⌛ Snorkeling Photos Near Maayong Tubig Marine Sanctuary

The water is a little rough with everything coming out of the North right now, but it is still managable although the longshore current is much stronger than usual. I had to go out for a short snorkel today to test the new camera and dive housing to make sure everything is working okay. The photo I am attaching, and the group that follows, today was shot with a Sony DSC-N2 (US$400) at the fine resolution using the Marine Pack Dive Housing (similar to most on the market, rated to @40m/132ft; US$200). This is the first in many series of tests using the two new "dive" cameras I have. The other to be featured in the future is the GoPro Digital Hero.


The images do come out pretty clean, but they are not perfect. I have run most of these through a Photoshop process to enhance the image. Sony makes a pretty good underwater filter which take sthe blue out of the underwater shots, but the are very hard to find at the moment. I checked several Sonystyle stores in the US and they were all out of them as well as the Sony Online store. They said they are backordered, but could not provide me with an expected date of shipment

Hope you enjoy these photos. All were shot with no additional equipment... just creative use of the zoom features, a few gulps of saltwater and a couple of bodyslams into the coral when the bigger wave sets caught me by surprise...

 

Coral, Fish and Fun - Maayong Tubig Marine Sanctuary

Today's continuing series of photos while I play with the new camera.

 

Sony DSC-N2 & Dive Housing - AWESOME

The pictures tell the story best, but this is the first set of shots I took using the camera in the water... very easy to use and decent set of features in the dive case. Not full featured, but enough. I would recommend this for a great all around camera to use for diving unless oyu are a true professional or cost is not an object. The quality of image and size will allow you to basically use them anyway you want... not jsut downsizing them as I have done here for the internet.

 

Camera Versatility At Work... more photos

These photos should give you an idea of this cameras real versatility in the water... the photos are not perfect, but they give you a great all around perspective of the cameras capabilities based on the local conditions here...

The first photo is one that doesn't seem all that exceptional at first until you know what it is... if you have ever been in the edge of the surf around here (less then 2 feet of water)... you have noticed the schools of bullet like fish sailing around at your feet. I basically snorkeled in shallow before standing up and managed to get a few shots in... the camera really stopped the action well in capturing the fish, but I would not recommend the camera for this purpose specifically. I shot about 5-10 shots in the process and only had about a 50% success rate with the results... I was using the camera in forced flash mode (you have to preset it for use with the dive housing unless you opt for the additional external dive lighting they offer) and experienced a problem with backscatter due to so much suspended debris in the surf zone. Not a problem for me, but it is if you want a camera that can handle the transition from surf to depth...

Photo 2 shows jus thow well the camera captures color... the fiush was basically about 5-9 feet away from me and the camera was exceptional at pulling th ecolor out... I think the flash woudl have been even better had there been less debris in the water causing backscatter.

Photos 3 and 4 jsut give you a feel for the overall versatility of the basic camera wit hno frills form the wide angle to the close up on the anemone.

Photo 5 was fun to capture ,but shrinking it for the net really lost the true nature of what I was capturing... if you look slightly lef to fcenter in te coral you wil notice a small crab of some sorts that was trying its best to get away... this was pretty close to a full zom, thiink it was about a 5.0 out of 6.0.. the fish in the upper left should help put it into perspective for you as they are basically about 1-2 inches long.

 

Great Camera On Land as Well

These are a few of the many photos I have shot on land testing the camera under a variety of conditions that seem to make it a great value in my book...

Photo 1 is Manila Bay right by the US Embassy compound at about 0700 in the morning and there seem to be now real issues with the image captured... realistic representation of the conditions.

Photo 2 is walking across the tarmac at the domestic airport ot board my Cebu Pacific flight to Dumaguete... this was about 1215 or so and the camera seemed to deal great in the light conditions with no adjustments on my part.

Photo 3 is in the plane as we head for th erunway. Yes, some natural light is coming in through the windows, but the majority is the flourescent fixtures in the plane.

Photo 4 and 5 are nothing special, but they were shot in the dive housing as I refuse to take the camera out until after a freshwater rinse and drying.... The housing is great as it features and optical glass shooting window instead o fth echeap plastic ports you find in many aftermarket low-end systems and the camera "drybag" options.

I personally think the camera is pretty good and well worth the investment... you can get a pretty good deal on everything with some careful shopping. I paid about $750-800 for the camera, dive housing, spare battery, 2 GB memory stick and gps receiver unit. I won't discuss the GPS reciever and its function, but it is an awesome addition to the package and might b esomething that you see here in the future if we can find a way to implement the technology into the site.

Not sure if the deals the same worldwide, but in the US if you buy the camera and register online you can get 15% off of the accessories if you order form the Sony Online store. This make s a big difference when you are talking about $350-$400 in add-ons... more then pays for shipping and then some.

 

Very nice shots, you captured some good underwater ones.