Fantasea F400D User Manual - Basic Shooting Techniques
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Basic Shooting Techniques
Practice handling the 400D on land
o Getting familiar with the location and movement of all the
controls and how the changes in settings can affect your
image is an important part of the process. It is better to
learn the basics of the camera's operation on land, rather
than when first underwater. It is faster to operate the
camera out of the housing and you will not have the limited
time frame as you would if you were underwater.
Focusing and Shutter release control
o Get used to operating this control on the camera in both
half depress, and full depress movements. You will
frequently depress the shutter release only half way to
activate the exposure meter and auto focus to preview the
shooting conditions and make setting changes. Once you
get the feel for operating the camera control directly, you
can then try it in the housing, using the housing's controls
in the same manner.
Use the viewfinder eyepiece
o Compose and view exposure information display. It is very
important that you become familiar with the information
display in the viewfinder so you can make proper exposure
settings and know what other settings have been made. You
will use this often and it is good to become familiar with it
before attempting to read it underwater. Also practice
composing and focusing the camera by eye, before using it
underwater to get the feel for this operation as well.
Changing Exposure Settings
o Using the camera in its Manual (M) Exposure Mode gives
you the ability to change either shutter speeds or apertures
to control the exposure the way you want. Get used to
making these changes while your eye is in the viewfinder.
To activate aperture change in the manual mode, you must
depress the Command Control button and then rotate the
reel dial. Practice operating each of these controls so they
become instinctive in operation.
Familiarize yourself with the movements required
o Utilizing each housing control to properly and efficiently
change camera settings. Some controls only require a
straight pushing movement, while others may require
rotating and pushing simultaneously to operate.