First video ever - Komodo/Bali, Indonesia

[mpagri]

I had the awesome fortune to dive Indonesia over the summer and shot video for the first time. I shoot a lot of still above land, but I wanted to capture my dive moments with video, even though I have little experience with it.

I love my dSLR but buying a housing for a dated camera didn't make sense. With the help of many members on this board, I put together this rig:

Panny Lumix LX7
Ikelite housing
Sola 1200
+7 Macro Lens
Nauticam Wet-Mate Dome Port -- I scratched this early on...stupid Bali shore dives.

This setup has a lot of potential for what it is (point and shoot category), I think it's better for macro than WA, but my macro was so shaky that all my video is a little lack luster; user error not equipment. Color looks good to me with minimal tweaking in post. Beats a gopro IMO.

Editing software:
Sony Vegas Pro 12

Not too bad of a learning curve, to get halfway decent, but still tons of buttons I have no idea about.


And now without further ado, I present my first video ever:

Scuba Diving Indonesia - Komodo and Bali - Part 1 - YouTube

 

[anakkuta]

What the "stupid Bali shore dives" mean?

 

[mpagri]

What the "stupid Balishore dives" mean?

Some of the better dives in Bali - the Tulamben wreck - are a beach entry and the waves can be pretty choppy, making it difficult to get fins on and off while keeping the camera secure. My wide angle dome lens bounced on a few rocks on one of these dives and got scratched.

---------- Post added January 8th, 2014 at 11:06 PM ----------

Here's Part 2

Scuba Diving Indodesia - Komodo/Bali - Part 2 - YouTube

[video=youtube;sDKBbB56YIE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDKBbB56YIE[/video]

 

[Interceptor121]

The footage at wide angle looks good

For the macro I would recommend avoiding the combination slow down footage plus stabiliser in the video editor for long intervals as it does a warp effect

It is better to slow down and cut what you can save leaving things as is

Overall looks good for macro you may want to look at a tripod solution like this one

Tips for Underwater Video ? Tripods and Monopods | Interceptor121 Underwater Video

 

[mpagri]

The footage at wide angle looks good

For the macro I would recommend avoiding the combination slow down footage plus stabiliser in the video editor for long intervals as it does a warp effect

It is better to slow down and cut what you can save leaving things as is

Overall looks good for macro you may want to look at a tripod solution like this one

Tips for Underwater Video ? Tripods and Monopods | Interceptor121 Underwater Video

Just saw this reply. thanks for the feedback. definitely need a solution for steadier macro. i slowed it down in post and then youtube suggested I use its stabilizer, I went with it even with the warp. Really though I just need to be more stable shooting, ill look into the tripod.

 

[Interceptor121]

Never use youtube stabiliser. You put effort in editing and you want the clip to look the same as you uploaded good or bad it was

 

[mpagri]

Here's part 3:

(vimeo this time cause youtube didn't like my music copyright infractions)

[video=vimeo;86468355]http://vimeo.com/86468355[/video]

 

[EL Pistoffo]

That looked much better than the hatchet job YouTube did to your video.

 

[mpagri]

That looked much better than the hatchet job YouTube did to your video.

I totally agree, vimeo treats them much more nicely. I also think I'm getting better at editing. I have one more that is unfortunately too large for vimeo so it'll prob go to youtube. I got these all done just in time to go take some more footage in thailand =).

I rented the sola then, I'm thinking of buying archon now.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

I totally agree, vimeo treats them much more nicely. I also think I'm getting better at editing. I have one more that is unfortunately too large for vimeo so it'll prob go to youtube. I got these all done just in time to go take some more footage in thailand =).

I rented the sola then, I'm thinking of buying archon now.

Good to know your editing with Vegas Pro 12 like myself. I'm about to get into an LX7 setup. Your video helps reinforce my choice. I like my Archons, it's a pretty good bang for the buck, especially when cost counts.

I often dream of diving those spots you hit up. I'll hopefully be diving Bali next year, it'll be my intro into Indonesia.