Photos taken with the Sony RX100 underwater with a suitable underwater housing often become bluish when Auto White Balance (AWB) is used. This is because the red colours are filtered out by the water. The deeper you dive, the more bluish the images become.
This is very nice to see in the following picture, which was taken with automatic white balance with the Sony RX100:
Sony RX100 Underwater Image with Auto White Balance
Due to the blue cast the colours of the turtle are not reproduced correctly and therefore one should try to reduce this blue cast effect by means of settings. There are several ways to do this:
1. Use red light filter - attachment for the underwater housing
2. Activate underwater mode --> Not available for Sony RX100 M1 and M2 (from M3 and firmware V2.00 available in white balance options)
3. Set white balance manually --> for Sony RX100 M1
4. Activate creative mode --> Sony RX100 M2
In the following we have described the different instructions for you:
Sony RX100 from M3 - Activate underwater mode
Opens the camera settings and then navigates to White Balance. In the settings for the white balance you will now find the appropriate option "Underwater". Set these.
This will automatically set presets to make the underwater colors look more natural.
Sony RX100 M2 - Set "Low" Creative Mode
With the Sony RX100 M2 you can set the settings to "Creative mode". Here you will find the setting "Low". Activate them to get more beautiful underwater colors that are not so bluish.
Sony RX100 M1 - Adjust White Balance Manually
The Sony RX100 M1 has neither an underwater mode nor a "low" creative mode. Now proceed as follows to adjust the underwater settings. Opens the menu and then the white balance options.
Scrolls all the way down to "Color temperature / Filter
Now sets the following settings:
- Colour temperature: 9000 K
- Filter: A-B: B5 and G-M: M7
We hope that these settings will help you to take beautiful underwater photos with the Sony RX100. Please keep in mind, however, that you should always do a test before a dive to make sure that this setting really delivers satisfactory results for you.
This is because influences such as particles in the water, the position of the sun, etc. have a not inconsiderable influence on the white balance settings!
Have fun photographing underwater!