Have a trip scheduled next month to Malapascua to see some Threshers

Ill only be having a GoPro with a Backscatter Sharp Wide Lens Pro

No strobes or lights allowed in these dives

Anyone have any tips on settings that can be useful in this situation?

I know that I’m not expecting any cinematic footage with this setup, but I’d like to maximize it as much as i can

Thanks!

I've been shooting mostly macro video over the past few months and increasingly interested in juvenile / larval forms, and find "black-water" subjects quite fascinating.

I personally haven't had the chance to try actual pelagic black-water diving yet, but have encountered interesting juvenile/larval critters in the water column on a standard shallow night dive, and fumbled to get shots -- While this is not true black-water diving, night-time critter migrations can be quite interesting in some locales, if the topography is right.

I thought I'd open up a thread on the subject for people to share technical tips and ressources on how to get good video footage in a black-water shooting scenario,

One aspect I'm particularly interested is video light positioning.

A lot of the info for black-water still-shooting and strobe/light position can be transfered to video, but I'm sure there are also some specificities for video and constant-light shooting.
 

There's an interesting article on the subject published by Mike Johnson in (now Waterpixels sponsor) X-Ray mag here:  https://xray-mag.com/content/shooting-video-black-water-diving

It has the following recommendations for video light positioning:

"Regardless of how many lights you choose to shoot with, they should be angled from the side, top or bottom and set to fill the area where your macro lens is focusing on. I used two Light & Motion Sola 2000 Video lights, with one positioned at 9 o’clock and the second at roughly 1 o’clock. The light at 9 o’clock I set at 1000 lumen output, and the light at 1 o’clock I set at 500 lumen output. This did a really nice job of illuminating any translucent bodies, yet was still not too bright to overpower most of the bioluminescence."

Rig buoyancy must be quite tricky as well - even though we are dealing with macro subjects, since most of the action takes place in the water column, the rig would need to be as neutral as possible to allow for short stable sequences, which is a world away from  usually very tripod-dependent macro video...
The difficulty of getting stable hand-held video footage of small critters moving freely in the water column would probably mean having to slow down footage at some point, not so much for actual slow-motion/stabilisation but rather to extend the length of a useable, in-focus sequence - meaning 60fps is probably required.

I'm guessing this really depends on the critters, but I was wondering if using some kind of fixed highly directional light beam (thinking of a snoot beam, pointed up) might be an option to get planktonic critters  closer to the rig, and other critters interested in these, functioning as a kind of critter-aggregating-device...
This is just an idea, which would not be possible in a typical black-water with other photographers and divers hanging on a line - but I'm not sure how the constant-light requirements of black-water video shooting would combine with black-water still-shooting anyway.

Looking forward to reading about your black-water video shooting experiments!

cheers
ben

As Barmaglot posted a couple of months back, DiveVolk has a device, the $200 "Sealink Contact Type Underwater WiFi Signal Transmitter," which uses the WiFi capabilities of a smartphone and a modern camera to configure the phone as an external monitor--and, using OM Systems's OI-Share (or possibly other apps), as both a external monitor and a camera controller.  Seems pretty cool!  There's a solid review of it by an underwater video guy (Mattias Lebo) on YouTube, and as I already have the DiveVolk housing, it's an easy decision to give it a shot. 

But I do have a couple of questions.  First, has anyone given it a try?  Second, I've seen housings rigged with a bridge between the tray handles which provides a stable mount for a monitor.  Are those one-off items?  Does anyone know a source for them?  I've looked pretty hard to no avail.

Thanks,

--Rick

Photos and some specs have already leaked. The camera aims to be a direct competitor to the Sony FX3/FX30 line.

It seems to be very compact and perfect for an underwater housing. The announcement of two new lenses is confirmed, including an 11-55 mm zoom

Basic specs:

• 32MP full-frame CMOS sensor

• 7K recording up to 60p (Canon Cinema Raw Lite)

• Oversampled 4K <60p

• 4K 120p

• 3:2 Open Gate recording up to 30p

• 'Dual Pixel CMOS AF II' with human and animal recognition

• Dual gain steps

• CLog 2/ CLog 3

• Included top-handle with 2 XLR inputs

• 3" display

Official release: https://www.canon-europe.com/video-cameras/eos-c50/

I built myself a trim system for my Nautical Nikon Z8 housing. It consists out of two aluminum profiles and a few amazon aluminum cheese plates. The goal is to have neutral rig with adjustable trim (with small weights on a sled), so I can do some tilted shots against the sun and so on. The profiles are that long on the rear end, because of the 6inch monitor, so I have enough space to mount ist perfectly for alle my needs. An additional benefit is that I can put my camera down, without the hazard of scratching the housing. There is a rubber boot at the bottom of the profile. The products you can buy are too expensive and sometimes too small. I tried to keep everything as close to the housing as possible to mimic a bigger cine housing. What do you think?

Daniel

I'd love to hear people's experiences with this in real life, or thoughts.

I don't want to spend a lot of money or get an expensive subscription, so can anyone recommend a simple video editor that is able to change white balance at a low cost.

Does anyone have some good cheats for this, or possibly some good training links that will help me out?

Thanks!

On September 10th, Nikon presented a new camera exclusively for video. Nikon bought Red a year ago, and this should be the first Nikon camera to incorporate some Red technologies.

Key specs:

• 24.5MP full-frame 'partially Stacked' CMOS sensor

• Nikon Z-mount

• 7.5EV IBIS

• Up to 6K 60p

• R3D (NE) Raw video codec

• 4" 1000 nit display

• CFexpress Type B / microSD

• Autofocus subject detection for people, animals, vehicles and planes

• Internal 32-bit float

• No mechanical shutter

• The ZR will retail for $2199 – $500 cheaper than the Z6III – and will be available starting October 20th.

