Upgrade to Gopro 13 + AOI UWL-O3 video underwater settings

[Nando Diver]

Today ive upgrade from Gopro 10 to Gopro 13, not that was unhappy with quality from the GP10 but I want 10-bit for later color-grade..

 

Has being a turbulent week of indecisions because of the launch of Dji Osmo Action 5 ( excellent reviews) and i was decided to get this camera because of the temperature sensor and large sensor. 

I even headed to dji forums to get the all the technical details and understand how was the OA5PRO performing and how it would perform underwater, especially with Wide Angle Lens..

 

Undewater setup

Gopro 13 

AOI UWL-03

Inon light adapter for gopro set 1

sd front mask for gopro 

Divevolk LS50 

 

Since ive upgraded to AOI UWL-03 lens, i can't imagine filming without them, especially because i dive all year in the cold greenish Atlantic waters of Sesimbra, Portugal.

Not big of fan doing macro or photography due the obvious limitations of actions cameras, but its a learning process on each dive.

 

The more i was digging about the OS5PRO, the more i realise gopro 13 has a more polish firmware/features, and despite the OA5PRO has larger sensor they havent unlock their full potencial yet, maybe in the future.

 

Then a gopro 13 deal showed up at CEX... and ive trade my Gopro10 + 4 batteries/charger for a Gopro13 + 100€, financially was a good opportunity.

 

Right or wrong...it is done, now i just want help/opinions for the best settings on Gopro13 for underwater use...

Going on a liveaboard to Egypt in the end of november. 

 

The settings are not much different from the ones ive used in Gopro 10 

 

Video: 5.3K 60fps 

Aspecto Ratio:  16:9 

Lens: wide 

Hypersmooth:   high/standart/on

10-bit:  ON 

Bitrate:  high 

Ev comp : -05 

Shutter:  Auto 

White balance : Auto 

White balance:  5500k (with dive light matching the temperature ) 

Iso min: 100 

iso max : 800

Sharpness : medium 

color: natural 

Spot metering : on  (this setting is new for me) 

 

Edited September 27 by Nando Diver
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[Davide DB]

You use Davinci Resolve and anyway an underwater video must be color corrected/graded hence I would try:

 

White balance : native 

color: flat

 

Regarding the light position... hummm. A front facing light and so near to the lens is going to give you a lot of backscatter.

 

P.S.

Don't forget to try the BGULDS Filter 😉

[Nando Diver]

You are absolutely right 

 

Ive tried color flat profile for couple weeks and later grading with Davinci, but im beginner in color grading and i was frustrated for not getting good results and went back to  Natural color profile, it seems a good compromise and minimal grading. 

To do the Grading of White balance in Davinci i start by looking for a white object in video, and start from there (i even got color check card underwater but at deep of 20 meters its useless ) 

 

You also are correct about the lights, the divevolk has CRI 96 (excellent)  and 5000 lumens, i need to use it in minimal settings that's about 1250 lumens and the color sometimes its a bit too warm in center.

I should get a second dive light, and move it away from the center of the lents.

 

But.... i dont want a bulky system

 

Ive test a full Divevolk kit with 2x dive lights with iPhone 14, + blackmagic camera app and was impressed with the results....but the iPhone dont have the gopro image stabilisation. 

 

I didnt went with divevolk route, because the time ive tried it, all the dive i was too focus on video and less on the dive.... i want something simple that i can attach to the BDC, and if i see something interesting i will film it. 

 

For me, first of all, its important to enjoy the dive, the videography its secondary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Davide DB]

 

 

8 hours ago, Nando Diver said:

Ive tried color flat profile for couple weeks and later grading with Davinci, but im beginner in color grading and i was frustrated for not getting good results and went back to  Natural color profile, it seems a good compromise and minimal grading. 

To do the Grading of White balance in Davinci i start by looking for a white object in video, and start from there (i even got color check card underwater but at deep of 20 meters its useless ) 

 

I think your diving conditions are similar to what we have here, so I understand you.  My GH5 at 17 meters is pretty much at the limit and I don't think a gopro can do any better in the Mediterranean. So okay.

 

8 hours ago, Nando Diver said:

You also are correct about the lights, the divevolk has CRI 96 (excellent)  and 5000 lumens, i need to use it in minimal settings that's about 1250 lumens and the color sometimes its a bit too warm in center.

I should get a second dive light, and move it away from the center of the lents.

