Underwater settings?

[DGNY]

Just got the uw housing for my Canon 870 for a May cruise. Was curious if people have had success with the "underwater" setting on p&s cameras these days? or do you stay with specific manual settings?

 

Also, how critical is the diffusion plate for the flash?

[bruce-r]

I'd start out with the UW settings on the camera. If you like the results, you're good to go.

 

If you want to mess around with the settings on your own: Flash forced on, auto white balance, shutter priority.

 

Diffuser plate is good idea, but I don't think it critical. I don't use a diffuser on my external strobe. My camera housing has a diffuser.

[DGNY]

Diffuser plate is good idea, but I don't think it critical. I don't use a diffuser on my external strobe. My camera housing has a diffuser.

 

The canon housing comes with a diffuser plate that snaps on. I'll certainly try with and without it.

 

It just looks like the plate makes the housing a bit more delicate in terms of care when traveling. Thus my curiosity on how critical it is.

[SheilaNC]

I didn't use mine on 880 and pictures turned out fine. Will try with and without next time. Found it hard to get used to the feel of the buttons since it's so different from without the housing. Wish I had the opportunity to trial it in a pool before our trip to gain comfort with it and try different settings. Will play with it in the pool when we go to Hawaii BEFORE snorkeling with it.

[RichYak]

Was curious if people have had success with the "underwater" setting on p&s cameras these days? or do you stay with specific manual settings?

Image on the left was with my Canon's underwater setting. The middle was on auto. The right was the same auto pic photoshopped afterwards. Obviously, the underwater setting is great, but if I forget, I know I can pretty much get there via post processing.

 

[DGNY]

Image on the left was with my Canon's underwater setting. The middle was on auto. The right was the same auto pic photoshopped afterwards. Obviously, the underwater setting is great, but if I forget, I know I can pretty much get there via post processing.

 

 

Do you recall if the photo on the left was taken with flash?

[bruce-r]

Do you recall if the photo on the left was taken with flash?

I don't think there was a flash in that photo.

[DGNY]

Also, how critical is the diffusion plate for the flash?

 

Thought I'd check back in to answer my own question...the diffusion plate was very helpful. I found that with the camera in the housing, the flash did not reach the full field of view. One corner would come out dark while the rest of the photo was fine. The diffusion plate helped with this "blind spot".