Digital Underwater Photography

Digital photography has completely taken over the traditional film-based photography. The still increasing popularity and the continuous innovations offer the consumer more digital camera for less money. In the world of underwater photography also show the same trend. The earliest simple 'digital' underwater housings with limited depth rating have paved the way for professional models with a broad choice of accessories.

Pros and Cons

The most obvious differences between analogue and digital cameras turn out to be a huge benefit when looking at these with underwater photography in mind. The LCD screen, for starters, allows the diver to directly check whether the composition is right and the shots are useable. Secondly, the storage capacity: instead of being limited to a film with only 36, a diver now can take hundreds of photos.

The automatic settings of focus, zoom, aperture, shutter speed etc. help the novice underwater photographer to take shots without having to concentrate too much. Many cameras do offer possibilities to fully control all settings manually so that, as the experience increases, everything can be adjusted to the diver's own artistic requirements.

Digital cameras do have a number of downsides. Something that can be quite annoying is the so called 'shutter lag': the time between pressing the release and the moment the photo gets taken. For some models this can last more than a second, which puts quite a strain on the photographer's predictive abilities. Another issue is the battery use: a fresh set of batteries at the start of each dive is required for many cameras.

Although both issues have been greatly reduced in recent years, not all cameras are yet up to the high expectations of an underwater photographer.

Required equipment

Of course the camera is the first step. Many divers will already own a digital camera for common use, but it must fit a number of criteria for use under water.

It is recommended to choose a model that can be adjusted manually as this is many times required when using accessories like strobes, lenses and filters. The smallest cameras are also less interesting for a diver, as their small control buttons are difficult to use (especially when wearing gloves). And finally the power consumption should enable the diver to shoot a complete dive while using the LCD screen and flash.

Second step underwater housing. Many camera manufacturers, like Olympus, Canon and Sony, produce their own housings for their cameras. But there are also many specialized housing companies like Ikelite, Sea&Sea, Light&Motion, Zillion and others. Focus for the housing should be on the usability: can all functions of the camera be controlled? A secondary, more personal, criterion is how is handles based on weight, handles, dials etc.

The price of suitable digital camera for underwater use is around 300 Euro/USD. Underwater housings by camera manufacturers will be around the same price, but those produced by specialized companies cost well over a 1000 Euro/USD.

As a first step in underwater photography, camera and housing are sufficient. For better and artistic results, additional strobes, lenses and other accessories are required. For these there is a huge available choice, specialized for digital cameras.

Summary

Digital cameras are excellent to help the novice photographer to quickly learn and get nice results. With today's market, there are also sufficient products available to suit the needs of hardened professional.

Check out the Tips section for much more information on the subject of digital underwater photography.

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