 

You need to add a small 20 cm arm. All you need is a flexible arm on which to attach some Stix to compensate for the weight of the light. You need to move the light away. One light is usually not enough.

 

8 hours ago, Nando Diver said:

But.... i dont want a bulky system

 

I disagree with that. 
A kit like this, with the arms or a folded arm takes up zero space and you hang it with a paracord and boltsnap from a jacket d-ring.

 

 

 

 

 

8 hours ago, Nando Diver said:

For me, first of all, its important to enjoy the dive, the videography its secondary.

 

For me too 😄😄😄

 

 

 

[Nando Diver]

Nice video from AOI

 

GoPro 13 + UWL-03PRO

 

 

 

[Nando Diver]

Im upgrading/optimizing the system with underwater weight

 

If anyone know what is the normal weight in salt water of : 

 

1 x tray gopro 25x 60 x 8   Flex-arm ( fresh water 130g ) 

1 x Clamp Flex-arm  (fresh water 55g) 

1 x dive light LS50 divevolk  or Supe V3K V3 (manufacturer  295g ) 

1 x gopro13 + gopro case 1x AOI UWL-03 lens (i have measured 250g underwater )

 

Also theres a big weight diference (up or down)  when the Gear is weight individually VS when weight all-in-one ??

 

 

 

 

 

[Davide DB]

I don't get your question.

 

There's no difference weighting objects individually or together.

 

Salt and fresh water weight difference is about 2.5% 

[Nando Diver]

1 hour ago, Nando Diver said:

Im upgrading/optimizing the system with underwater weight

 

If anyone know what is the normal weight in salt water of : 

 

1 x tray gopro 25x 60 x 8   Flex-arm ( fresh water 130g ) 

1 x Clamp Flex-arm  (fresh water 55g) 

1 x dive light LS50 divevolk  or Supe V3K V3 (manufacturer  295g ) 

1 x gopro13 + gopro case 1x AOI UWL-03 lens (i have measured 250g underwater )

 

Also theres a big weight diference (up or down)  when the Gear is weight individually VS when weight all-in-one ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

New weight with luggage scale 

 

1 x clamp INON ( fresh water 50g) 

1 x LS50 with battery ( fresh water 220g) 

1 x gopro13 + gopro case 1x AOI UWL-03 lens (land 650g ) 

 

 

 

[Elvandar]

@Nando Diver to know the weight underwater you can do it pretty easily:

1 - Weight it on land (I use a kitchen scales to have more precision)
2 - Submerge the piece in a graduated container, and measure the volume of the displaced water (or if you have a bigger piece of equipment , you can fill to the brim a bigger non graduated container and collect the excess water to then weight )
3 - Weight_on_land -  Displaced_water_weight = Weight_underwater_fresh  
      You can do this piece by piece, or go for the total
4 - For salt water:
       Total_weight_on_land -  Total_displaced_water_weight x 1.025 = Weight_underwater_salt 


With this method i got already some measure for you:
-GoPro 11 + case underwater fresh is 40 gr  (250 gr on land)  (basically equal to Gp13 )
-UFL 140 SD INON (similar to Aoi lens, if you want some approssimation and do not want to weight it yourself) 153 gr underwater, fresh (300 on land)


By the way, your objective is to reach a perfectly neutral setup?
I started with this idea, but ended with a slightly negative setup, and with that I improved stability of the video

[Davide DB]

13 minutes ago, Elvandar said:

1 - Weight it on land (I use a kitchen scales to have more precision)
2 - Submerge the piece in a graduated container, and measure the volume of the displaced water (or if you have a bigger piece of equipment , you can fill to the brim a bigger non graduated container and collect the excess water to then weight )
3 - Weight_on_land -  Displaced_water_weight = Weight_underwater_fresh  
      You can do this piece by piece, or go for the total
4 - For salt water:
       Total_weight_on_land -  Total_displaced_water_weight x 1.025 = Weight_underwater_salt 

 

You don't need to add this kind of complication.

Just weight everything submerged with a luggage scale.

Gopro kit it's so small you could do everything at home.

[Elvandar]

5 hours ago, Davide DB said:

 

You don't need to add this kind of complication.

Just weight everything submerged with a luggage scale.

Gopro kit it's so small you could do everything at home.

