GoPro HD Hero Camera Scubadiving @ Brac and Little Cayman w/ Eye of Mine Flat Lens

[Marty Cerven]

Scotty absolutely invest in a good filter for both tropical and green water
I have two Ikelites for my wide angle and make a huge difference, if you look at my youtube channel there is a video called Sharm Beach part 3, there are clownfish and a moray eel, believe it or not it was at 26 meters. Of course it was a sunny day and I have manual white balance but when I try a close up at same depth without the wide angle and hence no filter (my filter is on top of the WA lens) it all turns green even with manual white balance and I need to use a focus light.

If you look at most people that don't produce DVD but work on boats you will see that they never have lights they only use a filter. Down to max 25 you can get away without lights for wide angle using a good filter and manual white balance (I understand the go pro does not have that however there are tricks for the editing that can help). The other advantage is that you don't need lights. I am not saying you should not have them but lights will definitely make your set up very expensive and at that point you should think about getting a proper camera instead as an investment

Not sure what can go on your Go Pro but my advice is 100% to get a good filter as it will improve things dramatically. I recall that magic filters have a produce for cameras that do not have manual white balance maybe that is a starting point?

Let us know how you get on

Filters are really usefull, not sure how you will put them on the EOM housing but theres probably a way, the blurfix is great for this as it takes any 55mm filter but needs a low profile one to have no vignette in 720p. They do supply UR pro filters for tropical green and shallow waters of which I have just got a full set of now and will give them all a bit of a test soon.

I have been experimenting with the blurfix and URpro filters with the gopro and given good conditions and Lighting down to 25m gets better colours then no filter at 5-10m. You can check my channels and see my latest videos from thailand all using a urpro cyan filter. The gopro struggles in low light so going too deep in bad light filters wont help you much like can be seen in my king cruiser wreck dive with low vis at 30m, but the other 2 dives hin muang at 20-26m and hin deng at 20m max the colours are much better then say my shark video which was filmed 15-20m with good vis and light using an EOM housing with no filter.

 

[Interceptor121]

URPRO is the manuacturer of the Ikelite filters I use and if available for the GoPro I would recommend them

The videos that Marty is posting have great colour when there is enough light so it would seem that is the way to go. Alternatively Magic Filters can be placed in the housing however as you don't need a filter at 0-3 meters I prefer the option of having something that can be removed, because for example you could use a LED torch as light for some small stuff.
In the case of the Go Pro though it seems the smallest focus distance is two feet which means that macro really is not an option.

 

[scottyscubbaa]

Okay, thanks again for the advice.. So I will defiantly buy a filter. I'm just trying to think of a way to attach it to my rig.

 

[Marty Cerven]

Okay, thanks again for the advice.. So I will defiantly buy a filter. I'm just trying to think of a way to attach it to my rig.

View attachment 103221

Ive got one of those so did you film that video in 3D? Id love to see a 3d version of your video.

I don't know how to put a filter on this housing, you could possibly put some magic filter sheets inside the cavity but I don't know how you would ever get it out again, or maybe a bigger sheet attached to the outside somehow but you want something easy enough to take away as in certain conditions a filter wont do you much good.

I heard the guys at SRP are going to put out a 3d housing hopefully in the next few months so I will just use my EOM filter-less for 3D until that one is out.

 

[scottyscubbaa]

Ive got one of those so did you film that video in 3D? Id love to see a 3d version of your video.

I don't know how to put a filter on this housing, you could possibly put some magic filter sheets inside the cavity but I don't know how you would ever get it out again, or maybe a bigger sheet attached to the outside somehow but you want something easy enough to take away as in certain conditions a filter wont do you much good.

I heard the guys at SRP are going to put out a 3d housing hopefully in the next few months so I will just use my EOM filter-less for 3D until that one is out.

Unfortunately I didn't film this in 3D as i only just got that housing a few days ago. I am heading to Bonaire on Friday for a week and will be shooting in 3D!

 

[Interceptor121]

What is that thing!
3D sounds exciting. I would think a magic filter attached on the actual camera lens is the only option until you get proper filters available

 

[Marty Cerven]

Its a Gopro 3d housing I haven't used it too much yet as I had an issue with my cameras and needed a warranty replacement, just got both cameras back so will shoot some more with it.

Heres a few videos I shot using it, this is fairly shallow at around 5m during the Spider crab molt at Rye pier in Melbourne Australia. I used the Neo 3D trial to adjust the colours as white balance is a bit of an issue with this setup as its not locked between cameras with the sync cable. It still didnt have a keyframe white balance setting available between left and right images which would be needed to get colours to match up properly but that's the best I could do at that time. Colouring didn't end up all that natural looking but has a bit of a Pirates of the Caribbean look to it.

This ones rendered in 3d Anaglyph on vimeo and needs red blue glasses to view it.
[video=vimeo;26611351]http://vimeo.com/26611351[/video]

Here is a youtube version with more 3D viewing options, one of the rare times when YT is better then Vimeo
[video=youtube;Qo7_6_7vLAU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo7_6_7vLAU[/video]

Some spider crabs in 3D youtube
[video=youtube;aUzQMSFHrbM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUzQMSFHrbM[/video]

You may need to watch the youtube versions at youtube to get 3D viewing options

 

[scottyscubbaa]

What is that thing!
3D sounds exciting. I would think a magic filter attached on the actual camera lens is the only option until you get proper filters available

GoPro 3D!! So I purchased some magic filters what do you think would be the best way to attach them? I was thinking electrical tape as a possibility.

@Marty Cerven

Cool vids man! The puffer fish chase looked like fun haha. I Was looking at your channel and that golf video with the gopro is sweet! SUBSCRIBED!

 

[Marty Cerven]

GoPro 3D!! So I purchased some magic filters what do you think would be the best way to attach them? I was thinking electrical tape as a possibility.

@Marty Cerven

Cool vids man! The puffer fish chase looked like fun haha. I Was looking at your channel and that golf video with the gopro is sweet! SUBSCRIBED!

Thanks glad you liked some of my videos, I tried some golf stuff out on the course would have been a great fail video when I attatched the gopro to my driver. I had a proper go at it my average drive is around 300yds so unsurprisingly the mount broke at impact and the gopro went about 100m down the fairway and hit a kangaroo. But the memory card got dislodged during the tumble and nothing was recorded.

Regarding the magic filter, if its big enough to cover the front lens I'd cut it and try fit it inside the black plastic and tapehthe top and bottom. Otherwise you can try and cut it to fit the inside and try get it in there somehow but the outside would be your best option.

Id be interested to see how the videos look, with the magic filter I assume it should work similar to the urpro filters.