Taking the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (N7100) underwater

[danvolker]

Oh come on. The days of measuring the quality of a digital camera by megapixels ended 10 years ago. It's complete and utter BS and now the phone manufacturers are trying to revive it. It's still BS.

Turn your camera around and look at the lens of the camera. It's what, 2mm across at most? And the flash is even smaller. That tiny lens is then focusing on a miniscule sensor. It has a very, very limited ability to gather light. You're taking it into an environment that really couldn't be any worse for it. "Round peg in a square hole" isn't even descriptive enough.



Not easy and not awesome. You will never get that tiny lens to gather enough light to make a decent video. I know you're a big fan and all, but it's a phone. It isn't a camera, and it isn't a video camera.

Now you do know that I shoot uw with a Canon 5 D mark II, and help Jim Abernethy with editiing of his I D and 4k version Canon.....I do know what good video looks like, and how much light is needed.

And I am telling you right now, Jeff from Force E has showed me some exceptional video footage he shot of octopus with his I phone --and this footage was enough to get all the high end photographers at the BHB very jazzed when he showed it....I will see if I can get him to get me a clip I can upload---he does not normally do youtube or vimeo...But I would really like you to see this for yourself !!
You are dead on about the light...I am not talking ambient light except in 6 feet of water with 50 foot vis....one of these Galaxy or I phones does need a good and well diffused light ( or 2 lights like we use with our cameras!).

The results can be remarkable, and it can leverage a good sized investment divers already have in their phone. Even with a Gopro or a Canon 5 D, results are pathetic without the good lighting on all but extremely shallow water....

 

[corvettejoe]

Visit SeaShell Camera Case - As for lighting which you are clearly correct is very important....don't miss Seashell SS-light - SeaShell Camera Case

Do you have one of these? I saw them a while back and finally saw them in persona at DEMA and was REALLY impressed with it's build quality. It looked as beefy and nicely put together as my Canon housings.

I have looked at one myself for playing around with some of the fun things my phone can do.

I know it cuts into my DSLR camera budget, but for only $120ish it would be kind of fun to take my phone down, snap some crappy pics and immediately upload them when I get back topside.

 

[danvolker]

Do you have one of these? I saw them a while back and finally saw them in persona at DEMA and was REALLY impressed with it's build quality. It looked as beefy and nicely put together as my Canon housings.

I have looked at one myself for playing around with some of the fun things my phone can do.

I know it cuts into my DSLR camera budget, but for only $120ish it would be kind of fun to take my phone down, snap some crappy pics and immediately upload them when I get back topside.

I will most likely pick one up soon...and use my big cannister video lights with it....For days when the seas are big--but cool stuff is going on and I should be getting something--my Canon 5d mark 2 is dangerous to get in and out of the water with...if a big waved caused impact occurred...and this is very heavy to control for the deck hands on hand off...the Seashell housing and Galaxy Note 3 as uw alternative, would be easy to get in and out with...much harder to destroy with a huge wave...and even if it was damaged, not nearly so traumatic

 

[emoreira]

For less than $ 200 you could buy an INTOVA Sport HD underwater camera, which was specifically designed and built for UW HD video, has a small size that fits in your BCD pocket, has a red filter and all you need for that, instead of a bulky housing for a device suitable to chat in your bed and also much cheaper.

 

[charlesml3]

Jeff from Force E has showed me some exceptional video footage he shot of octopus with his I phone

I'm sure he did, and really, I believe you man. Under perfect, ideal conditions for the camera one can probably get decent video or stills. But that's the problem.... this "camera" only works under that one situation. And how many times does that happen? The perfect visibility, the perfect light, AND something worth filming...

The rest of the time you're carrying an expensive phone into harsh environment and trying to get photos or video that it can't possibly do. So after a few dives you realize this and just leave it on the boat because it isn't worth the hassle anymore.

Again, for the cost of that phone (probably less) you could be taking a decent Powershot and a housing that is much more versatile and can get decent shots and video in less than ideal conditions. It's the same amount of hassle either way. A one use "phone camera" or a P&S that can extend that functionality to make it worthwhile.

For the record, I shoot a Canon G12 in an Ikelite housing with an Ikelite DS-161 substrobe. It's mostly a macro setup but that's what I like to photograph. For me, it's all about how much task-loading and hassle I'm willing to add on to my dive. I've gotten to the point where I can shoot the entire week and get at least a few shots that are worthy of printing and hanging on the wall. That works for me....

-Charles

 

[corvettejoe]

For less than $ 200 you could buy an INTOVA Sport HD underwater camera, which was specifically designed and built for UW HD video, has a small size that fits in your BCD pocket, has a red filter and all you need for that, instead of a bulky housing for a device suitable to chat in your bed and also much cheaper.

