UVPro vs The Dome vs Polar Pro vs ...?

[sinetwo]

Hi all,

I've just gotten in to snorkeling and I'm about to get into diving (so wish me luck!).

I recently went to the Maldives and was insanely gutted realising the GoPro curved dome is no good underwater (you can imagine my frustration having a good few hours of underwater footage rendered useless).

So I'm going to buy one of the following:

• $: GoPro Diving Case + Polar Pro Red
• $: Other recommendations? Post production filter (cheapest! i.e. adjusting colors in adobe premiere?)
• $$$: GoPro Diving Case + SRP The Dome
• $$$: BlurFix + URPro CY 55mm

So far the Polar Pro Red is winning mainly due to price. Performance wise it seems on par with SRP The Dome, which frankly seems to have had the best footage I've seen.

What do you guys think? I'm probably omitting The Backscatter/Magic Filter due to the quality, I've seen a few comparison videos and it doesn't seem to be that good...

Any advice is highly appreciated!

Thanks,
SineTwo

 

[dwlmgold]

The most dreaded response in Internet threads - it depends.

I have the Hero2 in the GoPro dive housing with the Polar Pro Red filter (the $14.95 gel you insert inside the dive housing) and an iSteady Shot Pro Holder ($49) with no lights. I am a very occasional diver and a recent Roatan trip was pobably it for this year. I was very happy with the color results of my rig. I tried to use a white card on each clip to facilitate white balance correction. I did take them through Adobe Premiere Elements but in most cases, the change made to correct for white balance was minimal.

Here are some videos that resulted from my efforts. Double click on the image to see full screen. These were taken at 30-60 feet with ambient light. Calvins Crack was probably the deepest.

Adobe Photoshop Showcase

For the limited amount of diving I do, the Polar Pro filter met my needs. I will note that the SRP dome was not available when I needed it for my trip but as others have observed, an $80 filter for a $200 camera seems excessive when I am happy with the result from a $14 filter. I left the empty housing at the deep end of a pool for over a half hour after I installed the filter to check for leaks.

If your diving and budget suggests the additional cost is appropriate, then the more costly alternatives may be justified.

For me, I am happy with what I have.

 

[avigulf]

Hello, for tropical you need the red filter, for greenwater/north sea you need the magenta/GR-filter. I have only the magenta/GR gel-filter for inside housing, but when I plan to upgrade to Hero3 I will buy a flipfilter, able to take on/off under water ( and above).
The SRP dome is probably best for Hero2, but as said its not cheap.... Polar Pro looks OK.
You also need a mount and some lights, at least if you want some ok results. The Hero 2 needs light.
Mounts you can make yourself, see the tread: "Show me your mount" for examples.

 

[RockyHeap]

I'll just chime in real quick as was mentioned above.............."it all depends"...........it depends on your expectations.

I mean really, is a $75 dollar SRP filter "too expensive?"

Get the right filter to fit your needs.


And judge that against what you might pay for a couple of drinks in a bar, a case of beer / bottle of wine, other common day items, or some jeans or clothes?


Would you pay cheap, for a pair of jeans or t-shirt that doesn't fit?

What good are clothes, even if you wear them once or twice a year, if they don't fit?


Buy the SRP filters, do it once, do it right.


I have a garage full of different hobbies where I bought crap cheap stuff once, then replaced it, then replaced that, again and again repeat.

False economy for clothes that don't fit just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Imprint]

I've only used the SRP dom filter, but it was worth every single penny. The cost was never really an issue for me when weighed up against the cost of my dive trip.

And previewing my footage on the boat at the same time as the other non filter using gopro users, I was the envy of them all. The difference blew me away.

 

[sinetwo]

Hi,


Thank you all for the quick responses.


A few responses from me:

Here are some videos that resulted from my efforts. Double click on the image to see full screen. These were taken at 30-60 feet with ambient light. Calvins Crack was probably the deepest

Great stuff, thanks for posting that. I'm on a mac and for some reason the video's appearing are tiny! But the color seems very good indeed!

And judge that against what you might pay for a couple of drinks in a bar, a case of beer / bottle of wine, other common day items, or some jeans or clothes?

I completely adhere to the school of "why not buy it once and get it over with". It reminds me of my student days where I'd cheap out on a notepad that was useless, and ending up buying the "expensive" (relatively) stuff in the long run.

