Canon S90/ S95, Canon S100, Canon G11/ G12 Underwater Settings

Recently I taught an underwater photography class where I was able to use a Canon S90 and a Canon G11 underwater for some time. Afterwards I did quite a few dives using Recsea & Ikelite Canon S95 housings, with Ikelite & Dyron macro & UWL-04 wide-angle lenses.

Here my recommended Canon S90 , Canon S95, Canon S100, Canon S110 and Canon G10 / G11 / G12 / G15 underwater settings, if you are using an external strobe or flash:

Canon S90/ S95 / S100, Canon G11/ G12 settings for Macro

• Manual mode, F6.3, 1/500th, ISO 100; 

• Zoom in half-way

• Macro mode, auto white balance, flash on forced flash mode

• Turn internal flash to it's lowest power setting

• Strobe on manual power; adjust strobe power as needed

• These cameras also have a great focus check feature

Further reading: Taking great underwater macro with a Canon G12

When using a diopter like the Dyron 67mm or Subsee macro lens

• Zoom all the way in

• Shoot at F8 for maximum depth of field

• Keep macro mode on

• Use a good focus light to help the camera focus

Canon S90/ S95 / S100, Canon G11/ G12 settings for wide-angle & fish

• Manual mode, F6.3, 1/125th, ISO 100

• Zoom out

• ** Adjust shutter speed as needed to control background exposure

• Auto white balance, flash on forced flash mode

• Strobe on manual power; adjust strobe power as needed

• Turn internal flash to it's lowest power setting

• If you are using a fisheye lens or dome port, turn macro mode on

If you don't have an external strobe / flash

You are shooting with the internal flash. In manual mode, the camera won't set the exposure of the flash automatically, you'll have to set the flash power yourself, which is no fun. To get that capability, which is basically TTL with the internal flash, use Av Mode, F5.6. In bright conditions, use Av Mode, F8.

Shooting the Canon S90, S95 or S100 in RAW mode

I like shooting RAW, and I definitely recommend it especially when shooting ambient light photos underwater (flash off) with a Canon compact camera.

The Canon S90 lens has some severe barrel distortion when shot at it's widest setting. This is automatically correct in the LCD, jpeg files, and Raw files when using Canon's DPP program.

However, you'll see the barrel distortion if you open up a Canon RAW file in another RAW editor like Adobe photoshop. There it must be correctly manually (Image / Filter / Distort / Lens Correction). If you own a Canon S90 here's some more great reading.

Canon S90/ S95 / S100 Battery advice

If you are using the Canon supplied batteries, the battery life indicator is not accurate. Always change batteries after 2 dives.

Advanced Settings

Our compact camera moderators posted some of their favorite underwater camera settings for the Canon S90/ S95 in this thread

Got questions about using the Canon S90, Canon S95, Canon S100, Canon G11 or Canon G12 underwater?

Post a question in our forums, in the compact camera corner, or call the Canon experts at our sister site Bluewater Photo & Video.

Further Reading

• Underwater Camera Settings

• Taking Wide-Angle Shots with the Canon G12

• First Impressions of the Canon S100