New GoPro housing????

[ColeFoster]

Have you visited their official website too?

 

[Marty Cerven]

I just had another look at the EOM site and see they are now stocking flat housings with permenat orange filters, looks to still be a plastic lens as they do link it with the scratch remover. Good idea but i still prefer the blurfix version with removable glass lenses giving you more filter options for different conditions with the one housing.

I still use my EOM 3d housing as there is none better atm and even tbough shooting and editing 3d footage is much more complicated I think the gopro does a great job, the hd2's are a little buggy in 3d still though and need more work on the firmware to get it stable. I wonder if gopro will be making a flat the kit? But im just waiting for one to come out that will be able to use filters then I will shoot much more uw 3d video.

 

[AquaProHd]

One thing that came to mind, is the EOM color correction housing limits the diver to only shooting underwater with it. This requires the videographer to carry multiple housings. (1 topside housing, 1 non-color underwater housing and the color lens underwater housing) With the BlurFix you unscrew the filter and shot topside as normal. Changing a Blurfix filter for the correct color solution, is quick and simple.

One of the great features that the GoPro offers, is how easy it is to transport to an exotic dive location. Carrying additional housings seems to negate this feature. For me, the BlurFix compliments the reason why I started shooting the GoPro. Simple, easy to carry, great video at an affordable price. Add the Blurfix and expand those feature to underwater videography. I know I'm a bit bias. Sorry.

 

[bdombrowski]

Does the Blur fix offer zero vignetting at any resolution setting on the Hero 2? I know the new GoPro housing coming out in March meets those specs, which is why the lens part is rectangular. I speculate the price will be under $60 based on what I learned at DEMA.

 

[Marty Cerven]

Blurfix is zero vignette in all modes apart from 960p and wide photo when using the srp provided clear or ur pro filters.

In the 2 modes it vignettes in its only a few pixels in the corner. You can check my other post with my latest comparison showing the blurfix with hd1 and hd2 in all modes which will show you the vignette levels as there is no cropping done to the videos. The hd1 has a little more vignette then the hd2 but its still only in these 2 modes with the blurfix.

 

[Wolvan]

I've been looking at different options for my new Hero2 I got just before I dive trip to Kona, Hawaii. The Blurfix looks very nice as I want to use it for downhill skiing and a UV filter would be nice with all the bright snow reflection etc (Which I already have with my Nikon DLSR). The blurfix looks like it should be easily handle both. Just had some questions to make sure I understand how it works.

The addon flat lens corrects the blur without having to actually replace the curved lens? (like I've seen some other options do)
How is the blurfix attached? Permanent once attached but per the website you can remove the outer lens/oring and basically use the stock case curved lens for dry picture taking? To attach a different filter (ie UV) for picture/video taking above water, do you leave the blurfix lens on and just put the filter overtop?

Sorry for the newbie questions, but just getting started with the Hero2 and all the stuff. Looking forward to hopefully another dive trip this summer with better quality film.

Here is a short clip with stock housing etc on the Kona Hawaii Manta Ray Night dive.

[video=youtube_share;T64toBJKO_c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T64toBJKO_c[/video]

Sean

 

[Bhtmec2]

Great video thanks for posting. How many divers were there? Looked like a lot of lights out there......

 

[Marty Cerven]

The addon flat lens corrects the blur without having to actually replace the curved lens? (like I've seen some other options do)

The Big advantage of this design is that it keeps the original Gopro housing seal independent of the Blurfix adapter which makes its own separate air chamber to fix the Blur issue, if for any reason you had a filter failure or you dont quite set the filter properly then flooding the blurfix wont effect your camer at all.

How is the blurfix attached? Permanent once attached but per the website you can remove the outer lens/oring and basically use the stock case curved lens for dry picture taking?

It attached by replacing the original black ring on the gopro with the Blurfix adapter, you still use the original oring which seals the main housing. Some silicon sealant is used to keep the Blurfix air chamber water tight but this can all be removed if you need to so its not permanent but you wouldn't bother taking it off unless you really had to for some reason.

