Underwater videography with DSLR cameras...questions and concerns

[jnicholson1437]

I work for a PBS member station and we produce a TV series called "Changing Seas" (Home - Changing Seas - WPBT2 Public Television Series). We do a lot of underwater videography and are looking to purchase a new setup for next season. We started with an amphibico housing and a Sony Z1 camera, then upgraded to a Sony EX1 and a gates housing.
We now own an EX3 and EX1R and are trying to decide what housing we want to buy. Basically we are between Gates and amphibico again as they are the two big boys in housing production for high end videography.
That being said we are also very interested in going the DSLR rout. I love all the videos I have seen posted using the Canon cameras and a Nauticam housing.

A group built to showcase the jaw dropping hd-dslr video cranked out by Nauticam housing users:
Nauticam HD-DSLR Underwater Video on Vimeo

Anyone have any drawbacks or concerns with doing DSLR videography that they could share? I really want to be well informed as I push my station to make this switch. Also what would you guys recommend as the ideal setup.

housing?
Lights?
External monitor?

 

[Rainer]

I'm not a Canon shooter or Nauticam owner, but I've been pretty happy with our Nikon D7000 in an Aquatica housing. We're using dual 35W HIDs for lighting, no external monitor. Using a DSLR for video underwater certainly *is* a bit of a pain (mostly from dealing with all the manual controls; the cameras simply aren't smart enough to do what you want on their own), but the final footage is very pretty.

Here are some examples we shot locally in the past year (and my wife and I are rank amateurs at this stuff). If you have a fast internet connection, choose "HD" for nicer quality video (and the non-compressed / non-uploaded 1080p footage looks even better).

[vimeo]36954193[/vimeo]

[vimeo]47820089[/vimeo]

[vimeo]45667348[/vimeo]

[vimeo]38050067[/vimeo]

[vimeo]32901420[/vimeo]

 

[sinistar]

I'm sorta new to the DSLR underwater video but I'll give you my take so far (this is based on a Canon 5D2 in a ikelite housing and ports)...

- Working in low light conditions is so much better than my old HDV camera - awesome!
- The ability to have high resolution stills and quality video drove me in this direction (plus I already had the camera).
- The easiest way to go is high f-stop (deep depth of field) configurations which help reduce the manual focus issues
- There are some nice ultrawide lens options (Canon 14mm for FF, Tokina 11-16 for crop)
- Being able to do macro and wide angle on the same dive is really not much of an option
- I have had good overall success with a 17-40 (16-35 would be better) but still not macro friendly
- Getting wide angles to work well behind domed ports may need diopter lenses
- Maximum clip lengths of 4Gb
- No one-touch whitebalance on Canon (doable and requires about 4 key presses and a control dial turn)
- Auto iso or auto aperture stepping (shutter will be locked at 1/50th or 1/60th) are quite obvious during playback
- Having the live view engaged for long periods of time can overheat the camera, more hot pixels, etc)
- The camera audio isn't bad (picking up the sound transmitted into the case) but not sure if Nauticam has ext mic.
- Not many 1080@60p options available - which I think you'd want for any slow motion work.

...all this makes it seem still not ready for prime time production liked you mentioned - but once well understood the footage can be awesome. I would think a 5D3 would produce some wonderful looking video with less moire problems and useable to iso3200 in video. The T4i now has autofocus but I don't think it would cut it unless you purchase the new pancake lenses (of which there is no ultrawide angle).

I would think a T3i in a Nauticam housing for some wide angle work in relatively clear water would be a nice piece of kit to have along. That gives you useable iso to around 1200 and ~50Mbit MOV files.

I'm curious what others will say here?

 

[RMAdventure]

Very cool videos Rainer

 

[ronscuba]

I have not brought my DSLR underwater yet, however, I think my experiences shooting video topside will be very similar to underwater.

Topside:
The camcorder is more idiot proof. Easier to shoot on the fly, get good or acceptable footage. Manual focus lock is fast and accurate, as is manual white balance.

The DSLR can get great looking video with low light and depth of field capabilities the camcorder cannot match. However, it takes time to get the manual settings right. If you are shooting landscape or have a cooperative model, it's not hard to do. Action shooting, not so easy.

I would base my decisions on what I wanted to record underwater. How available and reliable the UW conditions and subjects are. Since you already have an EX1 and Gates housing, maybe get a DSLR and shoot both. Most professional shoots have multiple cameras rolling.

 

[logansar]

GoPro.....


Sarge
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MaxBottomtime]

It is nice to be able to shoot stills and video without having to carry two cameras, but most videos I've seen from DSLRs and GoPros have way too much camera shake. Although high end video cameras and housings can be unyieldly in the water, it is much easier to hold the camera still.

