GoPro OEM red filter compared to after market options?

[divebrasil]

Hi, I know a lot has been talked here about using a red or magenta filter with GoPro cameras to correct color loss. I have in the past shot with after market red filters from Polar Pro, among others, with decent results. But now GoPro offer their own red and magenta filters that fit perfectly on their housings. I couldn't find any reviews or comparison.

I am buying a GoPro Hero 4 and looking into a red filter for it.

Does anybody here have experience with GoPro's own red filter?

Thanks so much

 

[Octopusprime]

My favorite setup is the back skater dual flip. You can put on 2 filters and simply flip them on and off. No filters to lose. I will run yellow/red for blue water and orange/magenta for green water. It is great... Flip them away for surface shots, go yellow/orange for decent to 20ft switch to red... Great colors no lost filters.

---------- Post added February 2nd, 2015 at 08:14 PM ----------

FLIP3.1 Combo Package with SHALLOW, DIVE, and DEEP Underwater Color Correction Filters for GoPro Hero4, Hero3+ & Hero3

 

[hellhole]

finally they launch it...

 

[divebrasil]

Any experience with the GoPro filter?

thanks

---------- Post added February 4th, 2015 at 12:56 AM ----------

My favorite setup is the back skater dual flip. You can put on 2 filters and simply flip them on and off. No filters to lose. I will run yellow/red for blue water and orange/magenta for green water. It is great... Flip them away for surface shots, go yellow/orange for decent to 20ft switch to red... Great colors no lost filters.

Hey octopusprime, when you say you use the yellow/red for blue water, do you mean you carry 2 filters? Do you mean you carry the filter "dive" and the "deep" as per Backscatter's nomenclature? According to them, the "dive" is good until up to 50ft, then switch to "deep". Is that what you do?

I have just used a singe red filter from polar pro for entire dives.

Thanks

 

[Octopusprime]

Yes I carry 2 on most dives. The up to 50ft is really in ideal conditions. If there is any plankton, sand from surge or overcast sky's it is closer to 20-30 feet for shallow over 30 feet is deep.

So it depends on the dive and what you want out of video. I like to use footage from surface, decent, bottom time, accent and back to surface. So if I'm doing a 60ft dive I will do surface with no or politcized filter will switch to yellow/orange filter for first 30 ft the switch to the red or magenta for deeper than 30 ft.

Took me a couple try's but now I can see the change and know when to flip the filter. To figure it out I would take my go pro and a slate on a 60ft decent and video my slate with out filter and both filters and note which filter on the slate. Then when watching video it was easy to see the surface light disapear. Then I would know for future dives. If your dive was going to be to one depth you could get away with out changing filter.

 

[divebrasil]

So if I'm doing a 60ft dive I will do surface with no or politcized filter will switch to yellow/orange filter for first 30 ft the switch to the red or magenta for deeper than 30 ft.

Thanks for the reply. By yellow/orange, do you mean the one they call "dive"? They have 3 filters:

yellow = shallow
orange = dive
red = deep

THanks

 

[peterbucknell]

Hi DiveBrazil,
I've tested many of the filters on the market and they all have their advantages.
The GoPro filter is simple to use and pretty cheap. Make sure to buy the one for the housing you have as the filters are in two sizes: dive housing and standard housing.

Backscatter flip filters are extremely well designed and well made and give you add-on options for macro lenses, but are more expensive.

Hope this helps. Any questions about anything GoPro Underwater can be asked on the Facebook Group

 

[toozler]

I'm not sure where this concept of "yellow" and "orange" filters for shallow water came from, but it's NOT correct.

My assumption is that there are just a bunch of manufacturers that never dove and never shot underwater just pushing random products. Manufacturers also like to add more and more functions that you don't really need, but that will add to the "perceived value" of the product and justify a higher price. Think of toothbrushes with tongue scrappers, angled bristles, rubbery bristles, flexible grips, blah-blah-blah.

Orange and yellow will stop blocking wavelenghts at around the 450mn range, meaning that it will NOT block light blues and greens (450 to 550 nm), which is exactly what you are trying to get rid of.

For diving, you would want something with a red-pinkish hue. Think of a combination of a red filter with a little bit of a magenta filter - there is always some green hues you want to block. For shallow water, just make that a little lighter (less absorption on the same wavelenghts). No yellow, no orange.

ps. Just to clarify: yellow filters can be used for diving, but only on night dives with an UV emitting video light in order to better capture fluorescence.

 

[divebrasil]

Hi toozler, thanks for the reply. Have you had a chance to look at the filters in question?

Are red filters to block blue or to put the reds back? Or does it mean the same?


I think those filters are trying to not block too much blue as they are for shallow dives, where there is still a good amount of color. As you go deeper, you switch to a real red filter.

 

[toozler]

Hi toozler, thanks for the reply. Have you had a chance to look at the filters in question?

Are red filters to block blue or to put the reds back? Or does it mean the same?

I think those filters are trying to not block too much blue as they are for shallow dives, where there is still a good amount of color. As you go deeper, you switch to a real red filter.

I have used a SRP filter for a HERO2 with the Dive Housing. It was good but it would get bubbles stuck to it for a whole dive.

As of the Polar Pro, I never had and will never have one. They produce the worst quality color correction of them all, similar to the Chinese made generic filters. Stay away.

I currently use the EelVision filter on a HERO3. It's an internal filter so it won't catch bubbles, won't fall off and it's by far the best color correction I've seen. Yes, you can't remove it to film yourself getting in and out of the water, but I'm beyond the point of being excited about filming that. Does well from 15 feet to 60-70-80 feet. I do also have the snorkeling version, which is pinkish (here is a demo video)

There are many other nowadays, with flipping and folding and spinning systems, which I find all unecessary (except for the macro diopter part). Keep the GoPro simple, enjoy the dive and forget about what depth you are and if you should switch filters or not. The filter should be one and good enough for a wide range of depths.

On the physics of if, what filters do is only absorb light. The exact hue of each filter makes it absorb a certain portion of the color spectrum. Red filters absorb a large portion of the blue and green and let pass a large portion of the red, oranges, yellows and sometimes, the purples. Whatever light reaches the camera after the filter, is then handled by the white balance.