GoPro Hero 4 - best upgrades for ~$150?

[Katie L]

I have the Hero 4, a red filter, and a multipurpose foldable selfie stick/monopod that I've been using as my setup for my early dives. I'm not on a Backscatter/professional budget, but I figure that for around $50-$150. I can probably add a basic rig and enough light to improve my video quality.

This will only be for casual vacation stuff, Cozumel diving specifically. I have a list of other dive gear that is more important than investing in camera equipment, and I don't use it that often.

What would you spend this money on?

I was thinking of a compact rig (easy to travel with) I could hold with two hands, and as much light as I can afford, but I'm not sure which direction to go with that.

I've seen a lot of people talk about these $36 LEDs from Amazon by a brand called Suptig:
Some people mount a single one of these to a handle. I've seen others mount two of those on a small 2-hand tray.

However, another YouTuber I saw had a single, stronger light (a Light and Motion Sola, I believe) on a flexible arm. which made for a more compact setup. I'm familiar with the principles of why you ideally use 2 lights, but as a casual travel "videographer" I was wondering if it made more sense to put the money toward something like this (or a less expensive alternative to the Sola) that could be used in a future, upgraded setup. It seems like some people buy an Orcatorch in this price range
I understand that anything I buy will have its limits, but it would be nice to get some brighter shots of the reefs, my dive buddy, etc.

 

[ReefHound]

As long as you understand that you are almost ten years behind in camera technology and find the quality of video adequate for your purposes, I'd suggest spending $40-50 on a generic tray and a couple of the $40 Suptig lights.

My wife got two of those Suptig lights and they both quit working after a couple of dives. To be more precise, they quit not working, wouldn't turn off and would light until bats died. I don't think it was flooding else that would have killed them. I think it was condensation inside the electronics. Returned them and got two different Suptig lights and those two have worked fine for over 3 years on many trips and dozens of dives. The light volume is decent for that price point. Who knows why two of them had problems and two of them did not? Maybe different production line, different production batch, maybe some internal adjustment was made to better seal electronics, or just random luck. If you do give them a try, buy them when you can test them on a dive within the return window.

 

[ReefHound]

We have two of these $39 lights, last purchased Aug 2018 so been 5 years working.

We have two of these $39 trays, last purchased in Nov 2017.

Looks like Amazon links aren't showing. Search Amazon for the ASIN
Lights - B07BY7127G
Tray - B01FQLFR6E

 

[Katie L]

As long as you understand that you are almost ten years behind in camera technology and find the quality of video adequate for your purposes, I'd suggest spending $40-50 on a generic tray and a couple of the $40 Suptig lights.

Yeah this is what I was thinking. Even if I got a brand new GoPro, which I don't have the extra money for anyway and wasn't planning on buying, the new GoPro would still benefit from additional lights. So I figure that my money might go farther improving the setup I already have.

Thanks for your review!

 

[Johncn]

Hello,

We have are new to macro photography, but not to diving. Very happy with our decision to get the Backscatter "MacroMate" flip lens / filters for shallow => deep. We mostly have used the lens itself, with supplemental lights in the 40 - 90 feet range, but experiments with the filters have been positive.

MACROMATE MINI - The Ultimate GoPro Macro Lens - Underwater Photography - Backscatter

The design team at Backscatter spent more than a year perfecting the ultimate underwater macro lens for GoPro. Watch this video to see razor sharp macro images and open a new door on your GoPro creativity.

www.backscatter.com

Our purchase was direct from BackScatter for about $199 USD for the whole system, but if on a budget or already have your filters, could just by the +15 macro lens for $99 USD.

The "SeaFrogs" lights we bought on Amazon (but likely marketed under different names in different regions) are typically selling for between $39 - $50 USD each:


Mostly we use only one at a time, in practice, but could use one side of the tray with the included miniature "snoot", and one for general lighting (bright / medium) on the other side. Two for night dives is ideal, but one is also fine if on a budget. The lights have probably close to 100 dives now each since January, and are holding up fine.

