I love new toys

So I got myself a new camera last week. It's fancy and a fun new toy.
I also got an underwater housing for it so I can take it diving.

The camera fits right inside this housing. It's a snug fit in a hard,
clear shell that seals with an o-ring. It is supposed to be
watertight to 130 feet. Hmmm... 130 feet just happens to be
the maximum depth for recreational diving. I've not been
that deep yet. The idea of it kind of scares me.

All the blue buttons and dials correspond to controls on the camera.
So you can change any settings while the camera is in the housing,
underwater. Cool. The functionality is really good. And the clear
back allows me to see the preview screen on the camera.

Up until now, all the dive photos were taken with Manfriend's camera.

And being a control freak, I wanted my own.
Plus my old camera is on the fritz. And too old to have an underwater housing.


Anyway, I am still getting used to the camera.
It does A LOT and I have not even scratched the surface.
I need a day just to sit down and read the manual and try all the settings.


And the underwater thing is another story entirely.
There are threads online about the best way to use the camera underwater.
So yet another thing to read so I can experiment and get better underwater shots.

But first, MF and I decided to try out the camera in a swimming pool setting.

My underwater test site. Not exactly a true representation of
what conditions would be like in the ocean. But it was a good way
to check the seal of the housing and get a feel for the camera
in water. I need to get a weight for the housing. It's quite buoyant.

MF doing his impersonation of a harbor seal. The shutter speed
was a little slow. I need to read up on that and try to get rid
of the blur. Because while MF was moving quick,
he is nowhere near as fast as the fish will be.

I believe this is MF's impersonation of an otter.

These pictures definitely show me I have a lot to learn about using this camera underwater.

Another example of figuring out how to get the camera
to react more quickly. When I am taking pictures underwater,
I want a quick reaction time. I would like to get the
whole fish in the picture, not just half the fish.

The hand rail was the only thing in the pool not moving.
Finally, a nice, clear shot!