Fascinating worlds full of colours and details that will remain undiscovered to the photographic eye without special equipment: Underwater photography counts among the last great adventures of modern camera work and offers motives of breathtaking beauty – provided you possess the right equipment and some basic skills. Our workshop brings you up to speed with the theoretical and practical knowledge you’ll need to experience this special kind of digital photography with the Olympus E-System yourself.

The equipment
  
 Olympus ranks among the absolute specialists in the field of digital underwater photography and offers its own cases for various compact digital cameras and the E-System. Especially E-System cameras and lenses are perfectly suited for the demands of underwater photography and are used by many professional underwater photographers.
The E-System convinces with compelling arguments: Excellent wide-angle zooms like the ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 7-14mm 1:4.0 or the ZUIKO DIGITAL 11-22mm 1:2.8-3.5, powerful flash systems like the FL-36 or the FL-20 and of course the innovative Olympus SLR cameras – like the E-330 with the newly-developed Live View technology for framing subjects on the LCD before taking the shot. This new feature finally saves divers the inconvenience of having to look through the optical viewfinder, instead allowing them to frame the subject comfortably on the large and brilliant 6.4cm/2.5” HyperCrystal LCD.

Custom-made to fit the E-330, Olympus offers the underwater case PT-E02. It’s waterproof up to 60 metres depth and can be equipped with lens ports for various ZUIKO DIGITAL lenses. Thanks to handy levers and easily operatable control elements, all of the E-330’s functions can be effortlessly commanded underwater, too. The following lens ports are available: - PPO-E01 for the models ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-45mm 1:3.5-5.6 and ZUIKO DIGITAL 35mm Macro 1:3.5; - PPO-E02 for the models ZUIKO DIGITAL 11-22mm 1:2.8-3.5 and 1:2.8 and ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm 1:2.8-3.5; - PPO-E03 for the ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 50mm Macro 1:2 (optionally with the port extension ring PER-E01 for using the     50mm Macro with the Olympus teleconverter EC-14); - PPO-E04 for the models ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 8mm Fisheye 1:3.5 and ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 7-14mm 1:4.0 (in     combination with the port extension ring PER-E02)

PFL-01 for the flash system FL-20 (waterproof up to 40 metres depth*)
PFL-E01 for the flash system FL-36 (waterproof up to 60 metres depth*). Via the flash bracket PTBK-E01 and the short arm PTSA-01, the PFL-E01 can be attached to the camera – ideal for perfect flash exposure underwater. You can look at the complete system chart by clicking here

Buying tip for beginners to get a perfect start in SLR underwater photography: The E-330 Underwater Pro Kit, comprising the Olympus E-330 body, the ZUIKO DIGITAL lenses 14-45mm 1:3.5-5.6 and ED 50mm Macro 1:2.0, the flash system FL-36 and the housings/ports PT-E02, PPO-E01, PPO-E03, PFL-E01, the flash bracket PTBK-E01 and the short arm PTSA-01. The Underwater Pro Kit includes everything from macro to universal zoom and standard lens – not only for underwater photography.

Preparations
  
 Less experienced underwater photographers should prepare by getting familiar with the equipment on land and practicing its operations. An exact understanding of the camera and its functions is essential for obtaining successful underwater pictures.
Before going underwater, you have to carefully take the o-ring out of the case and treat it with an Olympus-recommended lubricant. If necessary, clean the o-ring beforehand with a fresh, lint-free piece of cloth. No residual dirt may be left on the o-ring while diving as even a tiny hair can affect the case’s waterproof attributes at high pressures. Lubricate the o-ring moderately, too much lubricant can have a negative effect on it.
Put the camera carefully, and without pressure, into the case. For optimal results, place a small pack of silica gel inside the case, too. While diving, the silica gel prevents that the temperature difference between the warm, humid air inside the case and the cold water outside, leading to a condensation of air, which in turn results in the underwater case fogging up on the inside. In order for the silica gel to be as effective as possible, you should place it into the case several hours before use.

Taking the shot

Different optical rules are in effect underwater than on land. Due to the different refraction of light, for example, the focal length is increased by a factor of 1.33. For this reason, wide-angle lenses are your first choice. They also offer the advantage of minimising the distance (= water) between camera and subject, thereby lessening the effect floating particles might have on the picture. The colour of light also changes rapidly underwater: Because light with long wavelengths (e.g. red) gets more easily absorbed than light with short wavelengths (e.g. blue), red light disappears much faster than blue light. From a depth of just 3 metres there’s almost no more red visible, at 5 metres the orange disappears as well and starting at 25 metres the only colour that’s still visible is blue. You’ll need to adjust your camera’s white balance to these conditions.

A basic rule to remember is: Get close to the subject, get as much of it as possible in your viewing angle and try to shoot upwards in order to use as much available light from the surface as possible. Another thing: Unlike in dry land photography, the ideal time of day for taking underwater shots is midday when the sun is at its highest and the least amount of light beams get reflected.

But the available light is not always enough to deliver perfectly exposed shots. Since the E-330’s built-in flash can’t be used underwater anyway, as is usual for SLR cameras, don’t even get tempted to use the flash directly on the subject – that’s one of underwater photography’s deadly sins. The reason: A conventional flash used directly on the subject results in the undesirable backscatter effect. That problem occurs when floating particles in the water are positioned directly in front of the flash, thus appearing as white dots on the picture – similar to what happens when using the flash for photographing snow flakes. Perfect exposure, on the other hand, is guaranteed by the flash system Olympus FL-36 when used with the underwater case (PFL-E01). For best results, the flash should be used at a 45 degree angle and no further than 1.5 metres away from the subject. This way the subject’s outlines appear vivid and its colours realistic.

*All depths equivalent to the respective water pressures in metres