Underwater Photography

[stapo49]

Hi All, just a general question in relation to underwater photography. If you buy a camera such as an Olympus tough TG5 do you still need a separate housing to take decent images/ video? Does it depend on the depth you are driving? Cheers.

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[waday]

I personally love the Olympus tough cameras. I’ve been using them for about 7 years now. Highly recommend them.

That said, I think they’re only good to a certain depth, but cannot recall at the moment. Not sure if they have a separate housing available or not. Worked great for me snorkeling, pool snaps with family, and Niagara Falls on the boat at the bottom.

I’ll try to post a sample pic from snorkeling tomorrow.

 

[stapo49]

I personally love the Olympus tough cameras. I’ve been using them for about 7 years now. Highly recommend them.

That said, I think they’re only good to a certain depth, but cannot recall at the moment. Not sure if they have a separate housing available or not. Worked great for me snorkeling, pool snaps with family, and Niagara Falls on the boat at the bottom.

I’ll try to post a sample pic from snorkeling tomorrow.

Thanks for the response. Based on what you are saying you can just jump in the water and take decent photos with the camera as is? The reason I ask is most of the reviews have them in a housing with some sort of lense attachment/ light set up. Didn't want to buy the camera and then find out I needed to buy accessories as well just to get some good images/video. Cheers.

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[dunfly]

I have not used this particular camera, but have used similar Panasonic cameras when snorkeling. They do not require a separate housing. The TG5 is rated to 50 feet, unless you are scuba diving below that level or free diving to greater depths, it should be fine. Just make sure the seals are clean each time you close the door. I lost one because a small grit of sand got lodged in the seal when I closed it which allowed water in. At shallow depths (up to 15 feet) you will not need lighting as long as it is sunny out and the water is clear. Underwater lighting is ridiculously expensive so I would forget that option. These underwater point and shoots take amazingly good photos and video for the price, but action shots can be an issue for fast moving fish (or penquins in my case) due to slow shutter speeds.

 

[waday]

Based on what you are saying you can just jump in the water and take decent photos with the camera as is? The reason I ask is most of the reviews have them in a housing with some sort of lense attachment/ light set up.

Well, yes and no. When underwater, the white balance is off.

For example, here's an unedited jpg:


Here's how I decided to edit it:


I edited a different one in color, but can't seem to find it at the moment. These are part of a hidden gallery, so please let me know if they do not show up.

Like @dunfly mentioned, the reason you see them with strobes and whatnot is because it's also very dark underwater at certain depths. I have had no issues when snorkeling or in a pool, because we were near the surface.

ETA: the wife and I are planning an anniversary trip to Hawaii. I will be purchasing a new Olympus Tough for this trip. On our honeymoon, I only took the Olympus Tough and a Canon P&S. I think the new Tough camera has RAW capability, which is pretty cool. I will probably do something similar this time around, two very small cameras, one for water and one for walking. No need to bog ourselves down with me carrying tons and tons of equipment and lenses.

 

[stapo49]

Thanks for the responses guys. I was thinking about something for snorkeling as well as getting some in water surfing shots plus other general water activities. So wont be going that deep.

We are in the middle of winter at the moment so I am planning in advance.

Having the ability to shoot raw on the Olympus would I imagine give more post processing options?

Hawaii is one place I would love to go. It looks beautiful. May be next year as we are doing Europe at end of year. As you mentioned much easier to take smaller cameras than lugging a DSLR around. Hope you guys have a great time [emoji4]

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[Ben Yew]

Hello all,
Here is a picture I clicked in the first attempt of mine in underwater photography.
I just jumped with my Nikon camera in the pool with a plastic bag and the results were good as the bag has dust and little bubbles but they created pretty good effects for my photograph.
I am a destination wedding photographer but this was my maternity shoot with this cute couple.

 

[waday]

Hello all,
Here is a picture I clicked in the first attempt of mine in underwater photography.
I just jumped with my Nikon camera in the pool with a plastic bag and the results were good as the bag has dust and little bubbles but they created pretty good effects for my photograph.
I am a destination wedding photographer but this was my maternity shoot with this cute couple.

Nice picture! Really neat. I don't think I'd trust a plastic bag while snorkeling or in the ocean, but for a planned shoot in a pool, very nice.

For shoots like this, I've also seen people use small fish aquariums with the camera pressed up to the glass/acrylic wall. Of course, it's not submersible, but for shots like this, it would probably work well. And, while the effect was nice in this shot, you'd get a clear shot.

 

[stapo49]

Hello all,
Here is a picture I clicked in the first attempt of mine in underwater photography.
I just jumped with my Nikon camera in the pool with a plastic bag and the results were good as the bag has dust and little bubbles but they created pretty good effects for my photograph.
I am a destination wedding photographer but this was my maternity shoot with this cute couple.

