little effort will go a long way. And the photographs you take underwater will be so rewarding you will want to keep revisiting them again and again!

So you have your waterproof digital camera housing, and about to head to the reef for some snorkeling. Or perhaps you aren’t sure whether waterproof camera cases are for you? Let’s have a look at some of the differences between above-water and under-water photography, and how you can take some great pictures on your first venture underwater with a camera.

Yourself

The most striking and important difference when in the water is yourself! You won’t be standing up or sitting down, you will be floating. Most likely you will have a snorkel and need to hold your breath for a period of time. There might be a current pulling you in a particular direction. If you haven’t been snorkeling before and/or are not a regular swimmer you might want to just put the camera away for a short while and get used to the feeling of being underwater. When I went snorkeling the first time it was tricky just to get used to everything going on: trying to hold my breath, dive underneath, swim, and return to the surface to breathe was rather uncomfortable at first. The good news is that it doesn’t take long before you get used to it, and begin to feel safe. Then soon after it becomes second nature and you don’t have to think about what you are doing. That’s the time to bring your camera with you, because you will be able to better concentrate on framing your photos and getting the exposure correct.

Operating the camera

You did play with the camera on dry land and test the housing for leaks, didn’t you? The manufacturer of the underwater digital camera housing will provide instructions as to how to seal your housing up so that it is water tight. It is a good idea to test it out in a sink, just to make sure that you have got it right and not a drop of water gets in. It is also a good idea to work out how the controls will work. Many of the generic camera housings are just a bag over the camera and pushing the smaller buttons might be difficult. Some of the dedicated housings from the camera’s manufacturer might not extend all of the controls through the casing. Knowing what you can and can’t do before you head underwater will free up your time to take pictures and enjoy yourself.

Light Considerations

Sometimes we forget that photography relies entirely on the light reflecting off the objects we are capturing. Light will dissipate underwater. That means that you might need to fiddle with your camera settings (possibly before you put the camera in its housing!) to account for low-light situations. These settings might be called “ASA”, “Speed” or even disguised as “Night Mode” on your digital camera. Your camera might also be able to change the aperture or “f-stop”. A Lower f-stop opens the lens up to let more light in, but the trade-off is that this will make focusing more sensitive. Also consider the effectiveness of your flash: the distance your flash will reach on land will be reduced underwater. Anyhow the bottom line is that you need to have a look through your camera’s user guide to find out what low-light options are available.

So assuming you are physically prepared to swim around underwater, you know how to operate your camera, and you have set it up for lower-light conditions, you should be set to head underneath the water and begin taking some fantastic photos!

Coming up in part 2: tips for taking some good looking photos.

So far I have written a few articles about what waterproof digital camera housing options you have. Let’s consider an attractive alternative: buying the cheapest digital camera you can buy that is waterproof. After all, if you are taking it down to the beach or in the boat and throwing it around a bit, it might make more sense to purchase a camera that you can afford to lose or damage. Amazon, along with many other online retailers, has a number of options on offer. Here is an offer that Amazon are selling for under $60: the Vivitar ViviCam 5188 5 Megapixel camera with a waterproof digital camera housing. The camera comes with a 16MB SD RAM Flash memory card – which is so typical of digital camera manufacturers. You could fill that up in less than a minute! Hopefully you already have a digital camera and a couple of larger memory cards hanging around that you can recycle in to this camera. The Vivitar ViviCam takes AAA batteries which is handy: you should be able to pick them up in any hotel gift shop or drug store should you ever run out while on vacation. The camera and housing together weigh less than 9oz (140g) which is quite light. At the time of writing 7 customer have reviewed the product with an average of 3.5 star rating. The consensus is that it is a pretty good camera for the beach, and a pretty good camera for the kids, but it probably isn’t your first choice for the day-to-day family camera. At under $60 it is cheaper than some underwater digital camera housing units, plus you get a camera with a few megapixels, so maybe it’s a good choice if you are looking for a backup camera that the kids could use.

A generic waterproof digital camera housing is a water-tight skin designed to fit a variety of digital camera makes and models. Most popular digital camera manufacturers produce a dedicated underwater digital camera housing to fit an individual camera model, if not a series. Generic ones, however, will fit a variety of cameras.

Advantages

Being able to fit a number of digital cameras has some key benefits:

• The price is lower, because the manufacturer does not need to design a new product for each new shape of camera that is released.
• If you own more than one digital camera you might be able to use both of them with the one case.
• If you upgrade your camera you might be able to retain the same case.

Disadvantages

But like everything there are pros and cons. The main disadvantages are:

• They are not designed as snuggly as a dedicated camera housing. They are simply a waterproof bag, and do not extend the cameras controls through the housing to external buttons and levers.
• They are typically made of a flexible plastic, compared to the hard and durable polycarbonate resins that dedicated housings are often made of.
• It is a little more difficult to evaluate which is the right case for your camera.

It is important that when looking for a housing that your camera actually fits inside. If you stick with a popular brand then the retailer you purchase the housing from should provide a list of camera models that will fit, or at least the maximum dimensions of the camera that can fit inside.

Brands

The major brands of waterproof camera cases include:

• DiCaPac
• Aquapac
• Aqua Case
• Dry Pak

Where to Purchase

You can purchase these cases from a number of online retailers, including Amazon.