Underwater Photography Tips: Maximizing Compact Cameras

Using a compact camera to take photos underwater? Learn the best tips and techniques from our photo pro and SeaLife Underwater Cameras, and get the most out of your rig — no matter how small.

1. Get Your Settings Straight
Underwater conditions confuse cameras, so use aperture and shutter priority modes for best results. A high value (f/8) is a small aperture. A small value (f/2.8) is a wide aperture. Trade between f-stop and shutter speed as shown in the diagram. Set ISO default to 100 and auto ISO to let the camera figure out the best setting for your selected aperture or shutter.

2. Top Tips: Aperture Priority
Small apertures (f/8) result with sharp focus throughout a scene or big depth of field, but they use slower shutter speeds. At f/2.8, the lens lets in more light and allows for higher shutter speeds, but it will blur the background away from the main focus point. So dial in f/8 to get big scenes all in focus, or f/2.8 to separate your main subject from its background.

3. Top Tips: Shutter Priority For static scenes (wrecks and reefs), set 1/60 second or faster to keep images sharp. For fast-movers like dolphins, use 1/250 second to freeze the action. To create a very cool dynamic image, try this: Set shutter priority to 1/10 second, then pan the camera to match subject movement, press the shutter and keep panning accurately for two seconds. You will be amazed with the result.

Paul Colley is an award-winning underwater photographer, compact-camera instructor and author of Winning Images with Any Underwater Camera. To view more of his work, visit mpcolley.com.

To find the latest in underwater compact cameras, visit SeaLife Underwater Cameras.

To view more underwater photography tips for your compact camera, visit our Guide to Underwater Photography.