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Underwater Photography Settings Calculator

Get recommended camera exposure settings for underwater photography based on depth, visibility, ambient light, strobe use, and subject distance.

Inputs

Results

Aperture (f/stop)

16

Shutter speed (1/x)

125

ISO200
Stops of light lost1.8
Needs colour filter?0
WB warm shift (K)0
Backscatter risk (0-2)0
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter the dive depth in meters where you will be shooting.
  2. Select visibility level: low, moderate, or excellent — water clarity affects available light.
  3. Choose the surface light conditions: overcast, partly cloudy, or sunny.
  4. Indicate whether you are using an underwater strobe or shooting ambient light only.
  5. Enter your subject distance in meters — strobes are most effective within 1–2 m.
  6. Read Recommended Aperture and Shutter Speed as a starting point, then bracket exposures on your first dive to fine-tune.

How the result changes with Subject distance (m)

Subject distance (m)Aperture (f/stop)Shutter speed (1/x)
1.2716125
3.695.6125
6.62.8125
9.032.8125

What each input means

Depth (m)
Shooting depth in metres. Light attenuates ~1-2 stops per 10 m.
Visibility
0 = Poor (<5 m), 1 = Moderate (5-15 m), 2 = Good (15-30 m), 3 = Excellent (30+ m).
Surface light
0 = Overcast, 1 = Partly cloudy, 2 = Sunny.
Using strobe?
0 = No (ambient only), 1 = Yes (underwater flash/strobe).
Subject distance (m)
Distance to subject in metres. Strobes are effective within ~1-2 m.
ISO setting
Camera ISO. Lower is less noise; higher needed in low light.

What each result means

Aperture (f/stop)
Recommended f-stop. With strobe, based on guide number; without, f/5.6 for sharpness.
Shutter speed (1/x)
Recommended shutter speed. With strobe, sync speed (1/125); without, computed from ambient EV.
ISO
Your selected ISO setting.
Stops of light lost
Exposure value lost due to depth and water clarity.
Needs colour filter?
1 = Red/orange light lost at this depth without strobe. Use a red filter or post-process WB.
WB warm shift (K)
Kelvin shift above daylight for white balance correction (ambient-only shooting).
Backscatter risk (0-2)
Risk of particle backscatter with strobe. 0 = low, 1 = moderate, 2 = high.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Depth (m) = 15, Visibility = 2, Surface light = 2, Using strobe? = 1 = 6 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Aperture
    Aperture
    16 = 16
  3. Calculate Shutter speed
    Shutter speed
    125 = 125
  4. Calculate ISO
    ISO = iso
    200 = 200
  5. Calculate Stops of light lost
    Stops of light lost = depthM * stopsLostPerM
    1.8 = 1.8

Engine last updated . Checked against 3 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.

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