# Underwater with 5D II or 7D



## marzmelendez (Feb 13, 2012)

Hey i have a question hopefully someone can help me decide between the two what camera would be better for underwater price is not a problem was thinking 7d but wanted help to make sure.


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## o hey tyler (Feb 13, 2012)

Neither would be good underwater without a housing. 

But I'd say a 7D and an UWA lens.


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## Robin Usagani (Feb 13, 2012)

5DII.  No question.  Why?

1. You are not going to shoot something that far
2. You can use better quality glasses and go wider
3. Better ISO performance when you dont have much light


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## marzmelendez (Feb 13, 2012)

o hey tyler said:
			
		

> Neither would be good underwater without a housing.
> 
> But I'd say a 7D and an UWA lens.



Ha yes the housing should be the easy part and thanks for your input


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## marzmelendez (Feb 13, 2012)

Schwettylens said:
			
		

> 5DII.  No question.  Why?
> 
> 1. You are not going to shoot something that far
> 2. You can use better quality glasses and go wider
> 3. Better ISO performance when you dont have much light



Excellent points


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## Canuk (Feb 13, 2012)

If you are serious about underwater photography then full frame is the way to go. 
You will be able to go wider and get more detailed macro shots. 
The owner of the dive shop, and avid underwater photographer himself, uses the 5D Classic (he's had it for a few years now) and Ikelite Housings and strobes.
When I mentioned using my DLSR, he suggested going for a bridge camera or point and shoot to start w/ just because of the cost.


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## Canuk (Feb 13, 2012)

marzmelendez said:


> Schwettylens said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## marzmelendez (Feb 13, 2012)

Interesting point i did not think about lighting underwater


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## Robin Usagani (Feb 13, 2012)

You are correct but you still want high ISO if you want to show the whole ambient.  If you want to shoot the whole scene instead of a macro.  The light can only light subject near you.  You dont want to only shoot fish and only see dark blue background.

I dont have experience in this field but I think it is similar to wedding photography .


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## o hey tyler (Feb 13, 2012)

Schwettylens said:


> You are correct but you still want high ISO if you want to show the whole ambient.  If you want to shoot the whole scene instead of a macro.  The light can only light subject near you.  You dont want to only shoot fish and only see dark blue background.
> 
> I dont have experience in this field but I think it is similar to wedding photography .



If you're shooting mid-day underwater (probably normal time for scuba)... It appears you can get great shots at ISO400 with fill flash. I looked through quite a few photos on flickr, and the ISO was usually 400 or lower.

Which is why I suggested the 7D, for the AF underwater, and the fact that UWA's are less expensive for APS-C sensors (or so it seems).


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## Overread (Feb 13, 2012)

Hmm its the old ISO VS AF speed fight. The 5DMII will give you a much cleaner range of ISO values to work with over the 7D, the 7D is no slouch, but it just can't be the 5DMII head to head for noise performance. That said the AF of the 7D is far superior to that of the 5DMII and many features of the 7D (such as the ability to make it delay its change of focus when in constant focusing mode) might well be very important underwater (eg you don't want the camera fast refocusing every time something brushes infront of the camera for a second). 



This is of course ignoring the arguments based around the crop factor aspects of the two cameras and the difference in angle of view that each will give.


Personally if you've got the addition of external lighting (ie flash) the 7D would be superior alone for its AF performance


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## Canuk (Feb 13, 2012)

I stand by my recommendation of full frame over crop for underwater photography. The reasons being the same as why you they are chosen for wedding and portraits. 
I am only a beginner UW photog and am still learning. I shoot on a G12, so my info is coming from people who have a lot more experience in this field than I do.
The AF system on the 5D II is more than adequate for UW photography. Things underwater happen very slowly, and most pictures are taken very close to the diver. Long telephoto lenses are very rarely used. 
Bringing light underwater, in reality has little to do w/ how bright it is. In the clear water over a sand patch on a sunny day it will be bright down to 140+ ft, but the colors are lost because of refraction.
http://johnrander.chez-alice.fr/webpage_images/color-absorption-underwater.jpg

This link provides a chart on how color is affected by depth.


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