RX100 with Sea&Sea YS-D1 in Croatia Pag

We were diving in Croatia in october. It was cold in wet suit. These are my best pics. If You like them check out my summer pics ( I uploaded them 3 days ago).

Some constructive comments.

Consider shooting a bit wider and cropping the edges of the frame to reduce or eliminate the blurring and CA on the edges.

I'm wondering why all but the last image were shot at the same zoom setting?

Consider shooting stopped down a bit more to get more of the subjects in focus.   That probably means shooting in Manual mode, since otherwise you end up with slow shutter speeds.

I recently did a lot of diving with my RX100 II (Roatan).   I should have ventured into Manual mode but got lazy.   I started shooting in Aperture priority, but ended up with such low shutter speeds that most shots were blurry.  I ended up switching to Shutter priority and setting a minimum speed of 1/125th to try to eliminate the blur.  (Prior to that I was getting shots at 1/30th).

What settings were you using on the flash?   I was finding hot spots and overexposure using TTL at 0 and ended up setting -2/3rds of a stop on the flash most of the time.

Thank You for your reply. Since this is my first year to try UW photographay , I tried to use the Ikelite case buttons as less as possible. I dialed the f and shutter speed in the surface ( in manual ) and then I changed the flash force for the best results ( in manual). This was a try and error method. It worked quite well . For some dives I put on a Close up lens to make some macro -like shots. This might explain the edge CA and softness.

Did you shoot in RAW mode?

What software, if any, did you post-process in?

I shoot in raw and I use Ligthroom. Do You find the pics oversaturated?

No, though I think you can get away with a lot of saturation for underwater subjects.

I think the lighting is a bit bright in places and could be toned back.  I like pulling highlights down and using the gradient tool to tone done near flash while leaving backgrounds alone.

I also find that using the Blacks slider carefully can make the water look a lot clearer.

Thank You for for the reply!

Here's an example of an RX100 shot that I had to pull highlights down all the way to salvage detail.

http://www.cjcphoto.net/roatan2015/misc/images/page90.html

The strobes really lit up those feather dusters to where they looked like a white mess at first.

Nice shot! What mode do you use on the rx100 and on the flash? What iso do you use?

Thank You!

Balazs

Click on the image and DPReview will show the settings used. f5, ISO 400, 1/160th.

I was shooting in shutter priority to have minimally good shutter speed.  (Above water I shoot mostly in aperture priority).  I started in Aperture priority, but the RX100 was going down to 1/30th and I was getting a lot of blurry shots.

I dialed the camera back -0.3, plus dialed the strobes back typically -2/3 stop in TTL mode.  For this mostly-white subject I should have dialed the strobes back more.  Live and learn.

I had to post-process every shot I took, changing color temp, black point, saturation and typically cutting highlights while boosting shadows.  Sometimes adding some sharpening as well.  Lightroom 5.7.  I like the Sony sensor, and the lens isn't bad, but the rest of the camera is wanting for someone used to shooting a Nikon DSLR.  Shutter lag was better than my other point-n-shoots, but nothing like a DSLR.  Autofocus was my biggest issue, with several nice shots messed up due to the camera focusing in the background.  The menu system really bugs me, but it might be OK once I set up My Menu to have settings I need a lot.

Doesn't really matter as I now have a housing for my D810, so I may not use the RX100 underwater any more.

The RX100 is my first underwater camera. It produces quite similar pics at the daytime as my D700 . My wife uses it when we are on a trip. I really like its colors .

The only problem with the Sony is its slow flash recycle time ( even I dialed -2E for the flash ).

In Ligtroom I start with WB. Then I pull the blacks to the left ( with the ALT key pressed down ). I then I go to whites to the right ( alt key pressed ) as far as it shows bolwn areas. I then light up shadows for my taste, pull back little lights. I sharpen a little, add the sony's lens profile.

Balazs

I think I do mostly similar, but probably don't push to the right as much.

And I definitely have made good use of the Graduated Filter to tame bright flash foregrounds.

As far as Sony RX100 and D700, I think the Sony sensor may be better, besides the greater resolution.  It does have a pretty good amount of dynamic range, though I was often surprised by my D700's ability to pull down highlights, plus pull up shadows.

Thank You Craig!

Balazs