New to the Underwater Video World

[spiderwebb1]

Hello Everyone! I have been taking still photos underwater for a while now and I have just aquired a Sony DCR TRV900 with an Ikelite housing and video light. Does anyone have any good ideas/pointers that I need to know about in general or in particular to this equipment?

Thanks!

 

[ppo2_diver]

Practice, practice, and more practice. That will help you get the feel of you new setup. I have a Sony TRV525 in an Ike housing. You will need to try to make your setup neutrally buoyant. On mine, the port end floats up. This makes it a little hard on the hands to hold it level, especially in cold water with a long bottom time. So I wrapped a piece of 1 inch wide neoprene around the back of the housing. This levels it out. You will find what works for you when you start using your setup.

Have fun. Shooting UW video is a blast.

Duane

 

[RickSp]

I am reasonably experienced above water and a relative novice underwater. I find the basic stuff that is critical on dry land is equally important underwater.

First, hold the camera still. I haven't decided if holding the camera steady is easier or harder underwater. Certainly different. The sense of weightlessness makes it seem easier. On the other working in three dimensions can be tough.

Second, get as close as you can. Don't try to zoom in or out, just get close. Video is the art of the close up. Get as close as is practical to your subject. Wide shots are great to mix into the edit but the great shots will be the ones you shoot close. Use the Ikelite orange filter.

Third, watch your boyancy. Lots of shooters both of stills and video are paying so much attention the shooting that they lose track of bouyancy and start bumping into the reef or stirring up the silt.

Fourth - watch your air. I found that when I am focussing on shooting I gulp through my air at a horrible rate. This apparently isn't unusual with novice shooters.

Hope this helps.

Rick

 

[spiderwebb1]

Thank you for the information! We leave for Bonaire in about three weeks, so I am getting anxious to try out the camera.

 

[RickSp]

Thank you for the information! We leave for Bonaire in about three weeks, so I am getting anxious to try out the camera.

Have a great time. I am envious. We were in Bonaire last March. I want to go back. Here are a few clips I shot from that trip.
Bonaire

 

[Taxgeek]

Hello Everyone! I have been taking still photos underwater for a while now and I have just aquired a Sony DCR TRV900 with an Ikelite housing and video light. Does anyone have any good ideas/pointers that I need to know about in general or in particular to this equipment?

Thanks!

Hi Spiderwebb1. As a newbie, here are the things I learned from mistakes I made on my first trip shooting video. You may already know all this stuff, but I didn't, so I thought I'd share for the heck of it:

1. Don't pan. Ok, try really hard not to pan. If you have to pan, pan so slowly you can hardly bear it, and turn off your image stabilization first. Panning to follow a fish works pretty well, but panning around a landscape didn't end up working well for me.

Corollary to 1: Don't zoom during shooting. ;-) I ended up throwing away all of those clips.

Exception to 1: I had really good results from doing very slow "swimovers" of things like beds of anemones, holding the camera down really close to them. Similarly, swimming through a landscape (holding camera still) generally worked pretty well if I swam veeery slowly.

2. Remember to film for at least 2 seconds before after the action on each clip for editing purposes.

3. Try to count to 15 for each clip. I ended up with a bunch of 5 and 6 second clips where I could have sworn I pointed my camera at the object for 20 minutes, but it was only 6 seconds. Time speeds up underwater!

4. Don't even bother trying to video while snorkeling. Stick to diving. (or dive at 5' or whatever.) Too much bouncing around, I couldn't hold the camera still.

Have fun!
Taxgeek

 

[spiderwebb1]

Why do I need to turn off the image stabilization before I slowly pan?
Thank you, your information has been very helpful!

 

[Taxgeek]

Why do I need to turn off the image stabilization before I slowly pan?
Thank you, your information has been very helpful!

\

The image will jitter. The camera will think you're trying to hold the camera still and thus will try to compensate. Some cameras have "pan mode" for the IS - I wish mine had that. Sometimes the jitter isn't bad, but sometimes it is very noticable.

Taxgeek

 

[spiderwebb1]

Thanks!