Intova cameras are about as good as a camera phone IMO ...
Slow, zero options, slow, don't shoot raw....slow....no image stabalization... slow.... oh did I mention they are slow?

 

[danvolker]

Intova cameras are about as good as a camera phone IMO ...
Slow, zero options, slow, don't shoot raw....slow....no image stabalization... slow.... oh did I mention they are slow?

OK, I took my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with me on the mountain bike trip Sandra and I just did in Ocala ( Nayle Trail -- Santos)...While not U/W video, it is catching a fast moving object in a very dark wooded area--the phone camera lights it to appear like daylight, rather than the quite dark condition....

While I can give you a link to this on a streaming server, it won't show the quality of the phone--as this get's chopped by the stream server to an encode far below the res of the phone....I could send you this with a drop box link, and then you could see a quality encode ....
Let me know...the quality was actually pretty amazing to me....I don't know that the Canon5 D mark 2 could have done as well...though clearly the ability to choose the ideal lens on the Canon make a big difference for a great many shots.

The 4K video of the Note 3 gets auto focus down awesomely for a mountain biker starting quite far away, coming right at the camera, then passing and going into the distance at high speed for a camera to auto focus...
The constant changes in sunlight and shadows are another large challenge in the auto ISO shift my canon would have to do.

The sharpness of the video can't be beat.

 

[Progen]

Dan, were you using the stock Samsung ROM because I play around quite often with different ROMS on my rooted Note 2 and I noticed that the custom AOSP ROMs using the stock Android camera tend to favor lower ISOs when on auto whereas the Samsung camera will favor brightness / contrast and go for a much higher ISO.

Anyway, I intentionally used the Light Cannon to create a spot on the subjects because I wanted a surreal effect. Wasn't thinking of competing or trying to impress anyone. Was more of an experiment in creating slighty unusual shots.

And I didn't get a fancy hard housing for it. Just a pouch which was rated for 10 metres.

 

[danvolker]

Dan, were you using the stock Samsung ROM because I play around quite often with different ROMS on my rooted Note 2 and I noticed that the custom AOSP ROMs using the stock Android camera tend to favor lower ISOs when on auto whereas the Samsung camera will favor brightness / contrast and go for a much higher ISO.

Anyway, I intentionally used the Light Cannon to create a spot on the subjects because I wanted a surreal effect. Wasn't thinking of competing or trying to impress anyone. Was more of an experiment in creating slighty unusual shots.

Mine is stock....I read a little on the rooting, but I don't know enough about what benefits I would get with the Note 3 to force me to do all the reading up that would be needed for me to be able to do the rooting myself....and I don't know all the potential extra problems or costs with service changes that may or may not be possible outcomes ???? What is your take on this?

The biggest change I am making with my Note 3, is the purchase of an AK 10... Astell & Kern AK10 | HeadRoom Audio
This allows me to use the 24 bit 96 Hz music files I download with the phone, and play on the Neutron Music player for Android.....and maintain 24 bit 96 Hz auidophile quality sound in my Car ( my Ford Raptor)....the phone puts put full quality digital audio on the line you would normally use to synch with the pc....and you plug this line into the AK 10...then end up with the 24/96 analog signal from it's line out that you plug into the amp in the car through Line In.....It causes a massive change in sound quality for any car with a good sound system....and lets you work on building an ideal sound quality music library for the future, which you can bring anywhere with you--and play on ANY high end sound system in your home or elsewhere. ....Versus the absolute absurdity of buying heavily crushed and poor quality mp3's on I-tunes, that will never sound any better than barely OK on a car....on a home stereo of audiophile quality, they sound bad....

---------- Post added January 1st, 2014 at 11:12 AM ----------

And I didn't get a fancy hard housing for it. Just a pouch which was rated for 10 metres.

View attachment 174597

One thing about the Seashell case, is that it has a wide angle lens option that transforms the optical potential of the camera....allows composition to occur more like we would go with when using a DSLR camera.
See Seashell SS-G - SeaShell Camera Case and

 

[Progen]

There're no dedicated hard housings for the Note 2 or else I would have gotten one. To some, it may seem silly to pay a hundred over bucks for an underwater housing for a phone but IF the Note 2 had one, I'll buy it and justify the cost with that I can confidently bring my phone on board a boat and be able to call for help should an emergency arise. Not just for little underwater photography attempts.

As for rooting, it's easy enough once you've done it a few times but you'll have to experiment with different ROMS to see which ones will give you the features you need and not have those that you don't. Best of course will be those with built-in app removal.