Photography Workshop Thread

[captain_awesome]

thanks jono, nice to hear from someone thats just had something published(by the way sick shot)

[JONNO313]

thanks jono, nice to hear from someone thats just had something published(by the way sick shot)

Cheers boss.

[captain_awesome]

I'm in the process of budgeting/saving for a housing and wanted to get everyones opinions on what i've come up with

Option A) Get an Auquatech d-35, preferably 2nd hand, but if nothing shows up buy a new one and get 1 port then live with not having a pistol grip until I have enough for one. I'd get either a 35mm f/2.0 ($350ish) or a 50mm f/1.8 (under $100) and get an LP-5 lens, but this would cost at lest $1500 (for the new option) and being jobless (still) means it would be a few months after christmas before i had the $

Option B) Get a liquid eye entry level housing for around $1,100, comes with pistol grip and dome port but has no controls, so it would be use AV and set the aperture accordingly, get either of the above lenses which gives me plenty of stops so light shouldn't be as much of an issue

Option C) put out a general WTB for a housing under $1300 and hope something comes up

and Finally
Option D) A Lightspeed, seem fairly good value, carbon, pistol grip, controls, back mounting with clips (like the Aquatech) thus giving equal pressure across the o-ring

So what do you all think, which option would be best?

[surfphotos]

Option E) Join the surfphotographers forum.. there is currently several housings (and cams) in the for sale section....

[captain_awesome]

I have a log in but I'm not a paying member so I can't see anything in the member section, and paying for it doesn't appeal to me, obviously the housing is 4 or so months away but what price are they on average?

[bodyboarder_andrew]

Option D) A Lightspeed, seem fairly good value, carbon, pistol grip, controls, back mounting with clips (like the Aquatech) thus giving equal pressure across the o-ring

I went with this option and has so far served me well, came with 50mm and tokina 10-17mm fisheye port for 900. Only downside for my housing is no control over the shutter/aperture dial, but I'm sure you can request that option. I just whack it into shutter priority at 1/400s and everything is just peachy

[captain_awesome]

starting to learn towards that option, has the price advantage, Australian and the clips instead of wingnuts

[robbo911]

I just whack it into shutter priority at 1/400s and everything is just peachy

1/400 s is a decent shutter speed, for like 6 oclock in the morning! At like 9 you should be getting shutter speeds of like 1/1000 s at least on like iso 200 and like 5.6-7.1 aperture. Setting it to TV at 1/400 will not only mean that when the light starts to pick up the camera starts setting apertures of like f16 and then youll get all the dust particles and spots that may be on your sensor really evident, photos look horrible as well, but also that is not really sufficient to stop action, surf photography is usually SS > 1/800 With such a narrow(deep) depth of field any imperfections on your port (scratches/water drops) also revealed. So what i did/do with my mates 30d, is set it to Manual, set the aperture to like 7.1 and get a reading of the conditions your shooting and set the shutter speed till its a good exposure. Then swap to TV and use that shutter speed and you'll be sweet.

Captain: Joining SPU was one of the best ways ive ever spent 25 bucks. A wealth of knowledge and heaps of inspiration from some of the best amateur and pro photogs, + the classified section which has heaps of bargains.

If i were you id go the aquatech or something with at least shutter speed and aperture dial. You dont realise how much you need to use them until theyr stuck behind an inch of fibreglass

[captain_awesome]

hey rob, what does your friend (and you) do for focus the lens?

Also what would be the best cheap ($400 and under) lens for a housing for closer up action shots

[Comptee]

any manual focus fisheye that is fairly sharp goes well.

set the focus to infinity as you don't need it really.
tape it up and wolllah!


also, SPU is amazing for information, if there was a Wikipedia for photography/videography, that site has it all!

[captain_awesome]

ok, any you'd recommend?

[robbo911]

anything really wide, set it to manual focus. Before you head out into the water set the focus between like 3m and 10m (or auto focus on something that distance away) switch to MF, then your sweet. Since your shooting at around f7 and due to the fisheyes perspective pretty much everything will be in focus that way. As for other lenses, 50mm 1.8 or better 50mm 1.4 (like 250-300 second hand, also an insanely sharp lens need to get myself another) is sweet for shooting from a channel. If you got that and a tokina 10-17 for your 30d youd be pretty set

[captain_awesome]

got my first photo published in Sunshine Coast Surf MAgazine, it's just a free mag but i'm stoked none the less. I'll post a scan up soon

[captain_awesome]

This be it

go to http://sunshinecoastsurf.com.au/ in the next few days and it should be up for online viewing

[cammobreed]

congrats dude!