Filter Advice Needed - Off Wilmington NC

[dstrawhorn]

Good Morning -

Just got my first GoPro (Hero 3+ Black) and need a little advice. I'm going wreck diving next week off Wilmington NC. Visibility is usually ok there, not Caribbean, but still ok. Looking through this forum, I see a lot of people recommending a red filter but they are usually referring to visibility of 100 ft+. Would you still use the red filter where vis is around 50ft (give or take 30 depending on conditions)? If so, any recommendations on a good, reasonably priced filter? If it matters, I'm not going to be using a light other than my can light.

Thanks in advance!

 

[scubaguy655]

I used mine in 30-50' vis in the keys the 1st part of May and was very pleased with the results.

I would love to try it with 100+' of vis

I have the Polar Pro switchblade and it works though not so much for the macro lens IMO. I can't recommend one over another as this is the only one I have tried.

 

[toozler]

Regardless of the visibility, a red filter is only effective on subjects on a close range to you, objects further than 15ft start looking blue/green again.

If you are 40 ft deep and an object is 20 feet from you at the same depth, light had to travel in water for 40 ft (distance from the surface to the object) + 20 ft (distance from the object to you). That adds up to 60 ft and the higher this distance is, less color you get.

The negative side of the low visibility is the low light penetration at depth: less light means less color.

If using a light + filter, make sure the beam is wide and the torch is white LED.

As of the filter, I use and recomend the EelVision filter. It's affordable and works better than the $30+ external filters.