Underwater Camera Kit
If you've made it this far, you're sad enough to be at least interested in underwater photography. Lets hope you're a normal person besides that. You can't call me sad cos you're the one reading this! Most of the photos, which can be found from the homepage were taken with my new digital camera, though i've now firmly reverted to film for serious photos. You'll notice all the GOOD photos i have are 35mm. For those with an interest in underwater cameras, here's a bit more info on my set-ups. If you want a summary: buy a wide angle lens, you won't regret it (whether you're a digital or 35mm user).
35mm Stills 1 Motormarine II/IIEX:
I use this classic camera setup for ambient light shots and
prefer it for close ups, due to the extra quality (you still can't beat a 35mm
for prints) and TTL. I also can use it for deeper work (it's rated to 45m).
Also handy when on a week's expedition with no laptop, fire off a roll and chuck
in another. This is a brilliant semi-pro amphibious camera and very flexible
with it (i.e. it is manual). The highlands B&W photos (here)
were taken with the single strobe (not that the strobe was used) rig and minimal
effort-the 16mm wide angle makes the difference. Digital can't match that and
i have the photos to prove it! See Canada
as well for digital-beating shots.
Upgraded last year and added another YS50 TTL strobe, dual sync cord and also
YS50 slave strobe. So, that's 3 strobes. Too much? Maybe, i'm still experimenting.
2 seem to make a great difference and even lighting.
Recent purchases---well, see the 3rd picture below, i've now got a Sea Arm V
(aluminium alloy) and Sea Arm VI (some reinforced plastic) stuff. I've put a
Sea Arm IV in the picture too---make your own mind up. Both V and VI come with
short and long arms for both the mid section and the strobe mount.
I've also added diffusers to each strobe (actually diffusers for YS-60 but fit the YS50s too), as i shoot wide-angle and noticed a lot of hot-spots around my photos.
The Sea Arm V and Sea Arm VI do not take the lens caddy by default, but you can spend £15 buying a converter.
You could also do what i've done for about 15p. See close up below!
^Simple setup, Sea Arm IV with single YS-50^-- ^Dual strobe w/wide angle converter
& high-eye point viewfinder^ -- ^More like it-two Sea Arm V/VIs with mixed
long/short arms^
Easy-4 cable ties, 2 holding the caddy to the arm and 1 pulling
either direction against a cross-bar. This will only work with Sea Arm V cos
the VI is not cut-out in the middle.
Camera – Sea and Sea Motormarine II/IIEX. What a great camera. I don't care if it's a little behind the (now defunct) Nikonos V, in terms of optical quality and the like. This is a fairly indestructible, solid and reliable workhorse. The fact that you can add and remove lenses underwater helps massively, especially combined with the lens holder you can add to the arm IV. Oh, and it has a built in closeup (not macro) lens! Due to unfortunate incidents, I've had 2 sets of new internals and a new back door put on it so it's pretty much a new camera twice over... The newer MMII EX has the added functionality of shutter speed, which is possibly useful for action shots. Due to a leak in Canada, I have now bought one of these-i expect little difference, it's just the fact you can change shutter speed-i'll be sticking at 1/60th mainly. There are some other electronic improvements as well with the EX. The MMIII, which you won't see many of, is functionally excellent and has some great ideas but it won't sell due to digitals. It includes a wide-angle lens as standard!
Strobe – 2xYS50 TTL+1 YS50 slave. A set of strobes to match the camera. Very solid, reliable and fast recharge with all the joys of TTL that I miss on my digital. I mount a mini Q40 onto the stobe as a spotter light.
Tray – Sea and Sea tray
Arm – Sea & Sea Arm V and VI, or any combination of Sea and Sea Arm IV or Sea and Sea jointed snap-loc. All easy to attach and detach underwater, holds the heavy YS50 well.
Lenses – have the Sea and Sea 3T lens at the moment which gives a 3:1 reduction. A good macro lens, so much so I now have a 2T . I now have the 16mm wide angle lens, and both optical viewfinder and high eyepoint optical viewfinder. The 16mm lens is the best purchase for any camera.
Digital/short video:
I use this setup for easy photography and for making short movies. Fully automatic and with all the advantages of a digital camera.
Click to enlarge
Camera – Minolta Dimage X – a very compact 2.3 Megapixel camera (now superceeded by the Dimage Xi which is 3 mp, which is now superceeded by Dimage Xt-unlimited length movies, quicker startup, very nice package but won't fit in the X/Xi housing). This camera is quite amazing and about the size of a packet of cigarettes. Can take 35 second videos (see mine for each of the trips). Takes the MMC/SD cards. Don't buy MMC-they're about 5x slower. The only limiting factor is the battery life, which is around 60-70 minutes (no zooming) so buy another battery! The Dimage Xt/g, with no limitation on movie length (besides memory) has recently been released. Damn.
Housing – Minolta/Sea and Sea marine case. Very good case but only rated to 30m. I've taken mine to 42m, with no creaking!
Strobe – Sea and Sea YS-25 DX slave. This is an excellent strobe for digital cameras, adjustable power level, can adapt for pre-flash set-ups and has a fibre-optic connector. Also has a diffuser which is very useful on night dives where even on low power the strobe fills the shots. Quick recharge. Sometimes overpowered though and TTL doesn't really exist for cheaper digitals... make sure you know how many pre-flashes your camera uses and set the on switch that number-the Dimage X uses a setting of '2'.
Tray – Sea and Sea tray
Arm – Sea and Sea jointed snap-loc arm. Very versatile but difficult to put back together underwater when snapped apart. Swapped for my Sea arm IV.
Lens Adpator – Sea and Sea adaptor for Minolta Dimage. This great gizmo sits in front of the camera (attached to the tray) and has a mount in front of the camera's internal flash into which a fibre optic cable can be connected to the slave strobe. Also, this unit allows connection of the Sea and Sea range of bayonet (MotorMarine) lens range-very useful for me! This, like most digital cameras, needs you to zoom a little bit (when you have a lens on it) in order to eliminate the lens adaptor-this reduces the battery life significantly...
Optional bolt-ons – for night dives I strap my Treble-light to the underside. This allows one handed operation and provides light for video. Now have a 16mm Wide angle lens (91 degree)-which is excellent and i use it all the time.
If you want to borrow either of my cameras, just ask me and I'm usually kind/stupid enough to lend them out, talk to me in the pub or email me: paul(at)uwscotland.com (replace (at) with @)
35mm Stills 2:
I'm currently looking after the club's camera-the Nikonos III.
This thing is an antique, but a lot of the old club photos were taken with this.
Fancy free and mechanical, it's a reliable and sturdy camera that's seen better
days. There's a crack in the casing now, i'm pretty sure, or the lens is letting
water in. I've only taken it underwater once, and it was a pleasure to use.
It has no strobe (tho it has a connector we can't take off...) but has a wide
angle lens that can be bolted on underwater.
Photo Links:
Utah diving photo tutorial - here
Alan James photography - here
Ben's photos - here
For servicing I can recommend KMR Photo, very very helpful. Tell them I sent
you. They service pretty much all camera kit but obviously specialise in underwater
stuff. 08456588805 or 01621868805.