I am Cozumel now, setting my gear up, and discovered that the GH7 doesn't do HDMI out while recording. In fact, I can't seem to get it to give an HDMI feed to my SmallHD-502 monitor at all. Perhaps there is a setting that I have missed, but all I can get is a "No HDMI Signal" error message on the monitor. If I can't use an external monitor with this camera, it will really cripple my macro shooting (not that I expect to get much macro shooting done here, with the current).

Has anyone else run into this, and possibly have a solution that I am missing? Thanks

Does anyone here use screens to protect macro subjects from movement caused by currents and surges? I have heard that some videographers use them, but I am not sure if they prefer solid screens or a fine mesh.

I tried using a dive slate, but it created turbulent eddies and vortices around the edges that made the movement worse. Logically, a folded mesh screen that covers the subject from three sides seems like the best approach. It would also need to be very easy to set up underwater.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could share your experience or any DIY designs that work well.

Thank you, Val

I've been experimenting with filming with my Sony RX100 VII and the Nikon D500. I use Ikelite housing and have yet to get any floats for either set-up. Is that the reason that I find it hard to stay still and create steady recordings? When I'm snorkelling, it's particularly difficult!

I'd appreciate any tips!

With thanks

Tess

Do you think A7v would be better for video as the A1 II? I would immediately decide for A7v because of price, battery, new sensor ..., but for cropping A1 II would be better and I use cropping also on land a lot for macro. Would be happy for some thoughts about it.

Thanks!

LG Susanne

Prices are just a ballpark

This post will be updated based on your feedback regarding errors, omissions, and new models

Housing + Monitor

Standalone Monitors

1 = data obtained via private spec request

Some monitors are sold under different brand names: SUPE/Scubalamp/Fotocore/Aquatech

A New Name for a Revolutionary Lens

While the Nauticam MFO-3 delivers incredible results, I believe its name—"Mid-Range Focus Optimizer 3"—is overly technical and confusing. The official descriptions, with their heavy emphasis on blackwater photography, do not adequately capture its true, versatile benefits. Honestly, if I hadn't taken the leap and tried it myself, I would never have understood its immense potential.

If you ask me, this lens should be renamed the Wide Angle Macro Lens (WAML).

Why WAML? Because it perfectly describes its function: it gives you the power to shoot with a wide-angle perspective while keeping your macro setup. While it won't offer full wide-angle capability, it tremendously expands your range of possible subjects and compositional opportunities.


Beyond the Lenses

I own several other Nauticam lenses, including the SMC-2, SMC-3, and MFO-1, but the MFO-3 quickly became the most-used lens on my Lembeh trip. It truly unlocks a new dimension in muck and macro diving photography.

To show you exactly what this lens can do—and the incredible footage you can capture—I’ve put together a short video demonstration. A few print-screens from the video (with MFO-3 and without MFO-3) are posted below.

WITH MFO-3:

WITHOUT MFO-3:

If you enjoyed the video, please SUBSCRIBE for more underwater adventures and hit the notification bell so you don't miss our next video!

I am considering moving from Nauticam viewfinders (180 and 45) to an external monitor. Size is a major consideration so I’m focused on a 5”. Cost is also a consideration. Ideally I am looking in the $2Kish range. $5K is out of the budget.

I’ve looked at the Kraken 5” v2 due to both cost and compact size. Cable failures seem to be an expectation of any monitor, although I am told the new v2 is noticeably better than the original Kraken cable design. I am, however, hearing issues of button failures, which is concerning. This may be from users not cleaning their gear as well as I do, but it is concerning.

One proposed solution is picking up a pre-owned SmallHD 502 Bright monitor (1000 nit) and Nauticam NA-502B housing. Both seem quite solid with pre-owned prices to be around $2500 total. The cables are stronger and the Nauticam buttons are solid. The Nauticam housing has its own vacuum as well. The package size is about that of the Kraken 5”. Battery life with 2 Canon batteries is about 3 hrs. The downside is it is no longer being supported by firmware updates, but probably not an issue as it works well as-is.

The SmallHD 503 Bright is still supported with firmware upgrades, but is substantially thicker and heavier than I prefer. The newer SmallHD monitors/housings are out of the budget for now.

For those with solid monitor experience, what say you???

Thoughts, comments, recommendations?

I am using with a Nauticam Sony a1 rig. I’d appreciate whatever you can share.

Thanks!

Chip

Asking because like everyone, I would prefer to keep my housing and A7SIII for video and then just chuck in the A7RIV or V for stills.

Cheers,

Dave

Gates also has stated that their Raptor housing fits it right out of the box (on Facebook).

"The V-RAPTOR XE is built around the essentials of modern filmmaking. Key features include:

• 8K VV up to 60fps, 6K S35 up to 80fps, 4K up to 120fps, and 2K up to 240fps

• Industry-leading sensor technology with an advanced 8K large format (VV) global shutter sensor

• Significantly reduced boot time and sensor power consumption (with upcoming firmware update)

• Iconic RED DNA with extraordinary image quality

• Unmatched low-light capabilities (17 stops)

• Available with RF Mount or Nikon Z Mount for ultimate lens flexibility

• Compact body at just over 4 lbs. that allows for tremendous flexibility in any shooting environment

• Compatibility with V-RAPTOR accessories"

$14,995 (in the US).

On the higher end of price, but 8k 60p with a global shutter seems like it could be really nice. I also like that they are sticking with offering both RF and Z mounts.