Lights /tray / setup choice for Gopro

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Delojo

Registered
Messages
11
Reaction score
2
Location
Sevilla
# of dives
100 - 199
Hello:

I would like to mount a Gopro hero 7 black on a tray with lights to get better results (Im new to underwater videography, so far I have jujst used a gopro without lights, mounted on a pole and used a red filter) and shoot in 4k in regular , recreational dives ( up to 30 meters) . My aim is mostly wide angle and even tho I know Gopro cameras are not good for macro , i would like to ocasionally shoot the best macro I can . I am also learning how to edit and im willing to do some post -edit , colour correction, etc.

I would like my rig to be AS COMPACT, LIGHT AND SMALL as possible (but , as anyone else, I want to get the best out of it) and, if its doable, make it a way that the lights can be somehow folded (maybe flexible arms) together with the tray so I can secure it or attach it to my bcd with a clip or carabiner so I can go hands free whenever I please.

So Im seeking for advise here as I am completely new to lights , trays and stuff

My idea is to get :

- The smallest/lightest tray i can find . Maybe one of those with flexible arms (if Its better to get regular arms , ball system, etc, please let me know)

- two lights of around 6000-10000 lumen each or whichever power I can possibly get with my budget

- filters and macro lens if needed

My budget is around 1200-1500 € (and I already have the camera , the housing and a red filter )

my questions are:

1- whats the best I can do/get to achieve what i want?

2- what about the floats , Should I really care about buoyancy ? Is it going to drag me if I clip it to my bcd If I dont put floats on it? is it going to make the whole thing much bigger if i choose to use floats?

3- Should i consider ambient filters for the lights when shooting in relatively bright conditions? What about the red filter ?

4- Considering I cannot change the settings of the camera once in the water, what would the best white balance option be? should I just match the colour temperature of the lights? what about ISO?

5- If I get , lets say, 2 lights of 8000 lumens each... What is my shooting range? how far can my subjects be in order to be well lit?

I would like to thank you in advance if you took the time to read this long post. I know its very long and it has a lot of questions but I wanted to include it all in a single post rather than posting a few of them.

THANKS

Jorge
 
My 2c on a couple of points...

Neutral buoyancy is what I strive for and I do use float arms. I had one instance when my rig was negative where I failed to clip it properly and it sank to the bottom while I was waiting for the boat to move to pick me up. (I let it go thinking it was clipped) It also makes the dive more relaxing and my trim more predictable (I can even let go of the rig and swim in front to get footage of myself).

While my rig is a full DSLR setup I recently bought this tray (CAD$18 on Amazon CA) for my Paralenz so my step-kids can use it. It has threaded holes that you can add balls to attach standard arms. You could add more quite easily with a hand drill and simple tap. I tried flex arms initially but found standard ball mounts necessary when adding buoyancy arms.

Balls, clamps and arms are readily available but without a local source I tend to order from KitDive

61m9XjrffQL._AC_SL1500_.jpg 711ML+c7wAL._AC_SL1500_.jpg 1_2x_470x.jpg
 
Thanks for your reply CanadaDan

That tray looks perfect for me, ill condider it

Thanks again!
 
Does anyone roughly know how negatively buoyant ( weight in water) a small aluminium tray , a gopro and a housing is?
 
the tray and gopro will only be slightly negative, it is really your lights you need to compensate.

if you get lights bigger than 4000 lumens, i would recommend you get the ultralight style arms so that you can then add floats for neutral buoyancy.
 
Thanks a lot for your reply runsongas

Sorry for my ignorance but, are those ultralight arms foldable during the dive (so i can somehow pack the whole thong tpgether and clip it to my bcd? Would i be able to adjust the position of my lights during the dive? Can i insert the floats through the arms?

Thank u!!!
 
what you do is you loosen them then can fold them back on themselves a bit. not perfect but helps to save some space on the boat. the arms are still adjustable during the dive and the floats are wrapped onto the arms.

if you try to clip to a bcd, i would clip off to both a chest and waist d ring.
 
Full float arms are great but with girder arms you can add STIX Floats during assembly.

For the underwater weight get all the hardware and then string it from a fish scale while it’s all submerged in a garbage can/big bucket of water. Buy floatation to match. If mainly diving salt then remove about 2-3% of the weight. (I think I remembered the percentage correctly but double check)
 
My 2c on a couple of points...

While my rig is a full DSLR setup I recently bought this tray (CAD$18 on Amazon CA) for my Paralenz so my step-kids can use it. It has threaded holes that you can add balls to attach standard arms. You could add more quite easily with a hand drill and simple tap. I tried flex arms initially but found standard ball mounts necessary when adding buoyancy arms.

Balls, clamps and arms are readily available but without a local source I tend to order from KitDive

View attachment 638309 View attachment 638310 View attachment 638314

+1 on this tray. I use the same and it's been a good mount tray. I do use it with arms/lights and it works well.
 
Thanks for you replies.

I think flexible arms will do. I think they are more convenient for me and i have seen floats that can go wrapped around these arms

What are the cons of flexible e arms?

Im cosidering getting 2 bigblue vl10000p lights. Their weight is 457g (each) buoyancy - 173. Would that be too much weight for flexible arms or my kind of rig?

-thanks a lot
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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