Wow. Great result. Nikon in a plastic bag. You are braver than me lol

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[waday]

@stapo49 , one additional comment. If/when you buy an underwater P&S, my suggestion is to go BOLD with colors.

One reason: it's really easy to find when you throw it into a travel bag/backpack when on the go.

The REAL reason (for me, anyways):

The wife and I decided to go on a canoe trip down a river. "Let's go, it'll be fun," her cousins say. "It's so easy, you just float," they say. Well, the water level was a little lower than anticipated (which was followed up by a slight rain the night before), and we hit a lot of riffles, rocks, and some rapids. Within 5 minutes of floating down the river, our canoe flipped after hitting a hidden rock, spilling my wife, me, and everything into the river. We were lucky that no one was hurt.

The camera fell into the water, as well. I didn't have a float on it, so it sunk like a rock.

The river was shallow enough at this point to stand despite the rushing water, and after the initial shock of entering the water, making sure the wife was ok, and collecting what we could, I immediately realized that the camera was in the water. I look down only to see the red strap floating upward in the current. The camera is a grey color, so it blended in with the rocks. Had it not been for the strap, the camera would have been gone.

Like I said, I'm going to purchase another for future trips, and this time, I'm going BOLD.

 

[stapo49]

@stapo49 , one additional comment. If/when you buy an underwater P&S, my suggestion is to go BOLD with colors.

One reason: it's really easy to find when you throw it into a travel bag/backpack when on the go.

The REAL reason (for me, anyways):

The wife and I decided to go on a canoe trip down a river. "Let's go, it'll be fun," her cousins say. "It's so easy, you just float," they say. Well, the water level was a little lower than anticipated (which was followed up by a slight rain the night before), and we hit a lot of riffles, rocks, and some rapids. Within 5 minutes of floating down the river, our canoe flipped after hitting a hidden rock, spilling my wife, me, and everything into the river. We were lucky that no one was hurt.

The camera fell into the water, as well. I didn't have a float on it, so it sunk like a rock.

The river was shallow enough at this point to stand despite the rushing water, and after the initial shock of entering the water, making sure the wife was ok, and collecting what we could, I immediately realized that the camera was in the water. I look down only to see the red strap floating upward in the current. The camera is a grey color, so it blended in with the rocks. Had it not been for the strap, the camera would have been gone.

Like I said, I'm going to purchase another for future trips, and this time, I'm going BOLD.

Bloody hell! You guys were lucky no one was hurt. Yes great idea about going with a bold colour. I was looking at various reviews and the TG5 seems to come out on top. Unfortunately in Australia the price at retail is around $500 to $600 Australian.



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[Ben Yew]

Hello all,
Here is a picture I clicked in the first attempt of mine in underwater photography.
I just jumped with my Nikon camera in the pool with a plastic bag and the results were good as the bag has dust and little bubbles but they created pretty good effects for my photograph.
I am a destination wedding photographer but this was my maternity shoot with this cute couple.

Nice picture! Really neat. I don't think I'd trust a plastic bag while snorkeling or in the ocean, but for a planned shoot in a pool, very nice.

For shoots like this, I've also seen people use small fish aquariums with the camera pressed up to the glass/acrylic wall. Of course, it's not submersible, but for shots like this, it would probably work well. And, while the effect was nice in this shot, you'd get a clear shot.

Yeah!! It goes for a quick shot but for snorkeling or in the ocean its, not at all a good idea.
Yeah, the aquarium shot is more preferable than to jump with a plastic bag like me.
Thanks by the way!

 

[Ben Yew]

Hello all,
Here is a picture I clicked in the first attempt of mine in underwater photography.
I just jumped with my Nikon camera in the pool with a plastic bag and the results were good as the bag has dust and little bubbles but they created pretty good effects for my photograph.
I am a destination wedding photographer but this was my maternity shoot with this cute couple.

Wow. Great result. Nikon in a plastic bag. You are braver than me lol

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Yeah certainly!
LOL

 

[stapo49]

The was also thinking about a water proof case for my Galaxy S9 +. It is supposedly water proof to a certain depth but dont think the salt water would agree with it hence the case. Any thoughts?

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[stapo49]

Since summer is almost here I finally decided to go with the Fujifilm XP130.

I decided against the Olympus TG5 as I didn't want to pay the A$599.

The XP130 doesn't have Raw capability and being a point and shoot probably not the best IQ but it's great fun sticking your camera under the water and in the sand without having to worry about!

I have attached a few images I took today. The water was a bit to rough to do any proper underwater stuff.