Wide angle lens options

[Interceptor121]

The stock lens is approximatly 170 degrees on the diagonal in air but that reduces to around 128 underwater. Not sure if the OP is wanting to mount an inon ufl-165ad or what. Would probably require shooting on narrow mode to prevent vignetting so I'm not sure there would be much of a benefit.

You can't do 170 degrees - 25% = circa 120 as the relationship between fov and perceived size is not linear

Object appear 25% closer but that does not mean that the FOV is reduced 25%

You were quite keen to come after me to undermine me while I had actually run some real tests but when it was your time you had no hesitation to apply some flawed reasoning to come up with some conclusion of your liking...interesting

 

[mkhilario]

And I thought the post was about wide angle options for the gopro.

Silly of me

 

[Interceptor121]

And I thought the post was about wide angle options for the gopro.

Silly of me

You don't need wide angle lenses as the stock housing is wide enough to do what you need in most situations

 

[mkhilario]

A dome port would improve the quality and level of distortion at the edges besides returning the FOV to something closer to original FOV on land. Your own pool photo is a great demonstration of the shortcomings of a flat port on a wide angle lens.

If no one liked the 170 or 127 FOV than why is the gopro so popular as a land camera?

 

[ronscuba]

...
If no one liked the 170 or 127 FOV than why is the gopro so popular as a land camera?

UW, it depends on what you want to record. Like I said above, for wrecks and people the GoPro works great. However, the FOV is too wide for most marine life videography. Topside analogy would be a wildlife photographer/videographer. Unless you are in a zoo, you cannot easily control wildlife behavior, the distance they will let you get or assume they will stay still.

Just my opinions and how I like to shoot UW.

 

[mkhilario]

And I enjoy shooting whale sharks, schools of jacks + barracudas, mantas, large coral formations with as little water between myself and the subject from time to time, especially when visibility is less than optimal. Gopros are so compact you could easily dive with 2 on a single tray with different ports.

 

[Interceptor121]

I think that the issues with the edges are not just the housing port but also the lens itself (the image is not great even on land if you shoot a wall of tiles)

Professional video operators shoot with a maximum of 120 degrees this is because there are no lights on the market to cover a wider field of view

A fisheye video lens is good as POV camera but not really for framing or similar, anyway it is a matter of personal choice I guess!!!

 

[mkhilario]

I think that the issues with the edges are not just the housing port but also the lens itself (the image is not great even on land if you shoot a wall of tiles)

The shape distortion of the pool tiles is a product of the flat port u/w and not present on land. Not to be confused with the inherent barrel distortion of the gopro lens.

"Flat port should be used when angle of view does not exceed 60°. Using flat port with wider angles results in two types of distortion: chromatic aberration and image shape distortion. All those distortions are inevitable and get worse as the angle of view increases. Also, image in a flat port will be magnified."

excerpted from Dome port and flat port for underwater cinematography.

Can anyone tell me why the port of the Hero2 Dive Housing is so much larger than the Hero3 standard housing and what effect this has (if any) on the U/W image quality?

 

[Interceptor121]

As I said is not just the port is the combination pincushion, barrel distortion and blurred edges

The lens itself has barrel distortion and poor edges (blur) also on land if you look into the corners

the mix of those factors with the flat port gives an interesting effect in water in any case this is a low end set up so can't really ask for too much

 

[ronscuba]

And I enjoy shooting whale sharks, schools of jacks + barracudas, mantas, large coral formations with as little water between myself and the subject from time to time, especially when visibility is less than optimal. Gopros are so compact you could easily dive with 2 on a single tray with different ports.

Good points. Since most of my diving has been in the Caribbean, I don't get opportunity to video wide angle things like that. A full resolution GoPro with a narrower FOV is what I need.
I would love to have Philippines like diving as my local dive spot.