Mounts you can make yourself, see the tread: "Show me your mount" for examples

I have a gorilla pod for my SLR too, and as it's got 3 arms, I was thinking I could bend them to each of the side to create a stabiliser and maybe hook up a light on the third one? I've read up on issues with it getting too floppy if you use the plastic one but I'll google a bit more...




The other stuff:
Apologies for not being clear about which Polar Pro filter I was talking about, it was the snap on (not the insert) -> polarprofilters.com Snap On Dive Filters Archives - polarprofilters.com


Here's a video too: Polar Pro Snap-On vs SRP "Dome Filter" GoPro Hero 2 - YouTube


Do you think they've over egged it with post production color correction or is it actually that good? It's a whole lot cheaper than SRP The Dome (which I'm considering). Im' guessing this has to do with material, but I'm not expecting many scratches under water as I'm quite worried about damaging coral etc.




Decision so far...
Thanks for helping me narrow it down to:
1. GoPro Dive Housing + Polar Pro Snap On (I can buy two different snap on filters here)
2. GoPro Dive Housing + SRP The Dome (I can only buy one of these, well they only make the red afaik!)

Thanks,
SineTwo

 

[ronscuba]

Here's a question I think has not been asked.

External filters. I believe some or most have a layer of water in between the port and the filter ? Will that layer of water will lessen the affect of the filter compared to internal filters or external filters that are sealed to the port ?

 

[Interceptor121]

Here's a question I think has not been asked.

External filters. I believe some or most have a layer of water in between the port and the filter ? Will that layer of water will lessen the affect of the filter compared to internal filters or external filters that are sealed to the port ?

You hit the nail on the head
Filters in the housing placed directly on the lens do better than push up
Push up filter should be placed on the port or as close as possible as any water in between the lens and the filter is counter productive
Ikelite markets URPRO filters for wide angle lens and they touch the glass there is very little water between the back of the lens and the port and no light penetrates from the sides
I would love to know what are the benefits of a dome shape for a filter allowing more water to sit between the filter and the port
It would also be interesting to compare the srp blurfix screw on with the dome
Interestingly there is no dome being offered for the hero3....oops

 

[Marty Cerven]

It would also be interesting to compare the srp blurfix screw on with the dome
Interestingly there is no dome being offered for the hero3....oops

As always very accurate on the facts or do you just make everything up lol. You can get the Blufix3 SO with the URPro dome and it can also work with a regular glass threaded filter.

Shop SRP Filters

But URPro have no idea about filters and you are the goto man with your RX100 to scientifically test things and your own untested theories. I really hate pulling people up on such issues but seriously half the stuff you say is such completely made up BS I dont see how you think you are helping anyone.

Just theories and no practical testing of anything, its ok if you just give opinions but when you are obviously so against SRP and URPro, then if your going to make such outlandish claims make sure you at least do some research. Just like your claim of the Plastic lens on the Hero3 Silver you really should only comment on things you now something about.

Its great to have discussion but someone constantly making things up and spreading lies with such an obvious agenda its getting a little silly. If you find something is actually bad with any product fine go and expose it, if your just making things up for whatever reason you choose to do so then its a different story.

---------- Post added January 7th, 2013 at 02:11 PM ----------

Here's a question I think has not been asked.

External filters. I believe some or most have a layer of water in between the port and the filter ? Will that layer of water will lessen the affect of the filter compared to internal filters or external filters that are sealed to the port ?

I dont know if there has been any real testing on this but its such a small amount of water that I think the effect will be very minute even if there is one. Using the Dome and regular filters I havent noticed any negative issues with more water on the dome compared to the glass lens thats closer.

Gel sheets arent a bad option but very awkward to deal with especially a GoPRo dive housing or hero3 where you will need to unscrew the front port to install. Then taking it out is such a hassle you will most likely want to buy a second housing and you can only use it with the filter so no topside shots or such and needing to buy a second housing kind of takes away any savings of using the gel sheet.

 

[ronscuba]

Gel sheets arent a bad option but very awkward to deal with especially a GoPRo dive housing or hero3 where you will need to unscrew the front port to install. Then taking it out is such a hassle you will most likely want to buy a second housing and you can only use it with the filter so no topside shots or such and needing to buy a second housing kind of takes away any savings of using the gel sheet.

Marty, I cut a circle from my gel sheet and it drops right in. Don't need to unscrew the port. No problem with my hero 1 w/ flat lens or hero 3. Sometimes on the hero 3 the filter moves and I have a very slight corner exposed, but it is small enough to crop in editing. No need for a 2nd housing. The filter is easy to install and remove.