Socorro Islands aboard the Solmar V

[stphnmartin]

Awesome video, so well done. Got me all excited for my trip this coming December on Solmar V.

December won’t get here fast enough! Hope it’s a great trip!

 

[Hoag]

@stphnmartin how did you like the SolmarV? I was on it several years ago and at that time, the common areas were gorgeous but the cabins were tiny.

 

[stphnmartin]

@stphnmartin how did you like the SolmarV? I was on it several years ago and at that time, the common areas were gorgeous but the cabins were tiny.

I agree. Nice boat with great common areas, but small cabins. We were in the slightly larger cabin and it was still quite small. It was comfortable though. The upper sun deck could have had more coverings for shade as it was only half covered. I'd go back on the Solmar V again.

 

[Scubajeg1]

Hello,
Very good work.
I noticed that you had no focus blurring, I assume you do not use auto focus, true or false ??
My work with the GH5 which is the only camera I have been using for 2 years has been inconsistent with video and focussing.
I have a hard time seeing clearly into the back screen due to my vison as I age, 66.
I use 3.0 optics which is great for most issues underwater but seeing to manual focus is difficult and auto is in and out so in editing I am cutting out what should have been a good sequence .
Do you have any suggestions for me ???
Thank you,
John

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Absolutely fantastic video. Well done.

Every time I see videos of Socorro, I realize my bucket list will never be finished.

 

[stphnmartin]

Hello,
Very good work.
I noticed that you had no focus blurring, I assume you do not use auto focus, true or false ??
My work with the GH5 which is the only camera I have been using for 2 years has been inconsistent with video and focussing.
I have a hard time seeing clearly into the back screen due to my vison as I age, 66.
I use 3.0 optics which is great for most issues underwater but seeing to manual focus is difficult and auto is in and out so in editing I am cutting out what should have been a good sequence .
Do you have any suggestions for me ???
Thank you,
John

Hi John,

I don't use continuous auto focus and do almost everything manually. I do have back-button auto focus setup up. So, for example, I frame up a subject, push the back-button focus to auto focus on the subject. If the subject goes out of the depth of field, it will go out of focus. This method prevents the camera from focus hunting.

The GH5 uses contrast to focus. So, some subjects, mainly ones in the blue, can be hard to focus on. In these instances I do one of two things. First option is to manually focus using the focus wheel on the camera. The second is to find some contrasty structure that's about the same distance away as the subject I want to film, and I use the back button focus to auto focus on the structure. Then I point the camera at the subject which should now be in focus.

If you don't have it on already, turn on focus peaking. This will highlight areas of the scene that are in focus to help aid in determining if you have the camera correctly focused.

And, lastly, get a larger, external monitor. The screen on the back of the camera is quite small and if you have to angle the camera to track a subject you sometimes cannot even see the back of the screen. An external monitor (I use the SmallHD 501 external monitor) will allow you to see a larger image as well as reposition the screen if you have to point your camera towards the surface for example.

You may want to invest in a prescription dive mask. I waited too long to do so, but now can see clearly underwater! Even tiny things!

Hope this is helpful!

 

[Scubajeg1]

Hello,
I will check my settings and practice .
I will look into the perscription mask.
Thank you for your advise.
I have been pleased with my closeup video and also wide angle but in the blue sharks in the distance like in red sea the focus has been inconsistent so Thank you again.
We leave in 6 weeks for 3 weeks in the southern Egyptian Redsea and time in Sudan waters so working to get better.

 

[stphnmartin]

Hello,
I will check my settings and practice .
I will look into the perscription mask.
Thank you for your advise.
I have been pleased with my closeup video and also wide angle but in the blue sharks in the distance like in red sea the focus has been inconsistent so Thank you again.
We leave in 6 weeks for 3 weeks in the southern Egyptian Redsea and time in Sudan waters so working to get better.

Hope you have a great trip! I also hope the world is opening up again!

 

[tarponchik]

Great video! So what was water temperature like?

 

[stphnmartin]

Great video! So what was water temperature like?

Thanks! Water was warm. In the low 80s. I wore a 3mm wetsuit. There were some thermoclines in spots, but I never felt cold.