Did I waste my money on the Backscatter Flip Up Filter?

[ronscuba]

Will be interesting to see the results from the 3 different filters. External filter has the benefit of removing it when necessary. Internal gel filters are so cheap you could have many different shades/colors to suit the dive/water situation.

I wonder in editing if you could make footage from the 3 different filters look the same.

 

[PAFirefighter]

Hmm, I may stick with my screw in filter. It worked great and I have no complaints except the lacking ability to take above water shots.

 

[Marty Cerven]

Will be interesting to see the results from the 3 different filters. External filter has the benefit of removing it when necessary. Internal gel filters are so cheap you could have many different shades/colors to suit the dive/water situation.

I wonder in editing if you could make footage from the 3 different filters look the same.

Ron that is also something I will try when comparing the different filters, I will post both raw footage and will bring my slate along to use as a wb point to test the full potential of each filter, along with its raw output.

 

[Interceptor121]

Backscatter uses magic filter, this filter has been around for years and has been developed by Alex Mustard and Peter Rowlands. The magic filter was a solution for inside the housing filter whilst URPRO are heavier material to go outside the housing (such as the ikelite version). I am not sure why and I have never seen an automagic to be put outside the housing like the backscatter one.

The magic filters are designed to work up to 15 meters, the UR/PRO gives good results until around 20 meters
So the different performance at 22 meters in that video is not a susprise and besides even the UR/PRO is border line and quite green as a bit too deep.
When it comes to the two divers at 12 meters those look pretty poor for the automagic.
The footage seems very noisy and that is strange as the magic filter takes away less fstop than the URPRO (-1 fstop)

In terms of filter quality itself the blue water UR/PRO beats the magic filter in my opinion so that is not in discussion
I am a bit surprised by the footage with the magic though as that looks nowhere near other material I have seen shot with that filter. However as I said the magic filter go typically inside the housing such as the one that reefphoto sells. Am not sure why backscatter are using automagic as an external flip seems very strange

 

[Marty Cerven]

Interceptor I think what could be having an effect is the thickness of the filter material, the magic by BS would be 4 to 6 times thicker then the URPro by SRP here. Even though the magic does appear to be a slighly lighter shaded filter allowing more light this is going through much more filter material so this will likely reduce light getting through it. This also shows by its reduced performance at greater depths much like the differnce between the regular cyan and shallow water version by urpro.

Its hard to get an exact idea of the difference in thickness because the SRP is in a filter holder and has a different shape to it which will be understandable once some images are released. But I did have the filter out when changing to the filter into a second version of the filter holder and I think this is even quite a bit thinner then the urpro glass filters.

Not sure how the thickness compares to the regular plastic urpro filters but thickness of the material would likely have an effect on light transmission. Id post pics but Im not allowed to realease images of the srp filter yet. The oculus filter which design wise is nearly identical to the bs version apart from different and more crude mounting method is also only about 80% of the bs magic filter. However this is also a different shade a little more orange and just a generic filter so likely wont perform as well.

As you say the original auto magic was just a gel sheet but magic have also listed external filters in variouse ring diameters and these are possibly external use filters. I dont think having it mounted inside or outside a housing would have any effect on its filter performance as the light still needs to pass through the same amount of material either way, I could be wrong there but I cant imagine how that should have a negative effect. Being so thick though likely has a negative effect as this magic filter would be much thicker then the magic gel sheets and possibly any standard screw in filters but I havent seen one of those by magic so I cant say.

Also would the thicker filter be designed in a lighter shade, then a magic filter on a gel sheet to compensate for the thickness of the material which in the end should give similar overall filtering effect. I have yet to see any bs filter footage do much beyond 10m in all videos posted and I will do a quick 10m test with the filters today. Even though the urpro filter footage wont be as good as using lights at deeper depths or any depths really the difference between it an no filter is astounding IMHO. As lights only work to less then 2 meters from the light source any wider tyoe shots will always end up best with a filter, whilst a close up will be much better with lights.

Filters vs lights price difference still gives a big plus to filters as even the most expensive filter is only a very small percentage of the cost of a half decent set of lights. Filters are also much easier to use and if the urpro can still make a significant difference over no filter in good conditions to 25m or so, its likely a better choice then one that starts struggling at 8m.

 

[Interceptor121]

Marty there is no doubt that a thicker filter will absorb more light and push the go pro to use a higher ISO
It is apparent from that footage that the video with magic is not only less colourful but has also more noisy
The original magic is a tiny sheet of plastic that absorb light very little. The external version from back scatter seems quite thick probably takes more than 1 fstop away from the exposure
I have an ikelite push up for my Sanyo and I can tell you the results are great and it takes exactly one stop out. Unfortunately the gopro has no exposure controls however you can test that filter with another camera even still. You put it in front and see how many ev you loose with a camera at half press taking a still

 

[DMDavid]

I actually have not had a chance to test out the Backscatter flip up filter yet, but from the footage that some people have been posting on this forum, it looks like it has VERY little effect on bringing out color at depth. I liked the selling point of a flip up filter that is semi-permanently attached, but if the filter doesn't do anything, what is the point? It looks like I will still have better footage with the old EoM housing + Ikelite filter that I "ghetto rigged" to it.

I recently tested my GoPro with the flip-up Backscatter filter and I was amazed at the color difference in the post processing and editing phase.

The best use of the filter is above 2atm in clear water (not green or low vis).

 

[parzdiver]

Unfortunately logistical problems prevented me from shooting any video at the quarry. It is a logistical issue when you forget to bring the camera with you, right? Besides, viz in the quarry was so bad and it was overcast, so I wouldn't have shot anything useful no matter what filter I was using.

 

[DMDavid]

Unfortunately logistical problems prevented me from shooting any video at the quarry. It is a logistical issue when you forget to bring the camera with you, right?

 

[CajunDiva]

You absolutely DID NOT waste your money! The magic filter from Backscatter made a HUGE difference in my videos and I don't regret purchasing it at all.

Here is a clip of videos I shot last month while diving at Rainbow Reef Dive Center in Key Largo, FL. The wreck shots are at the Spiegel Grove...approx. 90 - 100 ft. depth. I am almost positive I had the magic filter on during those shots, but can't remember with absolute certainty.

Diving in Key Largo with Rainbow Reef Dive Center - YouTube