 

[sinistar]

I thought of another possible issue for DSLR video for underwater professional video production - battery life and access.

I don't know exactly how much time I can get out of one factory battery for the 5D2 but I'm pretty sure that it would not last for two x 1hr long back to back dives with live view and recording going all the time. That would mean opening the enclosure on the boat to swap out a battery. And most of the housings don't seem friendly to replacing the battery w/o removing the camera body. And that often requires removing the lens port to remove the focus gears to be able to remove the lens. I think you get the point. Perhaps the Nauticam solution allows access to the battery by only removing a single housing cover - then it wouldn't be such a big deal. Obviously you are aware of how long your current camcorder batteries have been lasting so you have a benchmark. That's one thing I miss about the L&M enclosure with the Sony camcorder was that I only needed to remove the rear cover and I could swap the battery very quickly. Then again I never had to do it and I could eek out 3 dives on one battery. But that was recreational vs commercial production.

I still think a Canon T3i/T4i with Tokina 11-16 (f2.8) would make a great 'B' roll camera. That's only $500 for the body and $600 for the lens before buying the enclosure which is often several $$$ cheaper than a full frame camera enclosure. If funds permit, use instead a 5D3 and Canon 14mm (version II). But now your talking well over $3k for the camera plus another $2k for the lens just to get started. I'm not sure how the Nikon D800 fits into all this but you would get the awesome 12-24 lens combo!!! But once again over $5k for body and one nice lens.

And then there is the C300 and C500....

 

[Rainer]

I've been able to get two one hour dives off our Nikon D7000 battery keeping the camera in LV the entire time. Honestly, powering the video lights for that long has been a greater challenge. After two 60+ minute dives, I'd need to swap out SD cards anyway. Shooting twice in a day is about my limit anyway, and that's been fine without having to open the housing. I know on our Aquatica at least, swapping batteries/SD cards can be done without removing focus/zoom gears or taking off the port (the camera slides out the back once the housing is opened).

Also haven't found camera shake to be much of a concern, and we're often diving in pretty good surge. The AL housings have some decent mass and two handles to help with stability. The GoPro footage I've seen is almost all too shaky to watch without getting nauseous.

 

[jnicholson1437]

I've been able to get two one hour dives off our Nikon D7000 battery keeping the camera in LV the entire time. Honestly, powering the video lights for that long has been a greater challenge. After two 60+ minute dives, I'd need to swap out SD cards anyway. Shooting twice in a day is about my limit anyway, and that's been fine without having to open the housing. I know on our Aquatica at least, swapping batteries/SD cards can be done without removing focus/zoom gears or taking off the port (the camera slides out the back once the housing is opened).

Also haven't found camera shake to be much of a concern, and we're often diving in pretty good surge. The AL housings have some decent mass and two handles to help with stability. The GoPro footage I've seen is almost all too shaky to watch without getting nauseous.

This is valuable information. Battery life is a huge concern for us as we do multiple dives and on occasion we have done up to 5 dives in a day. That being said it sounds like the battery would be suffecient and on those days where we are doing heavy duty diving we would have to bring more batteries and sd cards. Sounds fairly simple to change out. We had to do this even using our gates housing with the Sony EX-1 so not much would change there.

I feel like we would have better luck with focus and depth of field as well. We could not afford the super wide port for the gates which was close to $4000 so we bought a flat port to switch to when we wanted to shoot macro. This was not ideal as changing ports in the middle of a shoot out on a boat could be risky.

I talked with a salesperson at Backscatter and was told the sigma 15mm or a 16-35 lense would be best for video. It would offer 180 angle of coverage and can focus right up to the front of the dome.

Here is what we are looking at purchasing:
[TABLE="width: 400"]
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[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD="class: sm"]Light & Motion Sola 4000 Video Light
Add a Cyan Filter LMI Sola 4000 Cyan Filter and Holder[/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$1,748.00[/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$1,748.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #eeeeee"]
[TD="class: sm"]Nauticam 8.5 inch Acrylic Dome Port w/ shade [/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$590.00[/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$590.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD="class: sm"]Sigma 15mm F2.8 EX DG lens for Canon [/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$749.00[/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$749.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #eeeeee"]
[TD="class: sm"]Nauticam NA-5DMKIII Underwater Housing for Canon 5D Mark III Digital SLR [/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$3,600.00[/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$3,600.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD="class: sm"]Canon EOS 5D Mark III Camera Body [/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$3,499.00[/TD]
[TD="class: med, align: right"]$3,499.00[/TD]
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[TD="class: title, colspan: 3, align: center"]Any thoughts or suggestions?[/TD]

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