Ikelite SD630 User Manual

Page 6

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Due to the power required to operate the camera flash and

LCD screen it is a good idea to start each dive with a fresh set of

batteries

Some cameras reset their flash to AUTO when the camera is

turned on If you prefer another setting be sure to select it

As soon as you enter the water take a moment and check the

housing to see that it is properly sealed

Next check to see if there are any bubbles on the face of the

lens port If there are take your finger and remove them If

there are bubbles on the lens port they can produce soft focus

spots in your photographs

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If you are shooting with the camera’s built in flash and the

cameras lens is set to the widest angle you may need to zoom

the lens slightly or a shadow may appear in the lower left

corner of close up photographs The lens port may block some

of the light Installing the flash diffuser will help to eliminate

the shadow

(You can test this above water)

To shoot photographs closer than feet (

m) you need to

use an external strobe such as the DS or DS

With an

external strobe you can position it so nothing blocks the light

path between the strobe and the subject

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Some of the controls have a short shaft and cannot be pulled

out exposing the shaft for lubrication In the unlikely event one

of these controls sticks or becomes difficult to operate you can

remove the control from the housing and lubricate it or return

the housing to Ikelite for maintenance To remove the control

loosen the set screw in the knob (allen wrench required);

remove the knob If there is salt or dirt build up on the exposed

control shaft clean the shaft Open the housing and gently slide

the control shaft out of the control gland Clean and lightly

lubricate the shaft including the end of the shaft Slide the

shaft back into the control gland and gently slide it back and

forth a few times without fully removing the shaft from the

gland Replace the knob NOTE the flat area on the shaft the

set screw in the knob should tighten down against the flat area

on the control so the knob does not turn on the shaft

Loosen set screw
(allen wrench required)

Flat

Tighten set screw down

against this area when

replacing the knob.

housing

gland

control
shaft

Lubricate end of shaft
before reinserting into
gland

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The number one rule in underwater photography is eliminate as

much water between camera and subject as possible Get as

close as you can to the subject then use the zoom If you are

using flash subjects beyond feet ( m)will not have much

color

The camera’s built in flash is very close to the camera lens The

flash can light up any suspended particles in the water and they

can be recorded in your picture This effect is called backscatter

To eliminate as much backscatter as possible photograph close

Photograph in clear water; do not stir up the sand or silty

bottom If backscatter becomes a problem in the environment

you are photographing an external flash will help eliminate

much of the backscatter

Digital cameras have a slight lag time between when you press

the shutter release button and the camera actually takes the

picture Hold the camera steady a second or two after pressing

the shutter release button

Do not shoot down on subjects as they will quite often blend

into the background and be difficult to see in the photograph

Shoot subjects straight on or shoot up at a slight angle using

the blue water as a contrasting background

Underwater flash is used to restore the warmer colors filtered

out by the water as well as to illuminate the subject When

photographing underwater set the camera to use flash on

every shot If the camera’s flash is set to AUTO and the sun is

behind your subject the camera may see enough light that it

does not fire the flash With the sun behind the subject the

subject is shaded (dark) and needs flash for a good exposure

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When using daylight or flash if your camera consistently over

or underexposes the image you may want to adjust your

camera’s exposure compensation settings Many cameras allow

you to adjust both available light and flash exposure with an EV

control in the camera’s menu

Many photographers transfer their images to the computer

where they can fine tune the appearance of the image Many of

the image manipulation programs make you think you can

magically correct any image taken and make a good picture

One thing to remember when using image manipulation

programs if the image is overexposed much of the color is

missing If the color is missing you cannot adjust it If images

are slightly underexposed the color is there it is just dark and

you can adjust it to some degree So if you error in exposure it

is better to have the image slightly underexposed than over

exposed