I would get an inexpensive tray, but make sure it is wide enough to flip the MacroMate lens open to the side, or has ability to mount GoPro off center to accomplish the same. BackScatter has the specs in width requirement on their site, and staff will respond to questions. I disregarded their advice and got cheapo tray we are not happy with, so will not recommend which to get....lol.

Here are a couple of our first shots a few days after arriving in the Philippines in January in an Amazon review. We have since then had very good experiences with macro-specific muck dives in Anilao, Duain and Romblon.

Check out this Amazon review of Seafrogs Diving Video Light Waterproof 195ft/60M White Red Blue Mini Cube Led Camera Lights with Ball Head Cold Shoe Adapter Underwater Photography Lighting for Gopro Canon Nikon Sony Camera(SL-19)

And here are a couple of random samples from Dauin attached. The first one is to show the fixed focal length lens limitation, and is a teeny tiny nudi just a few millimeters in length. The tiniest of things you have to be very intentional on focusing distance from object. Backscatter includes a practice focus stick, which we ignored initially. You need to practice to know what is "too small" or too far when the lens is snapped down. We didn't practice before trip in pool, but would recommend doing so to save yourself some blurry shots at first. ;-) We also marked our "pokey sticks" with duct tape strips to show the range limits in order to have constant reference point with us when down in the muck. That helps at first!

Hope this helps, and good luck with your GoPro enhancements!

JohnCn

 

[Katie L]

Hello,

We have are new to macro photography, but not to diving. Very happy with our decision to get the Backscatter "MacroMate" flip lens / filters for shallow => deep. We mostly have used the lens itself, with supplemental lights in the 40 - 90 feet range, but experiments with the filters have been positive.

MACROMATE MINI - The Ultimate GoPro Macro Lens - Underwater Photography - Backscatter

The design team at Backscatter spent more than a year perfecting the ultimate underwater macro lens for GoPro. Watch this video to see razor sharp macro images and open a new door on your GoPro creativity.

www.backscatter.com

Our purchase was direct from BackScatter for about $199 USD for the whole system, but if on a budget or already have your filters, could just by the +15 macro lens for $99 USD.

The "SeaFrogs" lights we bought on Amazon (but likely marketed under different names in different regions) are typically selling for between $39 - $50 USD each:


Mostly we use only one at a time, in practice, but could use one side of the tray with the included miniature "snoot", and one for general lighting (bright / medium) on the other side. Two for night dives is ideal, but one is also fine if on a budget. The lights have probably close to 100 dives now each since January, and are holding up fine.

I would get an inexpensive tray, but make sure it is wide enough to flip the MacroMate lens open to the side, or has ability to mount GoPro off center to accomplish the same. BackScatter has the specs in width requirement on their site, and staff will respond to questions. I disregarded their advice and got cheapo tray we are not happy with, so will not recommend which to get....lol.

Here are a couple of our first shots a few days after arriving in the Philippines in January in an Amazon review. We have since then had very good experiences with macro-specific muck dives in Anilao, Duain and Romblon.

Check out this Amazon review of Seafrogs Diving Video Light Waterproof 195ft/60M White Red Blue Mini Cube Led Camera Lights with Ball Head Cold Shoe Adapter Underwater Photography Lighting for Gopro Canon Nikon Sony Camera(SL-19)

And here are a couple of random samples from Dauin attached. The first one is to show the fixed focal length lens limitation, and is a teeny tiny nudi just a few millimeters in length. The tiniest of things you have to be very intentional on focusing distance from object. Backscatter includes a practice focus stick, which we ignored initially. You need to practice to know what is "too small" or too far when the lens is snapped down. We didn't practice before trip in pool, but would recommend doing so to save yourself some blurry shots at first. ;-) We also marked our "pokey sticks" with duct tape strips to show the range limits in order to have constant reference point with us when down in the muck. That helps at first!

Hope this helps, and good luck with your GoPro enhancements!

JohnCn

Wow, thanks for the thorough write up!