I don't have one at home, to weight luggage I use the scale xD

And also with the luggage scale, you don't know the actual volume of the setup, and cannot balance perfectly for the salt water, at least if you don't do the weighting in salted water 😁


By the way, I used these calculation also because on the structural component i bougth, the only data i had was weight on land, and with the g/dm³ of the material, i calculated the volume, and subtracted the water weight for that volume.
It worked first try, just 30 gr negative without even have all the pieces in hand xD
For the torch, that have different density, i just used the submege and volume method

[Nando Diver]

Ive just bought new clamps + new underwater tray, i will use a lugagge scale in salt water when they arrive..

After the measurements i will order the floats.

 

 

[Nando Diver]

Ive also had a second dive light, but the LS50 V2 now has a new improved version and im scratching my head what values (lumens)  the new presets 1-9 have on version V2

 

LS50 version 1  (5000 LUMENS ) 
5600 kelvin 
CRI 96 

100%  - 5000 lumens 
75% - 3800 lumens
50% 2500 lumes 

L50 version 2 (5600 LUMENS) 
5600 kelvin 
CRI 96 

Level 9 - 5600 lumens 
Level 8 - ???
Level 7 - ?? 
Level 6 - ??
Level 5 - ??
Level 4 - ??
Level 3 - ??
Level 2 - ?? 
Level 1 - 1200 Lumens 
 

Ive email divevolk to inform me what are the values (LUMENS)  of Level 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…. 

 

 

[Nando Diver]

Ive got the specs of LS50 V2

 

LS50 V1 (lumens preset) 

5000

3750

2500

 

LS50 V2 (lumens preset

5600

5040

4480

3920

3360

2800

2240

1680

1120

 

[Nando Diver]

Received the Tray and clamps from Italians Flex-arm..

The Gopro tray is sturdy and the clamps are huge and amazing at same time 

 

Didn't know this italian company but by the looks of their products they are 10/10...looking forward to test in the water.

Float Arms next week.

So far weight on land 2590g 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 17 by Nando Diver

[bghazzal]

Flexarm has been around for a while, and yes, quality is good.
I've used two of their flexarms since 2016.

Looks good - Your setup reminds me of the SRP tray I once had, boomerang shaped with two handles. It really helped on the GoPro4, which had no stabilisation (and wasn't waterproof either...)

Then I started working in diving and was just shooting ambient in ambient light, stabilisation (hypersmooth etc) was introduced on the GoPro5. I got rid of the tray just handheld the GoPro housing directly, which worked fine - this was my hyperminimalist actioncam setup for years, always clipped on the BCD.
 

But with heavy lights, this is not going to be an option. The lens is also a little heavy but my manageable on such a small camera.

What solution are you going for in terms of buoyancy compensation? I'm guessing arms for the lights?
Horizontal float above the camera are also nice (you can use triple clamps for the lights for instance), and help bulk-up the setup, which is nice to handle.

Edited October 18 by bghazzal

[Nando Diver]

Ive measured the setup today in salted water +850g

The 2 extra clamps should be +50g 

 

Im thinking of 2 of the flex-arm floats they have +410g buoyancy, one each side, they have 15cm.

 

But i have 2 spare floats of 400g buoyancy each with 10cm diameter x 5cm length,  i only need the plastic arms (12cm) 

Im gone try this option first underwater to see if gives me enough flexibility, buoyancy and backscatter.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19 by Nando Diver

[Nando Diver]

Tried the setup underwater with 2x 16cm arms + 400g floats  on the sides and hated..it's too bulky. 

 

The Dives here are good for Macro, theres also shipwreck with Groupers, Conger ell, Moray ell, Octopus, Lobsters, Spider Crabs and most of them are hide in narrow places and holes, this means 75% of the time a compact setup camera with dive lights.

 

Visibility is 5m - 15m , in good days we can get 25m, but here the corals are soft  with lots of debris in water.

This means filming must be done close has possible to the subject. 

 

That's why a compact system here works better, and its the reason to my preference of the lamps close to the tray handle 

I have to angle the dive lights outwards to avoid backscatter.

 

And no, i dont want to always adjusting the dive lights Position, or color temperature everytime we are at different depth or scene..

 

Since the system its too negative, i moved the floats under the tray, and i need to add a float 250g in the center with triple clamps.

 

 

Edited October 21 by Nando Diver

[bghazzal]

13 hours ago, Nando Diver said:

Tried the setup underwater with 2x 16cm arms + 400g floats  on the sides and hated..it's too bulky. 

 

The Dives here are good for Macro, theres also shipwreck with Groupers, Conger ell, Moray ell, Octopus, Lobsters, Spider Crabs and most of them are hide in narrow places and holes, this means 75% of the time a compact setup camera with dive lights.

