Comments on: Titles Should Mean Something…

By: pummkin

pummkin — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:48:44 +0000

Hmmmm…….it’s not a question of depth but of the availability of sunlight. You lose your reds in the first 5 metres, then orange, then yellow & so on as you descend deeper. A strobe is only good as far as it illuminates so it depends on the ‘throw’ and how wide the throw is. I normally take most of my wide angle shots without any strobe & the only time I use it is when I’m shooting something in the crevices or when I’m shooting at 25 metres depth (seldom). You might want to upgrade to a camera that allows you to do a Custom White Balance reading once you get the hang of shooting underwater. It would change your perception of colours!!!

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:13:00 +0000

Hi Pummkin. Good question. I see what you are getting at.

Can I ask another question instead: How deep can one go before a strobe becomes necessary? Assuming good visibility of course.

By: pummkin

pummkin — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:22:13 +0000

My goodness, so sorry to hear of your wife’s loss. We are living in a mad world.

If the camera is sending pre-flashes, there are two things you could do:-

1) Turn off Red Eye Reduction mode.
2) Set your strobe setting to ignore the preflash which is what mine does. You must set your flash on your camera to force flash and not Auto Flash.

How deep do you plan to take it to?

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:53:26 +0000

Wow, yesterday must have been a bad day for cameras, as my wife got her Lumix pickpocketed out from her handbag.

Sorry to hear about your loss. We have the 4040, and love the f1.8 lens. IIRC, the award winning Magnum photographer, Alex Majoli, uses a 5050.

Thanks for your reply. Does it make a difference if the camera is sending out pre-flashes with the flash? The IXUS has very limited manual control.

By: pummkin

pummkin — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:07:39 +0000

Hi Joe!

You would need to get a fibre optic sync cable to attach to the diffuser plate of the housing. I had to cut a black-out piece to cover the diffuser piece on the housing completely & punch a little hole to attach my cable. Having said this, the strobe is almost redundant because I hardly use flash. It’s reserved for shots under rocks & crevices.

My C5050z just got stolen & it was a big drama at the office yesterday when the police came to investigate. It was an insider job. Sigh….

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:01:06 +0000

Hi pummkin. I read the NST article, and recognised your nickname from PhotoMalaysia.

I read with interest that you used the 5050Z. My wife just bought me a Canon P&S (IXUS 80) with an underwater housing. Can I ask how you would get a strobe to synch with the camera? I ask because it occurred to me that you might have faced the same issue with the 5050Z. Presumably you did not use a cable to synch the flash.

By: pummkin

pummkin — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:42:38 +0000

Heheheheh! Send me a copy please!!! I wanna read about this mama!!

By: jazzmint

jazzmint — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:37:20 +0000

wahh…lemme go read the article ;).

i was featured too during mother’s day kekeke