|
Diving Equipment
Click on the image on the left to skip to our range of Underwater Equipment
When it comes to buying underwater photographic equipment it is best to buy new rather than second hand. This ensures that you are not taking on kit that you don't know the history of and therefore eliminates the chance of inheriting someone else's past problems.
Most underwater cameras now come as an inner camera with a housing, rather than a complete unit and many manufacturers have realised the huge market in underwater equipment and now make housings for a large selection of their digital cameras. There are also independent companies such as Ikelite and Ewa-Marine who make housings for a large cross section of digital, SLR and compact cameras.
With regards to digital cameras, Fuji, Pentax and Olympus all make housings to go with some of their digital cameras and Olympus have even introduced shooting modes on their digital cameras such as 'underwater wide and 'underwater macro' to eliminate the need for extra lenses.
In our experience, most divers nowadays prefer having the separate camera so that they can use it independently on land thus increasing the versatility and therefore usage of the camera which enables them to justify the cost.
The deeper the dive, the greater need for some sort of extra lighting. Water is obviously more dense than air so the deeper you dive the less natural light can get through thus decreasing the visability. It is therefore advisable to get some sort of strobe lighting. Sealife do a great universal flash and Ikelite and Epoque do some brilliant strobe kits. We would be more than happy to advise on the correct and best one for your camera equipment plus any attachments you may need.
We often get calls from people whose images are very bue and want to know if there is anything that we can do or recommend to improve them so another item you may wish to consider purchasing is a colour correction filter which is used to reduce the colour cast of the water you are diving in. The first colour to be lost in an image underwater is red so you need to replace that with a filter. If you are diving in cyan/blue water i.e Tropical water, you will need to use a CY (orange) filter to make the water look clearer. If you are diving in green water i.e. the Mediterranean or the Atlantic, you will need to use a GR (magenta) filter to make the water look clearer. We sell UR/Pro Filters in 46mm and 67mm to fit our Olympus underwater Housings but other sizes are available. Just give us a call for a price and availability. If you feel that this is still not enough, your next step would be to consider an external flash or strobe.
Happy diving!
The Underwater Photographer's Code Of Conduct
Most underwater photographers are concerned to protect the environment in which they take their pictures and to avoid stressing marine creatures when they are taking their images. This is good for the marine environment and leads to better photographs.This Code sets out good practices for anyone who aspires to take pictures or video underwater. Many aspects are also applicable to the general sports diver.
No-one should attempt to take pictures underwater until they are a competent diver. Novices thrashing about with their hands and fins while conscious only of the image in their viewfinder can do untold damage.
Every diver, including photographers, should ensure that gauges, octopus regulators, torches and other equipment are secured so they do not trail over reefs or cause other damage.
Underwater photographers should possess superior precision buoyancy control skills to avoid damaging the fragile marine environment and its creatures. Even experienced divers and those modelling for photographers should ensure that careless or excessively vigorous fin strokes and arm movements do not damage coral or smother it in clouds of sand. A finger placed carefully on a bare patch of rock can do much to replace other, more damaging movement.
Photographers should carefully explore the area in which they are diving and find subjects that are accessible without damage to them or other organisms.
Care should be taken to avoid stressing a subject. Some fish are clearly unhappy when a camera invades their "personal space" or when pictures are taken using flash or
lights. Others are unconcerned. They make the best subjects.
Divers and photographers should never kill marine life to attract other types to them or to create a photographic opportunity, such as feeding sea urchins to wrasse. Creatures should never be handled or irritated to create a reaction and sedentary ones should never be placed on an alien background, which may result in them being killed.
Queuing to photograph a rare subject, such as a seahorse, should be avoided because of the harm repeated bursts of bright light may do to their eyesight. For the same reason, the number of shots of an individual subject should be kept to the minimum.
Clown fish and other territorial animals are popular subjects but some become highly stressed when a photographer moves in to take a picture. If a subject exhibits abnormal behaviour move on to find another.
Night diving requires exceptional care because it is much more difficult to be aware of your surroundings. Strong torch beams or lights can dazzle fish and cause them to harm themselves by blundering into surrounding coral or rocks. Others are confused and disturbed if torch beams or lights are pointed directly at them. Be prepared to keep bright lights off subjects that exhibit stressed behaviour, using only the edge of the beam to minimise disturbance.
Care should be taken when photographing in caves, caverns or even inside wrecks because exhaust bubbles can become trapped under overhangs killing marine life. Even small pockets of trapped air which allow divers to talk to each other inside them can be lethal for marine life.
The image in the viewfinder can be very compelling. Photographers should remain conscious of their position and of the marine life around them at all times. In sensitive areas, they should avoid moving around on the bottom with their mask pressed up against the camera viewfinder.
Areas of extensive damage or pollution should be reported to the appropriate authorities.Today, when so many more divers are taking up underwater photography, both still and video, it is essential that the preservation of the fragile marine environment and its creatures is paramount and that this Code of Good Practice is carefully observed.
This Code of Conduct has been introduced by the Marine Conservation Society with funding from PADI's Project AWARE project. It is endorsed by the British Society of Underwater Photographers, the Northern Underwater
Photographic Group and the Bristol Underwater Photography Group as well as being supported by the Sub-Aqua Association, the British Sub-Aqua Club and the Scottish Sub-Aqua Club.
Click here to view our range of underwater photographic equipment
|