To attach a different filter (ie UV) for picture/video taking above water, do you leave the blurfix lens on and just put the filter overtop?

The Blurfix lens itself is the filter, so the stock lens is a zeikos clear UV 55mm filter ground down a little by SRP to be very low profile so it avoids vignetting in the wide modes of the gopro. Stacking filters would cause vignetting as the Gopro does have a 170 degree FOV which means you dont have much room to work with to avoid vignetting. Here is a pic I made to explain basicly how this works and why filters cant be too deep when using a gopro.

This is a blurfix with a Filter provided by SRP if you imagine a line going from the gopro lens extending through to the filters inside edge, My line is just an example to demonstrate this but in theory the angle where these 2 lines would meet should equal the gopros FOV angle of 170 degrees. These SRP filters are vignette free in all gopro wide video modes with only a slight vignette in 960p and wide photo but this is only a few pixels in the corner. Any filter that would extend beyond this red line would cause some vignetting in the wide gopro modes.



Here is an example of vignetting in the 960P video mode with URpro swcy filter



Here is the wide photo mode in 11mpx with URpro swcy filter



All other modes are vignette free with this filter

Changing filters is simply done by unscrewing one and screwing in another, the blurfix takes any 55mm filter but to avoid vignetting you need one that's very low profile which is why SRP actually grind down all the filters they sell a little bit for best performance. For above water use you can just change the filter or if you dont want to use a filter you can just use it with no filter attached and it will work the same as a stock gopro housing.

You may be able to find other 55mm filters that are low profile enough but most likely they may all need to be ground down a little but I only use SRP provided filters having the clear UV, Urpro underwater filters and I have some marumi CP filters for above water use.

Most standard low profile 55mm filters should be vignette free in 127 fov modes but will most likely vignette in the 170 fov modes.

The Gopro OEM fix uses a very similar concept to the Blurfix and is the reason why its so big, the square design is so that it gets vignette free in all modes. So this fix will not have the vignetting in 960p and wide photo mode but if you see my example pics the Blurfix vignetting is so sligh in these modes I dont see it being that big an issue.

Depth rating of the Gopro version should be 60m which is a deeper then the Blurfix which most filters are rated around the 40m mark but this list is available on the SRP site of what they have tested each filter to.

Main disadvantage I see is the square design which will make it a bit trickier to use filters as standard round filters wont work too well if at all.

 

[Wolvan]

Thanks for the detailed reply! It looks like a great solution to the curved lens problem. Now just gotta get the wife to plan another trip this summer I hope. We both dive, so that helps alot.

As for the video, their must have been around 50 divers total and another 40-50 snorkelers. The water is only about 30-35 feet deep in that area. Multiple dive shops bring out boats every night. The company I was with had 2 boats and about 30 divers and 25 snorkelers. (I was with a 18 person dive group). The different dive shops actually have color schemes worked out for the glow sticks to help people stay sorted. They also put out extra lights at the center of this sandy area. All the light attracts the plankton which then attracts the manta rays. We had about 25 rays that night (which is fairly high number) ranging from 6 foot to about 12 foot wing spans. The biggest one, Big Bertha with a 14 foot span I didn't see. The rays are use to this show and come in nightly. Sometimes they get dolphins that swim by but we didn't see any that night.

It was a truly an amazing dive. The rays come right in and brush along you. I almost had my mask knocked off once. I have another 30+ minute clip (I stopped filming while fighting the turbulence...I got knocked on my ass from the water movement from the rays). I need to listen to the entire thing as my sister who was also their screamed once very clearly underwater. Want to see if it picked up.

 

[jaybob217]

Hey Mud&Rox - I can't provide a complete answer right yet. We've been testing lighting solutions and have found some great configurations ranging from under $200.00 up to $800.00 for a twin light rig. We're in the middle of doing our video reviews that will be available in January, so I can't give it all away just yet. Sorry... I can say we jumped in with both feet since we found the GoPro to be a simple,viable and affordable solution for the recreational diver. I'm very excite with some new products that are going to be available in 2012 that will make shooting the GoPro even easier.

I'd love to see the lighting solutions post. Didn't see anything on your site