Camera Labs

Going to be taking pictures of my Unit doing water survival in an indoor pool. I know "watch out for splashes" and I don't know what the lighting is (florescent incandescent) but any other suggestions? Sorry, I know that's kind of an open ended question.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

Indoor pools are dark, so get something fast. I'd say a 50 1.8 would be nice, since you'd be standing at the edge of the pool?

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Depends on the type of indoor pool. It may have a bank of windows down the side allowing natural light to come in and my guess would be that it will be unnaturally lit with florescent light bulbs; so the light might be mixed.

If you shoot Raw then the white balance of the scene can be adjusted later in post processing so the colour of the light is nothing to worry about. What you could do before the shoot is photograph a piece of pure white paper in the area you are shooting and save this for later and use it as a white balance reference point in post processing.

The use of a wide angle lens will also be beneficial all allow you to capture all the scene.

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Mark Osborne
My life through an iPhone

Thanks! I've really been kicking the idea around about getting one of those 50mm. I was just ready a post discussing the f1.8 and the f1.4

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

I don't know if a 50mm would be wide enough on a 550D, or any crop body for that matter. What about something like Canon's 35mm f/2.0? A 55mm or so equivalent should give a pretty nice focal length, but if you'll be shooting a lot of single person shots a 50mm may be a better choice.

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-Evan

Gear: 7 Nikon Nikkor AI-S and AF-S lenses, SB-700 flash, Nikon D7000, Nikon FM, variety of accessories

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
- Ansel Adams

Evan,
You are correct there. A 50mm full frame lens is not very wide atall, which is why I don't always use it. It infact becomes the equivalent to an 80mm.

I have long arms, and I can not take self portraits with it.

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Canon EOS 500D
Lenses: EFS 18-55mm IS, EF 50mm F/1.8 II

That is something else I have been thinking about as well. What about the 28mm f/2.8? It is not as fast as the 50mm's f/1.8 but I think it might be better than the f/4 on my Sigma 18-125. That would work out to a 45mm on my camera

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

You can always walk a bit back from the pool, but you cannot walk over water. So I'd pick a longer lens over a wider lens any day

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

I too think you'd be better off with a (moderate) telephoto lens. Say, a 85/1.8 USM or a nifty fifty as they say. Can't you hire a 70-200 or so ?

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Sony α77V/VG-C77AM/α350/18-70/70-400 G SSM/NEX-5/18-55 OSS/Lowepro Pro Trekker 600 AW/CompuTrekker AW/Nova 140 AW/Street & Field gear/Toploader Pro 75 AW. And a huge wishlist...

My photos on Flickr...

how about a waterproof disposable film camera?

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Canon EOS 500D
Lenses: EFS 18-55mm IS, EF 50mm F/1.8 II

This is not the best picture of the bunch, but it is me I'm still cropping the others but I did get some great ones. I set it full manual, left the lens at 18mm and set it at f/4, 1/60sec and bumped it to iso800 so I could get a good speed on the lens. I got some great freezes of the 10-foot driving board.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

Here's another, real quick composition of our commander

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

i dont know if its actual, but the biggest trouble i had near pool was humidity - a water wapor was getting on my lens so i couldn't see anything, but that was in winter, maybe in summer its not problem

and the solution? i could shoot only from one place that had opened doors, because the vapor was in one-two seconds after cleaning my lens...

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I'm new to DSLR's, so please be patient and take my opinions with reserve. Thank you : ) Yes, i am Canon man.
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Canon 60D + 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS, Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS II, Canon 430EXII, polarizing filter 72mm,
Canon AT-1, 50mm FD F1.8
Canon A430,

Here's my understanding of the solution to condensation due to high humidity.

Condensation is caused when humid air hits a colder surface causing the airborne water to condense on the surface.

This happens a lot here in Dubai when we come out of aircon into brutal humidity experienced at this time of the year.

The trick is to get your camera up to temperature so that it doesnt provide a cold surface.

I leave mine in the camera bag until its warmed up.

If your worried about really damp air put your camera into a sealed plastic bag inside your case and just leave it in the warm humid environment your going to be shooting in until its up to temp. How long this will take will depend on how warm it is. Bit of sunlight works wonders

Hope this helps

Ian

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Canon EOS 550D (with Magic Lantern)
18mm - 135mm Kit Lens, 50mm f1.8, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
430EX II Flash with Phottix Strato Wireless Tigger Set
Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with 496 Ball Head. Gorilla Pod SLR
Canon Powershot A720IS with CHDK and intervalometer script. Pentax Optio W90

My Blog - http://www.ianganderton.wordpress.com

I actually had to worry about humidity. My camera sat in my truck in 50-deg Alaska morning then into this warm humid indoor pool so I did make time to allow it to come to temp in the gym before moving into the pool area.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS