Custom Manual White Balance v Protune Video Raw

[hendo25]

Hi,

I am looking to buy a Hero 3 Black edition, but I am still looking to confirm whether the white balance captured in Protune Raw is as good as a custom white balance recorded at source.

I have read a lot of reports, including a lot of very informative posts on these forums. But I still haven't quite got a clear conclusion.

This is a link to a recent video shot in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZv-vkvqBiQ

Depth – approx. 15m
Equipment - Canon Ixus 115, Ikelite Housing, Epoque wide angle lens.

Using the Canon Ixus I can manually set a custom white balance, using a dive slate. So during the dive I probably do this around every 3m change in depth. (I know some people think that this is laborious, but it’s very easy and quick to do, and is not a problem).

And I am quite happy with the resulting color and white balance in this video.

In still photography I am more than happy adjusting white balances of RAW photos in Lightroom.

What I am trying to learn, is whether I can achieve just as good results using GoPro Protune (what I understand is RAW video), and then adjust the WB in post?
Or am I better off keeping to a setup where I set the WB on the fly, during the dive?

As yet - I haven't found a good example of someone getting great results from Protune, after adjusting the WB in post.

(I am not keen on using filters... I have never used them, and I've never really had a need for them. I find that setting WB on the fly eliminates the need for a filter.)

If anyone can point me towards a decent video shot using Protune, with before and after WB corrections, that would be appreciated.

Many thanks


Hendo

 

[Interceptor121]

The gopro is cheaper than buying a compact and a wide angle lens but also less flexible
There is not only the white balance issue but also the minimum focussing distance the gopro will not be able to focus at one inch like your ixus and protune camraw is not better than setting custom white balance
You already have a wet lens as well so you have already 110 degrees field of view which is fine and there is no barrel distortion
Your next step is to get a focus light so that you can shoot macro video, if I recall the ikelite housing doesn't have a cold shoe so you will need a tray and arm
Epoque makes a good value one and so does inon if you don't want to buy a sola
Forgot to add your ixus has 35 Mb/s already so there are no bitrate advantages either most likely you can edit native files now

 

[hendo25]

Hi Interceptor,
Thanks for your reply, and I think you have confirmed what I already thought.
There's obviously a few great plus points with regards to Gopro - flexibility, cost etc. One major point I am interested in is capturing RAW stills, which I can't do on the Ixus.
I saw a few people just pull a Hero out of their pockets, compared to my housing and lens setup - it looked way too convenient! And I wanted one!!
But I think I will stick my current gear, and perhaps as per your suggestion, my next purchase may be a light.

Another good point about the bitrate... I hadn't looked into that before. Many thanks for your help. The files are QT MOV files, and I'm not yet sure of the level of compression going on.

Thanks

 

[Interceptor121]

You should check CHDK maybe there is a build for your ixus and you can capture raw stills

There is...
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/ELPH100

 

[hendo25]

Thanks again Interceptor.
I've never heard of CHDK, but have now successfully got it up and running on my Ixus.
Next time I'm under, I'll snap some raws.
This has confirmed my decision to stick with my current setup. Thanks again for the tips.