When you use strobe, most film cameras have limited shutter speeds of 1/60 th- 1/250th of a second. The new digital cameras do not have mechanical shutters and will sync at speeds up to 1/ 800th of a second. Thus, this provides opportunity to shoot in bright shallow water where high f- stops would make strobes ineffective. Higher shutter speed options would allow you to keep your f- stop at a better setting. These great shutter speeds are great for freezing light rays and fast action.
35mm zoom lenses are not good underwater because they are bad at close focus. The built- in-lens in the new digital systems offers a large zoom range with minimum focus ability to 8 inches or less. So if you had a new digital camera and a high quality aspheric housing port, you could take 100 degree wide- angle shot and zoom into 1.3 macro shot without changing lenses.
These underwater digital cameras are small and lightweight and the quality can be compared to film if you have higher resolution shots. Scans and digital camera images require a small amount of sharpening and it is really easy to fix it with Adobe Photoshop. You would just have to apply “unsharp mask” filter for an instant improvement.
However, there are also drawbacks with digital underwater cameras as they can’t be ultimately perfect and like video, they also have tough time with contrast scenes. It would also take costs and effort to transfer digital files to slides if you have to present your images in slide shows. However, most digital cameras allow you to plug directly into television for image display and there are also digital projectors on the market that can produce brilliant images and professional presentations complete with audio tracks.
There is also another problem that underwater digital camera was not able to address and that is the issue with shutter. It will not take the picture immediately and this can be a problem since fishes swim fast. If you are still a beginner with underwater photography it may be best to purchase digital underwater camera rather than film underwater camera. There is an advantage to the automatic feedback it can provide and beside the print qualities if 5 megapixel cameras are already great. The instant feedback is always great regardless of your experience because you would have to focus on your underwater photography objective. Furthermore, computers are really convenient and comforting so why would you bother spending effort and money on film?
The other option for underwater photography is to simply place an existing film or digital camera into a watertight housing. Using a watertight housing carries a number of important advantages, including eliminating the need to purchase a special camera just for underwater use. This option also allows the photographer to take advantage of the built in features their land use camera may include, including zoom, flash and other capabilities.
In addition, using a watertight housing for a traditional camera allows the underwater photographer to use all of his or her lenses without incurring additional costs. For the most part, of course, underwater photography will use either a wide angle or macro lens. These lenses allow the close focus required for those stunning photos of fish and other residents of the deep.
While there may be some reasons to use film cameras with a watertight housing, most underwater enthusiasts will opt for the simplicity of a digital model. One of the most significant advantages of digital is the fact that a digital media card can hold literally hundreds of prints, while a film camera will typically be limited to 36 shots. In addition, it will be impossible to change the film while underwater, resulting in lots of time consuming trips to the surface to change film. By shooting with a digital camera the photographer can remain where the action is without missing a beat. For more, check this article.
