
Everything posted by bghazzal
-
Quick Summary of Compact Camera Choices
For macro I'm in full artificial light and just set the kelvin value to the lights', so it's true that it's not much of an issue other than for ambient light / mixed lighting / wide angle. For sure there must be a reason why the RX100vii, a macro-beast according to specs, doesn't seem to translate to actual footage online. Something is off. I've seen some good footage from the RX100V and VA though. Yes, that crop on the a6400 sounds really tricky - but it would be great if you could test things out on a compact - coming from the 90mm macro to a compact's zoom lens could take a bit of time to adjust to, and potentially lead to some regrets I think I was actually planning on upgrading my compact rig to a Sony a6700, but having moved to Japan postponed this project indefinitely for financial reasons. Look into it, it's an APS-C, great for video and, if lightning fast video AF isn't a requirement, it should work great with the new 16-50mm kit lens, which is a zoom lens and optimised for video, or the Zeiss Touit macro 60mm (which doesn't support fast video AF unfortunately). AF is actually outstanding on this camera, but video-AF supporting lens options are scarce, especially for macro, unfortunately. It would also solve port removal issues and should be fantastic to work with for macro video (and you also would gain 4K 60fps, which none of the compacts have, and can be very useful for small fast moving critters / working with shallow DOF)
-
Quick Summary of Compact Camera Choices
Hi - yes, I shoot video exclusively, but have never tried the G7xIII - if I remember correctly, its greatest flaw for video was the manual white-balancing process, which implied working from a still shot, rather than simply using the white-balance button. These kinds of ergonomic issues were the main reason it wasn't on my list when I was deciding which compact to get for video (even though I love Canon colour balance in ambient light) If you're shooting macro exclusively, the LX10 works well, but for macro in artificial light the Sony RX100 series, especially the latest in the series, have humongous zooms which sound really good on paper - they will, however, lock you into a macro-centric port configuration, and I say on paper because other than specs, good macro footage shot on these is not that easily found for some reason... Also while a compact's zoom lens is fine for macro, especially coupled with a +6 to +15 diopter on a compact and the 1" sensor helps in this regard, (you can see some of my macro video on the LX10 here ) , it will still have more limitations than a true macro lens. cheers!
-
Bonfire dive in Bonaire
Yes, please do tell - very interested in how people are organising this in different places. We actually have a little thread up on the subject here: https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/1671-bonfire-dives-light-trap-dives cheers! ben
-
WTB - Inon Dome Lens Unit II
Dome is found, thanks 😊
-
Buyer/Seller feedback from Classified Sales
I purchased an Inon Dome Unit type II from @shokwaav All good, easy transaction, fast well packed shipping from HK to Japan, and dome is in great shape, as described - highly recommended seller. Thanks! 🙏
-
WTB - Inon Dome Lens Unit II
Hello all, This is a shot in the dark, but I'm interested in sourcing an Inon Dome Lens Unit II for use with my UWL-H100 lens. http://www.inon.jp/customer/discontinued/lens/domelensunit2_uwl100/top.html If anyone has one lying around gathering dust, please get in touch! Cheers! Ben
-
Richelieu Rock dive site. Similan Islands, Thailand.
My old stomping grounds - really miss that monster-pack of longnose emperors, trevallies and more... Brings back great memories, thanks. (as a side-note, Richelieu Rock is actually in the Surin Islands, and part of the Mu Ko Surin National Park, rather than the Similans). cheers
-
MP3 or WAV
I do too, and generally use the custom equalizer to cut off high-frequencies (which don't usually fare too well under recompression) - also make sure nothing in the red, and adjust volume accordingly (unless you're going for a take-it-to-11 heavymetal indiecore edit)
-
INON and AOI Wide Angle Wet Lenses for Action Cameras
Very interesting, thanks. the Inon lens is a little different from the AOI/Backscatter models, if I'm not mistaken? I recently shot something with the GoPro7 and AOI lens and really happy with the corners. I'd say the background starts losing focus about 5m in rather murky conditions in Okinawa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cXdJGjeMKw But if I compare this to an vid without the lens, there's not much difference in this regard: https://youtu.be/OMFi4DTTuCA (this is also in one of Palau's murkier sites, Grassland/Sandy Paradise) However, corners/sharpness are really night and day with the lens. Issue is this is not not a true comparison - despite being on the same camera with the same settings, the Palau clip was shot in 2.7K linear and the more recent one with the AOI lens is in 4K Wide (my old laptop cannot handle GoPro 4K's HEVC codecs, so I need to work in proxies in FCPX to edit - time consuming, so when I was working in diving I just shot in 2.7K to avoid the issue). Regarding the fov, without the lens, I prefered linear to wide - the wide lens changed thant of course, as it both corrects the corners and improves the general forground sharpness, with a low MFD. Anyway, this is really interesting. I really look forward to seeing some more GoPro11 + AOI footage, as well as other combinations, especially the DJI models. p.s. that's the resident school of jacks at Blue Corner, right?
