GoPro Knockoff (Yi 4K) not such a good deal underwater.

[Brian Snell]

CuzzA, I was hoping to get more information from Yi Technical Support, but I believe the issue I brought up with their camera was new to them... and I don't think any of them are divers. I was hoping that someone that has this camera has figured out how to get "GoPro Comperable" blue water video out of it using a red filter... and would post that discovery for the rest of us.

The point that ggtravel23 brought up... "Sometimes I experienced issues with the colors and I noticed by mistake that if you remove the filter underwater and put it back you get better compensation."... would be interesting to try on the various Yi 4K white balance settings.

 

[Chip Elliott]

Go away ? Show me your crappy video .. Post it.. Do you even know how to use white balance , or color correction ? Prob not
I do know what I'm talking about because I own the Yi 4k camera and I've used it extensively.., if your asking here for answers and you dont want them .. Then dont post ..? If you cant accept an answer ..I've been shooting video for the past 13 years I don't have to prove anything to you I'm already an expert in underwater video ography in the scuba diving world...

The videos i posted looks excellent esp in 4k .. Proving the YI 4k is a action camera that puts the gopro 2 shame... Upset are we ?

 

[vinsanity]

Any updates or discoveries? Surprisingly, this remains the only thread I can find online discussing the Yi 4K and red filters.

 

[H20doctor]

i have one .. love it ..but i dont use a red filter as i dive cold waters of Puget sound

 

[CT-Rich]

And this bot passes the Turing Test (I guess). If you buy a chinese knock off camera, expect a few things:
None of the people assembling the cameras scuba dive. The poor schmoe who runs the customer service desk doesn't speak English any better than a punch drunk Donald Trump. For the 800,000 cameras they send out under 13 different names they have found this email covers 87% of the issues while making it politely clear they are not planning on doing Jacksh!t for your $89 investment.

On a lighter note, use the filter OR the white balance, not both. It is kind of like turning on the furnace and the AC and letting them duke it out.

Finally, LIGHTEN UP, YA'LL. No reason to go all negative on each other..... This is thread about cheap ass cameras and the people that use them.... lets have some fun... here is another fail of cheap dive gear.

 

[fromoutwest]

I used a Yi 4K with the Yi Waterproof case and a Backscatter FLIP 5 red filter for my Roatan footage back in March 2017 and couldn't be happier.

The year prior I used a Hero 4 Black with PolarPro filter in the same location so I have a fairly good comparison to judge against. Using the same 1080/60 settings, my eyes tell me the Yi 4K was equally on par from a sharpness/smoothness perspective, though the GoPro had richer, more vibrant colors. A bit of work in post and all is good.

I think the problem as presented in this thread is simply the use of a cheap filter. Most of these cheap $3 ones are way too red to be useful and the lenses aren't good quality by any means. Spend the $50 for a FLIP 5 and you'll thank me later.

Note in order to get the FLIP 5 to work with the Yi case you will need to shim the top and left side. I used 3M double sided extreme tape - strong enough for a full day of diving. I remove at the end of the day and put on new strips the next day.

Cheers,
Jason

 

[horn34]

I used a Yi 4K with the Yi Waterproof case and a Backscatter FLIP 5 red filter for my Roatan footage back in March 2017 and couldn't be happier.

The year prior I used a Hero 4 Black with PolarPro filter in the same location so I have a fairly good comparison to judge against. Using the same 1080/60 settings, my eyes tell me the Yi 4K was equally on par from a sharpness/smoothness perspective, though the GoPro had richer, more vibrant colors. A bit of work in post and all is good.

I think the problem as presented in this thread is simply the use of a cheap filter. Most of these cheap $3 ones are way too red to be useful and the lenses aren't good quality by any means. Spend the $50 for a FLIP 5 and you'll thank me later.

Note in order to get the FLIP 5 to work with the Yi case you will need to shim the top and left side. I used 3M double sided extreme tape - strong enough for a full day of diving. I remove at the end of the day and put on new strips the next day.

Cheers,
Jason

I've got the same Yi 4K/Backscatter setup you have and I'll be diving in November. Could you list what settings you have on your Yi that give you the best picture? I'd rather not spend 3-4 dives trying to test them all out.

 

[JamesBon92007]

H2O... or is it H20 Doctor. If you don't get my post, why would you bother writing anything? Also, your ignorant opinions added nothing of value, much less posting a couple of professional videos that someone else shot. Go away.

cerich, I do have video lights... $900 dollars worth... unfortunately, they are only useful when your subject is within 12 feet (give or take). My Hero3 with red filter shot outstanding video by the way.

Are you using the same red filter? I too have used a red filter and everything was too red (way too red). I used a different red filter and everything is beautiful. In all I have four different red filters and it was trial and error to get the right one. One is noticeably lighter (I call it pink) and is only good down to around 25 feet. My camera goes screwy underwater with auto white balance (keeps changing the white correction) so I use the "cloudy" setting.

 

[Fibonacci]

I tried a red filter on my GoPro 4 but very patchy results too till I changed to a 67mm Magic Filter held in a cheap eBay adaptor for the 50m GoPro housing.
I usually set at Auto WB, sometimes Manual WB for closeups with a 67mm +10 lens + filter
M A G I C - F I L T E R S

I also use the 67mm filter with an adaptor on my Canon S90 in a WP-DC35 UW housing but one great advantage using it on the much wider angle GoPro camera is no vignetting!

 

[David-A89]

Hi all,

What settings do you use with your Xiaomi Yi 4k while diving?

I'm hesitating between 2.7k -30 fps or 1080p - 60 fps. Also, what do you do regarding white balance etc..? Thanks !!