New to gopro setups - Easy solution to stacking filters?

[mpagri]

I am planning a trip to Bali in a few weeks and wanted to explore video with a Gopro hero 3 black. I think visibility will be quite good and blue water.

I am excited as I think GP will give me a pretty good video quality especially for the price. I have read up a lot on this setups limitations and am looking for some workarounds.

If my research is correct, buying the GP H3 Black plus the SRP blurfix3 SO w/ CYD dome should significantly increase the video quality up to about 15m. I don't need to buy the GP dive housing, right? Should I use the red filter in shallow water as well?

I want to be able to take some macro video too (nudis, shrimp) I see SRP has a macro diopter but it doesn't stack with the red filter.

If I do without the red filter then will I lose color on my macro shots? I read somewhere getting two blurfix3 snap ons and keeping one with red for wide and one with a diopter for macro, but can you even switch the snapons underwater? I am planning on taking a basic video light with good diffusion with me. Any recommendations?

I am not planning on taking an LCD, will this be problematic for macro focusing? Mostly I want to be sure I have battery life for two dives. Is it hard to keep moisture out of the case if I open it up in between dives to change batteries?


Am I asking for too much from this little video camera to take quality wide angle and macro??
I think in an under $1000 budget, I should be content with this route.


Sorry I know thats a LOT but those are the questions I was left with after all my research.

Thanks!

 

[Matt S.]

I thought the Hero3 Black comes with a flat-port case that is rated to something like 200 ft.?

 

[divingpyrate]

if it is a hero 3 it has a flat square shapped lens
Dont need a housing, just get the blurfix for the hero 3 and rock
take spare cards and batteries

Why is the rum always gone

 

[Matt S.]

Isn't it possible to do color modifications in post-processing so you don't have to use a colored filter? Any filter is going to eat up some light, and they aren't cheap either.

 

[divingpyrate]

trust me that blurfix filter is awesome
and i have had video thst just could not be corrected but that was with a hero 2
shoot 2.7k at 30fps protune camraw
Set it and forget it
Change the battery and card between dives

Why is the rum always gone

 

[mpagri]

I am going to be shooting protune RAW, I guess it's possible to add in all the missing red in post but I was thinking the filter would help.

 

[toozler]

Use an internal filter (i.e. EelVision BG) and mount the macro diopter outside. That's the setup I used here on this video for the closeup shots that start appearing after 1:44 (damselfish, anemone, brittle stars). A well diffused light (180 lumens only!) was also used on those. No color correction done in post - there is very little that can be done, even when shot with protune, if you have no lights or no filter to start with.

 

[spoolin01]

I find a lot of application even in shallow water for the red filter. After all, it's the water distance between the camera and subject, as well as red depletion due to depth, that affects color. Some things closer to the lens will be a little over-red, but I prefer the effect overall to the monotony of shades of blue. It's a bit like having a passive video light - the zone of color ~balance is extended farther out from the camera. I haven't compared using the filter to color adjustment in post-processing, but it seems to me the less color balance coming through the lens, the less you have to work with afterwards. Shallow water macro would be one situation not to use it. Distant subjects would be another. For tropical reef diving, I haven't found light levels to be an issue.

 

[fbk]

Went down the same road and honestly I think you will be disappointed with trying to do anything other than wide angle with a gopro, which it excels at. With two +10 diopters in narrow mode you can get close enough for small/med fish sized things to fill the frame but nudis and shrimp forget it. You really need the LCD to even know what you are framing when that close but even that isn't good enough to tell if things are in focus which none of mine were I later discovered. Still you can have fun trying and that's what its all about If you are using a light to try some close up stuff take the filter off, otherwise I left mine on all the time. If you get 2 blurfix snapons you can easily swap between red filer/closeup lenses on the dive.