-
Prescription Masks
Tricky question as I have astigmatism on land (which is mitigated underwater, not sure what mecanism is at play), but lately I've been using the strongest I could find, which for a while was +3.5, but I recently found and bought some +5 for testing. I think +5 is the limit for plastic glass lenses, and it might be a little too much. I started with +2, but overall I would recommend to get a stronger strength than what you would use on land. It's really helpful for seeing the camera screen more clearly and also spotting macro critters. I'd say the stronger you go, them closer it is to using a magnifying glass (which is great for spotting), so it's a slightly different experience. What I really like about this system compared to more fixed option is that you can adjust the position of the readers. I put take them out of a pocket (important have a way to clip them to you when not in use, I use a light plastic clip so there's no weight when wearing them) and place them at them bottom of the mask when I'm swimming around or spotting, so I can just switch between regular "wide angle" vision and the magnified one. However when I'm actually shooting a subject and staying focused on that, I move them up to the middle of the mask, right in front of my eyes. cheers
-
Prescription Masks
I saw / posted these above last January when they showed up - There's no real reason they shouldn't work. However, there's no real reason to not DIY them either, especially if you have access to cheap, powerful plastic readers. They just work great, and it will be a more flexible solution. I happen to be in the wonderful land of Daiso 100-yen stores, so can pick up readers up to +5 for 100 yen (+10 yen tax). I then DIY it (remove the temples, attach landyard), and no real reason to do otherwise. My current homegrown model looks like this these days: cheers!
-
Video: Courting Sea Snakes in Okinawa
Thanks so much for the kind words, Maria! It was such a lovely encounter — really enjoyed it 😊 As for the GoPro: I’ve been rowing,against the no-filter-needed tide since the GoPro4 days... Personally, I find that pairing a well-designed filter — like the late, great UR-Pro SW Cyan — with a locked white balance (WB "native," which locks it and offers a wider spectrum than Rec.709 used in other modes) and the “flat” color profile (minimal camera adjustments) yields the best results in ambient light, if you’re planning to do post-production work. The thinking is: while you can't white balance manually at depth on these cameras, you can still re-balance the footage afterward by setting the white point in post — and that’s when the image really comes to life. Sure, you lose about 1.5 stops of light with the filter, but it still helps a lot, as having a filtered, warmer base-image (and this is also where the filter's design / curve is important) reduces how much you have to stretch the color channels to restore colour balance in editing, making for a more natural, balanced and pleasing final result in most cases. In my experience, it beats letting the camera struggle to figure things out on its own underwater at typical diving depths. I actually expanded on this in a thread here: https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/1380-shooting-action-cams-with-a-red-filter-in-flat-profile-and-manually-white-balancing-in-post-production/ It’s definitely more hands-on, and not in line with the current auto-everything trend — but for those willing to put in the extra bit of work, I think the payoff is worth it, to get the best these cameras have to offer! Cheers!
-
UR-Pro filters info?
