Tested out the GoPro Hero2 with Backscatter flatport housing!

[robint]

I don't see anything about correcting for blur, and your video does look clear. My understanding is that the GoPro lens creates blur due to its construction. Did you use something to correct it?

I stop overnight in Santa Rosa every Thanksgiving on my way back from Arizona, and keep wanting to extend my stay long enough to dive that hole. Just hasn't worked out yet.

The flatport housing corrects the underwater blur issues. No need to buy anything else.

Battery life shooting underwater.... I don't know how long it will last, but turning it on and off, starting and stopping standby, changing modes will all drain the battery, and I did that alot. I would say in the 2 dives I used about 1/3 - 1/2 of battery life. That is a consideration for everyone. I did not buy the monitor back, and I really don't think it is necessary.

robin

 

[scubadiver sparks]

Great video. I like that you did both wide and medium viewing angels.

 

[ronscuba]

Looks good Robin. The super wide angle should work well on the Coz walls and dramatic rock formations/swimthroughs.

 

[Marty Cerven]

Great video. I like that you did both wide and medium viewing angels.

Great video Robin, I like to play with the different modes too and find 1080P wide and medium best with a HD2. I prefer wide as my general setup but do the odd medium as they both work well.

Thats the huge advantage of the Backscatter, and Blurfix setup along with the soon to come GoPro official one as it lets you use all the modes.

For underwater I have always got best results with the widest modes and by the way the gopro crops the sensor the wide modes use more sensors area, so it will catch the most light and that's also the reason why the narrow mode sucks in an low light as its only cropping 1920x1080 from the center of the 3840x2880 image sensor.

Wide mode underwater will get more into the frame that's closest to the camera where the least amount of water is between the subject and camera giving best results. You just have to get very close to things or else they will look too small and thats when the medium mode will help a little but its still a wide angle so you don't want to be too far.

 

[robint]

thanks everybody... this video was just to test out the rig to make sure it is a go for the Cozumel trip in 2 weeks. I think I have decided YES YES YES. And I think my old rig is staying at home alone.

robin

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

WOW! This is very good quality video for the price. I personally was not expecting it to look like this. How does it compare to the HD system that you shot your other videos on? Can you tell much difference?

 

[robint]

Capt Sinbad -- This camcorder cannot do the same things my other HD video rig can do but for the price I think it is a great deal. I did not buy the monitor back due to the reports that it drains the battery, so the only real negative I see is that you cannot see exactly what you are pointing at, so shot framing is an issue. That said, I didn't have that much footage that I thought was unusable for that reason.

I will be using This Rig on my Cozumel trip later this month... hope to bring home some video that we can compare with my old rig. So if you are still debating about what to buy, wait until Mid-April to see what I come up with.

Someone watched my video yesterday and sent me several messages.... here is the basics of what I told him.
I have the Hero2, not the first edition. If you have that one it will not look the same.
I have the Backscatter underwater housing. If you have a different housing your footage may not look the same.
I have a tray and arm to hold in my hands, stiff armed, to hold steady, so footage will not make you seasick to watch. If you are holding yours in your hand, with no tray and arm, or mounting it on your hand or head, it will NOT look the same.
I have a red filter. If you do not have a red filter, your footage will not look the same.

So basically what I am saying...... do not try to duplicate my results with a different setup!!!!

robin

 

[bluechub]

Robin, what software do you use for post? I just ordered your same setup, thanks for posting it, hopefully even a novice as myself will able to come up with something viewable!

 

[Marty Cerven]

So basically what I am saying...... do not try to duplicate my results with a different setup!!!!

robin

This setup doesn't do too badly either though

[video=vimeo;38563751]https://vimeo.com/38563751[/video]

Not as deep, but with a tray and URPro swcy filter. This is with some colour correcting in post mostly for effect only, I also have the same video with original colours on my channel.

Like Robin says though, unless using a good quality flat lens Like the Blurfix or Backscatter and a good filter and tray setup you wont get as good video quality.

 

[robint]

Robin, what software do you use for post? I just ordered your same setup, thanks for posting it, hopefully even a novice as myself will able to come up with something viewable!

I have Pinnacle Ultimate v12, but there are other programs out there that work well. I am very happy with Pinnacle. On the video, I didn't do anything more than fades and titles, no color enhancements at all... just so you can see what the camcorder can do.

robin