 

Visibility is 5m - 15m , in good days we can get 25m, but here the corals are soft  with lots of debris in water.

This means filming must be done close has possible to the subject. 

 

That's why a compact system here works better, and its the reason to my preference of the lamps close to the tray handle 

I have to angle the dive lights outwards to avoid backscatter.

 

And no, i dont want to always adjusting the dive lights Position, or color temperature everytime we are at different depth or scene..

 

Since the system its too negative, i moved the floats under the tray, and i need to add a float 250g in the center with triple clamps.

 

 

 

That looks good, with you with avoiding buoyancy on the sides, and keeping the rig compact with the lights close like this.

And I also find it nicer to have the buoyancy above (so the rig "hangs" on it) than below (so it "pushes" the rig) - these 10bar compensate 400g each, right?
What you could try is get a 10" 900g float above on the triple clamps, something like this one:
https://www.puluz.com/v/3163499
 

This is what I use, and just cabletie additional floats to it as required.



One thing you could also try is just add 5" arms to the lights, with 10bar or stix float, to bring the closer to neutral (these are next to the float, bottom right)
Shouldn't mess much with the balance, but will compensate 150g or so off the lights themselves, and will give you more flexibility in positioning if using triple clamps.
Maybe try to get open triple clamps if you can, to give you more options with a centrally mounted float

Edited October 22 by bghazzal

[Elvandar]

@Nando Diver 
I opted for a top float like @bghazzal suggested, the advantage being it's basically a balanced and leveled setup, but losing the compactness of the go pro

Here the setup, without the torch:

On the float arms, I have 3 lens holder, to put the 2 inon macro lens, plus one extra as support when i swap lens

The top float was around 45$ on aliexpress

Edited October 22 by Elvandar

[Nando Diver]

Getting ready for the weekend dive 😃

Dive location : ship wreck 25m + Dive soft coral reef 10m to 15m 

 

So i add new presets in Gopro for testing WB lock . (To change Presets underwater long press on power then Shutter to popup presets menu) 

 

Preset WB-Lock at 5500K to match the video lights (5600K) + Natural Color + ISO Max 800

My expectations is that the filming will have nice colors and be usable where the dive lights reach, without the need of color correction 

 

Preset HGL HDR  +  WB-Lock 5500k to match the video lights (5600K) + Natural Color 

Just curiosity since my computer support HDR

 

Preset LOG + Native WB + Color GP-LOG

 Fo color correction afterwards 

 

Preset HDR HLG  WB AUTO + Natural Color 

This will be for shallow waters with lots of ambient light up to 10m 

Edited October 24 by Nando Diver

[Nando Diver]

Ive spend too many years outside of technology forums 😃

Just realised the iPhone 12 and youtube supports HDR HLG...

 

The drawback of using HDR HLG in Gopro 13 underwater is that has fixed ISO of min 100 -  max 1600, i normally use 800max.

 

According to this discussion on reedit, the Gopro 11 & 12 dont display "True HDR" but the Gopro13 will delivery HLG HDR that encodes the video to BT2100

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24 by Nando Diver

[Nando Diver]

WOW....if you have 4K HLG HDR capable display turn it on...amazing colors 

 

 

[humu9679]

8 hours ago, Nando Diver said:

WOW....if you have 4K HLG HDR capable display turn it on...amazing colors 

 

 

Super!

[Nando Diver]

Today the Tie has changed and we had to skip the shipwreck to a different diving spot.

Visibility was not the best, and there was some strong currents.

 

Depth was about 16m

 

When i start to experiment the HLG HDR Preset the image look very exposed in Gopro 13 little screen. 

Change to different preset from 5500K to AUTO WB and i got the same excess of exposure.

Change to Standart SDR and the exposure is gone.

 

My opinion is that the Gopro back screen dont support HDR HLG, im gone reduce the screen brightness from 100% to 50% in the settings and try again tomorrow.

 

I grab some video comparison and put them side by side... maybe its not a fair comparison because i forgot to match the ISO to 1600 on the Standart Preset.

 

No color grading was applied

Left - HLG HDR Auto WB / 4K / Color Natural/ ISO max 1600

Center - HLG HDR/ WB 5500/4K/ Color Natural/ISO max 1600

Right - SDR / WB 5500K /5.3K / Color Natural/ ISO max 800

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 26 by Nando Diver