Infinity and Canon Ixus 850

[Debs]

Got back a couple of weeks ago from my first liveaboard - had a superb time and would recommend the Infinity without reservation. Took the following photos with my new Canon Ixus 850 - which also took reasonably good video, good enough for the T.V.
Wreck photos:
Giannis D

Thistlegorm

Thistlegorm

Thistlegorm

Kingston

Giannis D

Carnatic

[John_C]

Great pics, really like the 1st one! Have a greeny.

[Debs]

and now the wildlife

[Bardo]

Fantastic photos, Debs - very impressed!

Those IXUS 850 cameras are excellent but I can see what some have mentioned about the focus getting a little soft towards the extreme edges...

[Debs]

Originally Posted by Bardo

Fantastic photos, Debs - very impressed!

Those IXUS 850 cameras are excellent but I can see what some have mentioned about the focus getting a little soft towards the extreme edges...

Yes the focus is a little dodgy towards the edges - however I can live with it as the camera has the equivalent of a 28mm lens at its widest.

[Wacker]

Very nice pics Debs
What settings did you use?

[Ding Dang Doo]

Hmmm, yep some great piccies there Debs... I'd be interested to know the settings. I've got an Ixus 750 and am trying to get some good results, but as I know very little about what I'm up to, it's a matter of trial and error, in fact it's mostly error! I tend to leave it in 'underwater' mode, thinking this is going to help me... but I'm sure if I spent a bit of time reading through a few books, I'd change my approach!

Think the 850 has improved focal length(?), but I've read somewhere that the 900 has improved the focussing at the edges... or am I spouting a load of b*ll*cks?

Pete

[Debs]

Originally Posted by Wacker

Very nice pics Debs
What settings did you use?

Just manual White Balance (the Canon U/W setting produces some odd colours - so after trying it out once I didn't use it again) and for the close up shots the Macro setting

[Debs]

Originally Posted by Ding Dang Doo

Hmmm, yep some great piccies there Debs... I'd be interested to know the settings. I've got an Ixus 750 and am trying to get some good results, but as I know very little about what I'm up to, it's a matter of trial and error, in fact it's mostly error! I tend to leave it in 'underwater' mode, thinking this is going to help me... but I'm sure if I spent a bit of time reading through a few books, I'd change my approach!

Think the 850 has improved focal length(?), but I've read somewhere that the 900 has improved the focussing at the edges... or am I spouting a load of b*ll*cks?

Pete

It was a real toss up between the 850 and the 900 but I wanted the wider lens that the 850 gives.
U/W mode, as I've said in the above post, gives an unrealistic colour cast. I'm very much still in the 'trial and error' stage of U/W photography myself and sometimes find manual WB a pain to repeat but it does generally give good results, however, thank goodness for digital as quite a few photos have been deleted. The other piece of advice is to get close as possible to the subject, quite a lot of reef shots in deeper water just don't look good - the only exception is for wreck shots, then changing to B&W and increasing contrast (post production) improves the photo.