I'm considering going on my fifth submarine ride soon, maybe next month. Last time, I only had my iPhone with me (original model), so I had really minimal photos: Atlantis Submarine by Deirdre Saoirse Moen, on Flickr Because it's a submarine, I don't need a housing. I was considering taking both cameras, keeping one lens on each. Question is: what would help me get the best shots? Not just lens-wise, but anything else I should have along?
I can't answer your question but I can react - Wow! I'm not sure how I'd feel about a submarine - if it was modern and not like the one in Das Boot, I'd probably be OK. ;-) Can't wait to see your photos and hope you get some helpful advice. I wonder if some kind of filter might help with the reflections from the windows..I mean portholes?
I can't give you any advice, but I've long been fascinated by submarines. I'd love to see your photos. All the best, Colin
It's a low light environment, and you have glass in front of you. So, you can't realistically use a flash... I'd say, take the best low-light lens you have. A wide angle for the big shoals, and a short telephoto for isolating individual interesting things. I'm not sure a long telephoto would be much use unless the water was much clearer. I suppose the techniques would be similar to shooting in a large aquarium. You could always find one and practise there!
Atlantis Submarines does the submarine adventures in a bunch of places and they have their own purpose-built passenger subs. I did one of their early rides in the Bahamas about 20 years ago (they no longer operate there), then Grand Cayman, Oahu, and Maui. I love it -- it's really interesting to see what's down there. Oahu's kind of depressing because the harbor was dredged years ago, but with Grand Cayman, we went to the edge of the continental shelf and watched the sand fall off. On a safety thing, they're battery operated with positive pressure, so if they lose power, they'll bob back up to the surface. They can go down to 150 feet, but the one on Maui only went to 134 as that's how deep it was there. It's a low-light environment with literally no red, so colors come out somewhat strange. I was thinking of taking a polarizing filter with me, but that may make things worse rather than better. Still, worth a try, right? Atlantis Submarine by Deirdre Saoirse Moen, on Flickr
There's also the vibration of the submarine. It's not huge, but long exposures are really out. I was thinking of the 20mm pancake of course, and maybe a 45-50mm, but then I was thinking maybe I wanted something more like 85-100mm. Dunno. I was planning on going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium before then, possibly this weekend. I haven't used my GF1 there yet, and, as you say, it is the closest practice environment.
Now that I've been thinking about underwater, I'm reminded how much I used to love snorkeling. Haven't been in ages. It seems that buying a good point and shoot with an underwater housing is approaching the cost of getting an MFT underwater housing, so why not just go that route? I have an E-PL1 and a GF1, so I need to decide which I'm going to use for this. Catch is, the EPL-1 housing from Olympus assumes the kit lens, which I've sold....
