How to take pictures underwater with a mobile phone?

In addition to taking pictures when traveling, people sometimes take pictures in underwater environment. The following small series will tell you some tips for taking pictures and teach you to take pictures underwater.

The choice of shooting equipment can be roughly divided into these categories according to the size of CMOS.

① Quan Huafu SLR/micro-single: for example, Canon 5D series and Sony A7 series.

② High-quality card machine: for example, Sony RX 100 series.

③ Underwater cameras: such as Olympus TG series.

4 sports cameras: such as GoPro.

⑤ Mobile phone: For example, the one in your hand.

The Truth from "Crushing People at the Bottom": From (1)-> (5) The picture quality is declining step by step. The following are introduced one by one:

① Quan Huafu SLR, micro-single.

Let's start with the conclusion: if you are not a diver+photographer, this option can be ignored. You may wonder, since SLR/micro-single shot is the best, why should we ignore it? Because of the waterproof shell. A waterproof case of SLR and micro-single is tens of thousands of dollars (buy a waterproof case and don't send a camera! ), for example, when we were in Palau, the local accompanying photographer gave him a waterproof cover of up to 50,000 RMB. This case alone can work out how many cameras you can buy. In addition, it is bulky and complicated to operate.

There are also some waterproof covers that are relatively cheap, but will you really feel at ease if you put cameras and lenses worth tens of thousands of dollars in waterproof covers worth hundreds of dollars?

Note: SLR and micro-single refer to full-frame cameras here. It's not that I look down on the camera, but do you have the money to buy a waterproof case without changing the camera? So I skipped APS-C and M43.

△ These two pictures were taken by our underwater photographer with 5D3.

② Card machine

There are two mainstream choices here: Sony's RX 100 and Panasonic's LX 100. I only used Sony's RX 100m3 (that is, black card) to shoot, and I personally feel good.

Advantages: Except for the SLR, this is probably the best picture quality in the rest. Waterproof shell can be rented at an affordable price; In addition, there are cheap software waterproof packages, and the effect and experience are acceptable.

Disadvantages: because you have to wear a condom, you need to be very familiar with the operation of the camera, otherwise what effect can you talk about if you can't shoot it? (This shortcoming also applies to ①)

△ This photo was taken by our photographer with SonyRX 100m2+ waterproof case. At that time, the depth was about 15m, right?

△ I took this with SonyRX 100m3+ waterproof sleeve, and I can dive freely. The depth is estimated to be six or seven meters.

③ Underwater camera

What I know is the TG series of Olympus, most of which are rented. Now the latest model should be TG5. When we were in Palau, our companions rented TG3 and TG4.

Advantages: easy to use, it can be directly launched, and the operation experience is better than that of a camera with a shell.

Disadvantages: the picture quality is slightly worse (compared with the black card)

④ Motion camera

Mainly represented by GoPro, after all, it is waterproof and has complete surroundings.

Advantages: portable, easy to use and powerful accessories.

Disadvantages: wide angle, small sensor size, suitable for shooting video.

△ These two videos are taken from GoPro.

⑤ Mobile phone

RUKIDDINGME？ ! There are no advantages except a staff member, but there are many disadvantages, which are not recommended.

Summary:

Take snorkeling as an example: if you have

GoPro, then take it with you; If you have a black card, buy a waterproof case or rent a waterproof case; If you don't have the first two, I suggest you rent a waterproof camera directly. The newer the model, the better. By the way, if you choose to rent a black card, try to rent the latest model, because I have compared the video quality of the second generation and the third generation, and there are obvious differences.

Take scuba diving as an example: ignore GoPro.

Why would I recommend GoPro snorkeling?

Mainly because GoPro can use the selfie stick as an extension arm, and the extra 1m can make the picture cleaner. Of course, if you are good at swimming, please ignore GoPro.

Supplement: At present, Sony has produced RX0, which looks good. It keeps the functions of Black Card V (continuous shooting, shutter and 4K video have shrunk) and GoPro.

Compared with it, it seems to win, but it should be noted that its accessories are more expensive For example, the waterproof shell is more expensive than its machine, so it should be a good choice when its accessories are improved in the future.

How to shoot the front _ _ After talking about so many equipment problems, in fact, the "how to shoot" part is the key-no matter how good the equipment is, it is useless.

There are two aspects here: ① skillful operation of the camera and ② good diving skills.

First of all, you must choose a camera that you are familiar with, or you must practice using it more on the shore before you go into the water. Otherwise, you will feel that being underwater is not as free as being on land, and you will be in a hurry to adjust the camera. You may have missed it after adjusting the beautiful scenery.

