Filming w Gopro/Contour

[joecwazy]

Going to get one of these two(either Gopro w Blurfix or Sartek flat lens mod...any opinions) or the ContourRoam w its underwater casing. Both have pluses/minuses...I like the fact that the Contour you can adjust exposure etc. on the computer...seems easier than toggling with the buttons on Gopro.

Just curious how you guys actually go about using the Gopro underwater and what settings you prefer to shoot in. I'm thinking of putting a lanyard around the base of the mount and putting that around my wrist but I think I'd need something additional to keep the camera steady. Emeralddiving offers a two handed staybase for the Contour which seems like it would work very well. After watching lots of video from both cameras on youtube it seems Gopro shoots better quality(finer focus)...I find the fisheye a bit annoying if people can't keep the camera from shaking....but Contour appears to bring subjects in a bit closer. But it is definetly important regardless of what camera you have to keep the thing steady and focused on one subject/scene for the duration of a clip.

Being a college student without a complete set of dive gear most all footage this camera will be taking anytime soon will be snorkeling/freediving in <30 ft of water. I've considered jerry rigging the camera to the end of a pole so I could film constantly at about 10 ft...of course I'd only use this over a 30ft or less bottom just in case the camera pops off I can dive down and get it.

 

[Marty Cerven]

I havent ever used a contour so I cant comment on it but do use gopro cameras and I find the Blurfix the best option. I have pretty much all the flat lens modifications and made a little comparison video here. The oculus r5 lens is pretty much the same design as the sartek flat lens and all other drop in lenses that replace the stock round lens with a flat lens and so all have pretty much the same vignetting in all modes other then 1080. The blurfix and Eye of mine are the only commercial fixes that provide vignette free 720 modes and lower levels in photo and 960. Blurfix uses glass filters for the flat fix which can be replaced with UR pro filters for better colours in natural light the EOM is a glued on plastic piece using a similar sized outer flat lens.

[video=youtube;WlCvDaDrUss]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlCvDaDrUss[/video]

I tend to film mostly in r3 720p60 mode with the gopro, mostly as the video has a higher frame rate and you get away with a little movement where the 1080 mode needs an extremely steady hand to get good results. 720P60 looks great in original format but no video hosting site plays back in 60p downcoverting to 20P doesn't have any issues though.

You can check my vimeo channel as most of my recent videos can be downloaded in 720p60 at the same bitrate as the original gopro videos. Also the higher FOV in 720 gets more close objects into the frame and the closer your subject is to the camera the better the colour will be. The fish-eye isnt all that noticeable underwater as the water magnifies the image so it pretty much balances the zoomed out effect of the wide angle. Shooting in 1080 reduces the FOV if needed and having options is the advantage of the non drop in fixes that let you shoot in all modes rather then being stuck with only 1080p mode or get vignetting.

Using URpro filters in good conditions adds so much to the videos with the gopro and can work to decent depths given favourable conditions. Here is a short video of all my Thailand videos using ablurfix and URpro cyan filters, depths from snorkel to 30m and given good conditions 15m video looked as good as 1m colour wise and starts to drop off from there but still a fair amount of detail was left getting close to the 30m mark. This was all shot just holding the camera in hand (pretty shaky as I didnt bring my custom hand mount with me) and a few head mounted shots at shark point and loh samah bay.

[video=vimeo;29883089]http://vimeo.com/29883089[/video]

Comparing my older videos with no filters with a good amount of natural light 25m with a filter would be close to 5m and no filter when it comes to colour detail. Blurfix makes it easy to use filters and has vignette free 720p and low vignette in photo mode so I personally think its the best way to go. If your going too deep it may not be your best option clear filters tested to 130ft but the UR pros have been tested to 55m with no issues according to the guys at SRP I have had it down to 40m with no issue.

Once you start diving too deep the low light levels make the gopro footage not too good unless you have realy good video lights as the very low light video isnt great with this camera. I assume contour wouldnt be much better in low light and for deep divers other cameras are probably a better option over the action cams made for good video in bright daylight conditions.

Here is a shallow water filter test around 3m in very bad vis around 2m with pretty murky waters, used my handheld mount so its a bit more stable.

[video=vimeo;29452318]http://vimeo.com/29452318[/video]

 

[downeym]

I have done a few dives with my contour and have been fairly happy with the results. I think the GoPro has a little better picture, but my personal opinion is they are both fairly comparable. Both are going to have issues with deeper depths and lower light levels.

Here are 2 videos I shot last week in the Philippines for an example. These were both shot with the older ContourHD 1080p camera in 720p 60fps mode and with the cheap $30 contour underwater housing. Its only rated for 30ft, but so far I have had it down to 70+ without any issues... the newer model housing is rated for 90 I think, which is why I am not too worried about my current housing leaking. So far, so good!

[video=youtube;1GoizDp0DLE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GoizDp0DLE[/video]

[video=vimeo;30217210]http://vimeo.com/30217210[/video]

The contour cameras are physically smaller than the GoPro and I think easier to use. Its pretty painless really... I just turn it on before jumping in the water and turn it off once I get back on the boat. The camera is just strapped to my left wrist and when I see something I want to film, I just use my right hand to help stabilize the camera. It is small enough that I can forget about it when I am not filming anything. Works great, although you look like captain America swimming through the water with one arm extended!