Going to Cosumel, mexico tips?

[ShoelessOne]

yep, im leaving october 24th... i am very excited. Im only 17 so its kinda exciting for me, not that it wouldnt be for anybody else. Anyway, i am (semi) obviously going diving while there, and i just bought a canon A40. I am also planning on buying cannons underwater camera houseing and would like to hear from anybody who has taken pictures with the house/knows anything about underwater photography. Does anybody have any tips? is the 170 on the camera housing worth it, assuming thats about 2 weeks worth of work for me. What mode do you take your pictures underwater in? manual, program, auto? flash on or off? shutter speed? i am assuming a tripod underwater is out, so i am assuming a semi quick shutter speed, but will program work? and also, how about exposer and white balancing settings?

thank you VERY much for your wisdom,
Shoeless

[rcpage]

Hi
Go to http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/uwphoto/index-e.html My advice is print this out and take it with you then you can try see how it goes, read and try again to refine the results.

I was in Coz for two weeks in August. First thing is my pictures were primarily blue because I used the auto setting. The problem is you must use a manual mode so that the flash fires EVERY time. That way you get colour. But you must get in close as the flash is weedy and the water soaks up the light so that after 6 feet or so it is blue again! Go and see my photos on www.pbase.com/scubadiver and see what I mean. Most are, in my opinion, useless except that they serve as a memory of the occasion.

What you really need is on http://www.inon.co.jp/INON_TOP.shtml but too late to get it now.

You must have a spare battery with you! Try www.batterybarn.com who sell a 700mah high capacity one! You must rinse the camera housing after use. I found one battery managed two dives if I switched the camera off between dives. If I left it in auto power down mode it managed a dive and a half. If you have two batteries then you can use one per dive. I don't know if your camera supports it like the S40 but if it does and you can afford it get a 340MB microdrive fast - best value is purchasing through an auction on ww.ebay.com The microdrive will let you take 175 photos underwater at maximum resolution. Otherwise makes sure you buy a 128Mb card.

Oh! take a nylon strap from an old kitbag that has clip hooks at both ends. You can use this to tether the camera housing to your BCD. The housing is positively bouyant. If you put the camera strap round your neck before inserting your regulator then the regulator hose will stop it floating away . If you do it afterwards you will lose your camera unless it is hooked to your BCD. Surface shots are great!

Take your camera manual with you so you can read the instructions and try different manual combinations.

You MUST make sure that your insurance cover does not exclude water damage to your camera. If it does get additional cover or face the risk of owning a hunk of expensive useless metal.

Keep the housing wrapped in a towel to protect it from damage.

Finally, some Coz tips: for the cheapest car deal go to Aguila (on the seafront near the small jetty at the town centre) you should get a VW for $30 with full insurance.

Please do not hire a scooter. They are lethal. I saw an accident happen and was first at the scene and gave first aid etc. Injuries to her legs, back, shoulder, face, profuse bleeding and then she went into shock but was OK once put into the recovery position. She survived. If you saw what I saw and how it wrecked her vacation you would never contemplate hiring one of these. She was lucky as the accident happended at about 4-5mph. If she had been going faster then the story would have been different.

You must go to Rock'n Java for the best deal on food and it's all cooked in purified water! It's near the Naval Base. On pbase see Vol 4 Picture 112-1223. The owner's wife is an American and runs the Cozumel Animal Sanctuary. Her recipes are a coalescence of American and Mexican all done with fresh ingredients. Outstanding! We met her by accident at our villa when she was sheltering from the rain with a pet cockatoo! She did not mention her restaurant - I only found out from her by accident at a subsequent meeting!

Next remember that the divemasters are tour guides. Do not rely on them to save you in a dangerous situation! You and your buddy are on your own with 9 out of 10 of them. Don't be fooled by their bonhomie. The Cedral Wall is great as is Palancar Wall.

Take your USB cable and blank CD rom(s) with you. You can download and burn a CD Rom at only one Internet cafe on the island. To get to the Cafe go to Deep Blue Dive and then take the road back down to the seafront and the Internet Cafe can be found by taking the first left and it is on the left. It's called The Crew Office. On pbase see Vol 4 Picture 112-1227. Photo 112-1226 is the manager. By the way I recommend Deep Blue Dive if you haven't selected anywhere yet. Matt will do you a deal if you do a reasonable number of dives with him. Ask for the bigger 100 tank for your first dives because your air consumption will be high until you have done a few dives.

Have a great vacation. The water is so clear! Email me direct if you want more on how best to get the best out of Cozumel.

[ShoelessOne]

well, all i can really say is, wow! Thank you so very much for taking the time to write that, i am printing out the link u gave me AND your entire post. thanks alot.

thanks alot again (:),
KM

[rcpage]

Hi
Check this gentleman's photos also:
http://www.pbase.com/jimmyv/cozumel_april_02

His advice was:

"I should have upped the ISO from Auto to at least 200, maybe 400, and set the camera to use a fast (1/500 or so) shutter speed. I also should have tried working with the flash more. It would not only have stopped the motion, it would have given me better colors. I think the trick there like with macro photos would have been to set the flash down a stop."

His photos are taken at the surface hence the broader colour spectrum. You can tell because the sunlight hits the fish from a side angle whereas a flash would hit the fish from the front. FLASH on every shot below 2-3 metres is in retrospect what I would do.

[ShoelessOne]

Well, do u now much about the A40 or at least the quality of the A40 and the underwater housing that cannon makes? Will i be able to take decent pictures? For instance, assuming that i use the recommended settings (flash on, 1600x1200, 1/500 shutter speed, 200 ISO) will my pictures be viewable and not completly ugly? i ask because i have not yet bought the camera housing yet, and i am a 17 year old kid and that 200 bucks will put me back a month or so given that i am currently saving the majority of money for a car (required by my parents, if it was up to me i would be saving all of my pay checks for a 5 megapixel camera+better housing+external strobe... but oh well). For instance, the link in your second post on this thread, will my pictures be somewhat similar in quality in there. ASSUMING I do everything correctly?

thanks,, once again, for all your time,
Kevin

p.s. im looking for a "yes, your pictures have the potention to be excelent, even with the mid range consumer camera that u have" :-)

[rcpage]

Yes you will be able to get BETTER shots than me!

The U/W housing is worth it. After paying so much to get there the memories you can bring back in a photo help to 'extend' the vacation enormously. Go for it. Check out www.17photo.com to see if they can do you a good price?

The resolution will, obviously not be so high but that only means you cannot crop so much after the photo has been taken and the maximum size of the printed photo will not be as large. However, you will doubtless be sticking to 10x8 inches prints in most cases so the pictures will be visually equivalent.

The advantages are you will be able to store more pictures on a CF card or microdrive. You will also be able to learn from the mistakes of those who have gone before you! So take the user manual and read the Canon U/W Photography Guide and enjoy.

Guess what you can drink alcohol at 17 in Cozumel!! My son is 16yrs 8 months and was pleased to discover that. He also bought a very nice solid silver money clip for 8 dollars - at the time he was unsure about getting it but on his return he was glad he had.

I hope you have the good fortune to spot a nurse shark or similar!