The second is very important diving skills. Because there are often plankton and sediment in seawater, the visibility is not good. If you want to shoot clearly, you usually need to be close to the subject. If you want to get close, you can shoot without hurting yourself. You need to rely on your diving skills.

After all, when a novice makes a film underwater, it means practicing more and shooting more. Practice is to practice diving skills, and to shoot more is to press the shutter more. Even! You can shoot videos all the time! Then come back and extract key frames from the video. Of course, if you shoot a video, you must shoot the highest resolution and bring enough memory cards.

Focus: Autofocus is generally used, and everything is subject to the first shot.

ISO, shutter, aperture: if you are inexperienced, they are all automatic. If you can shoot first, shoot first.

White balance: The underwater color temperature is not standard, and it is easy to reach 20,000 at once. A very important effect of underwater is that the color will change every meter; When you meet different ocean currents, the color will change. If you can shoot

RAW format, don't hesitate to shoot RAW format directly, don't worry about white balance.

In the later stage, the light in the water will be difficult to control, and impurities in the water will block the film, so the original film will look a little inferior. At this time, it is necessary to save the film later.

I adjusted it in Photoshop. LR, of course.

You can also adjust some of them. The general process is lens correction, white balance, sharpness, saturation, local color and so on. And the specific steps have to be adjusted according to different photos.

I put a few contrast pictures of the original film and the later film (all taken by three generations of black cards) for reference.

Another factor that affects the underwater shooting effect is sunlight, so don't be stingy with the shutter when there is plenty of sunshine.

If you are snorkeling and want to take beautiful photos underwater, please try to take off your mask.

After returning to the hotel, you should remove the waterproof shell, soak it in fresh water and dry it, otherwise the seawater will corrode easily, and the solidified salt on it will easily lead to poor sealing.

Don't touch any marine life or coral when taking pictures. First, some are poisonous to avoid being hurt; The second is not to destroy the marine environment and ecology.

Important matters 1. Neutral buoyancy: Without good neutral buoyancy, talking about underwater photography is all hooliganism ~ Without neutral buoyancy, you can't control your position well, get close to the subject, or even blow sand. , will affect the quality of photos. When you finally find a sea rabbit that is cute enough to be the size of a fingernail, you find that you can't go with the flow or just slap it away. Don't ask me how it collapsed! I will never tell you that I still can't afford a water camera.

2. Know your own equipment: Whether it's Gopro, Olympus TG4 or Canon 5D2, you can take excellent photos, provided you know how to take them. Below I will show some photos taken by different equipment.

3. Focus &; These three elements are equally important on land or underwater, especially underwater, because of the special light and white balance, focusing is particularly difficult. And often many people forget the great influence of composition on photos.

What are the necessary equipment for water photography? How to choose water shooting equipment? (gopro water is good, SLR water is good, or waterproof micro-sheet is good? )

Water camera 1. Mobile phone: basic snorkeling use (I will never tell you that I snorkel with my mobile phone without focusing (? _? ))

2.Gopro and other sports cameras: mainly shooting videos, simple and convenient. Please install a red filter to ensure the color is restored. If you can afford it, you can install a bracket and two fill lights for Gopro, and the video effect can shock you (I'm going to transform my Gopro ...)

3. Card machine: Olympus TG4 or new TG5 is the first model, with good macro and video effects; In addition, the Canon card machine series, you can use a treasure to rent first, there is really no need to rush to buy;

4. SLR: Many models of micro-singles and SLR have special diving shells. I used sonya6000 and Nikon.

D7000, Canon 5d2, but this kind of water shooting equipment must be equipped with bracket, fill light, corresponding lens, etc. , expensive;

Support equipment:

Support is very important, the greater the support, the more anti-shake;

Lighting is very important, and lighting determines everything;

Diving shells are very important, and there are well-known brands Sea &；; Hai, IqPark Jung Su, Noutikam ... Of course, there may be no next generation after buying it. Generally, the more expensive the camera diving shell is, the more expensive it is, which is basically around1-50,000; There are also some relatively cheap domestic brands;

Generally speaking, I recommend renting a card machine or taking pictures with Gopro+ red filter when traveling. If you want to be professional, you can start with the card machine. Don't spend money on your own equipment. You can try more first. After all, the cost is too high to be replaced frequently ~

How to maintain it is very important, because salty seawater is very corrosive. Before each dive, put the diving shell into fresh water and check whether there are bubbles leaking. If there is a bubble, there is a problem. Don't omit this step (I've seen many cameras that were scrapped on the first dive ...). Now we usually go into the water with diving shells without cameras.

After each dive, soak the camera in fresh water. It is not suitable to be exposed to the sun after soaking. Put it in a dry and cool place to dry. Since the camera is not used, it is necessary to check and protect the O-ring of the camera shell, clean it with water, oil it and replace it regularly.