As a follow-up, here is the fluorofilter in the water, on the GoPro7: Frankly, conditions were really not ideal to test the filter gel, with cloudy murky (but still slightly blueish) water and a depth ranging between 2 to 5 meters... So yes, this was clearly in the no-filter zone, but the "deeper" shots, on the sand, didn't require as much as a stretch to re-white balance in post (which does affect the highlights when working in post), and show the filter's potential a little better. Yest despite all this, end results are quite ok. This clip was shot in 4K 60fps, wide fov, with the AOI UWL-03 wide lens, which corrects corner deformation, and also does seem to increase sharpness on close up shots. So yes, promising - I need to confirm these observations on a ̶n̶o̶r̶m̶a̶l̶ ̶ deeper dive, and also with a side to side UR-Pro + Fluoro test, but the Rosco seems to be the one I was looking for. It would also be great to test this on one of the more recent camera models, see what we can get out 10bit colour ( 🤩 ) in post, but on the right track, I'd say. cheers ben
-
Video: Courting Sea Snakes in Okinawa
Thanks Craig! It was a fun watch - spent 15 minutes with the snakes - a lot going on under rocks that I didn't put in the clip - at some point another male tried his luck but got chased away... fun times 😄
-
Video: Courting Sea Snakes in Okinawa
Thanks! Yes, the filter seems to be the Chosen One - I'm also really happy with the AOI wide lens, really solved the corner issues, and closeups do seem sharper than before, really a game changer for action cams! Beach diving here has a lot of potential, but is a little complicated by parking and/or water access issues... Can you park close enough to the entry point to lug your gear, and can the point be accessed without too much of a trek on sharp rocks, not to mention tide/depth issues. But it's just a learning process and I'm definitely not complaining 😄
-
Video: Courting Sea Snakes in Okinawa
Hello all, I'm finally getting back in the water, and here's a little clip I shot in Okinawa on my aging GoPro7, with the AOI UWL-03 wide lens and a Rosco filter, in 4K 60fps. Water might still be a modest 23°C, but spring is here and ❤️ is in the air... Courting Ijima's turtlehead sea snakes (Emydocephalus ijimae) at Gorilla Chop, Okinawa main island, Japan To get into kitchen stuff - we are on an UW imaging forum after all - this is my second dive after a long moving-to-Japan-in-winter-life-stuff hiatus, and also I'm testing a brand new drysuit, so didn't bring my faithful Lumix LX10. But I did carry my old GoPro 7, mounted with the AOI UWL03 wide lens and a filter-gel inside the housing, with the idea of testing what is one of the most promising replacements for the illustrious UR-Pro Cyan. Alas, conditions were really not ideal to test the filter gel, with cloudy murky - if slightly blueish - water and a slightly ridiculous depth ranging between 2 to 5 meters... So yes, clearly in the no-filter zone, but it is what it is, as ruthless lawmaker Mr Murphy always says... The "deeper" shots, on the sand, didn't require as much as a stretch to re-white balance in post (which does affect the highlights), and show the filter's potential a little better. I need to confirm these observations on a ̶n̶o̶r̶m̶a̶l̶ ̶ deeper dive, with a side to side test, but the Rosco seems to be the one I was looking for 🤞 Cheers and happy bubbles! Ben
-
Raja Ampat Coral Bleaching 2024: Caught in the Confluence - Video by Dr. Phil Dustan
eI am not aware of any scientific papers on coral bleaching in Raja other than the study from Indo-Ocean project, Lauren Sparks. They speculate that a major increase in cyanobacteria linked to human sewage. As tourism increases and toilets move ever closer to the water, the filtration of sewage by the soil is greatly decreased. Here's an article published in Oceanographic on tracking rising cyonabacteria levels in Raja4's Arborek island: https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/2353-article-trouble-in-paradise-rising-cyanobacteria-levels-in-raja-ampat/
-
Article - Trouble in paradise: rising cyanobacteria levels in Raja Ampat
On a related note: Deep Sea ReporterTourism Threatens to Destroy Coral Reefs in Raja Ampat -...In the heart of Raja Ampat is the small island village of Arborek, home to the NGO Barefoot Conservation. The team at Barefoot Conservation has been monitoring the reefs around the island, collecti... https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/2180-raja-ampat-coral-bleaching-2024-caught-in-the-confluence-video-by-dr-phil-dustan/ https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/2335-article-more-than-80-of-the-worlds-reefs-hit-by-bleaching-after-worst-global-event-on-record/
-
Article - Trouble in paradise: rising cyanobacteria levels in Raja Ampat
This is an article on rising cyanobacteria levels in Raja Ampat, (Indonesia), following the monitoring work done by the Barefoot Conservation team on Arborek island. Trouble in paradise: In the biodiversity oasis of Raja Ampat, cyanobacteria poses a serious threat to the region's abundant coral reefs. Is tourism to be blamed? https://oceanographicmagazine.com/features/cyanobacteria-in-raja-ampat/ Extracts: Together with Dr Josie Chandler, the head of science at the NGO I manage, we started monitoring the presence of the microorganisms. Chandler is a marine biologist who specialises in coral reef ecology, with her most recent research focused on crown-of-thorns starfish populations in Australia. “I had not heard of cyanobacteria covering coral reefs to this extent before, so as soon as Erika mentioned the issue I jumped into a rabbit hole of papers and studies to learn as much as possible about what is happening. Turns out, this is serious.” (...) “The problem is not sunscreen or breakage of corals by irresponsible divers, but without question the major issue is the increase in human sewage. Sanitation systems here are basic pit toilets, which meet the needs of small local populations without harming groundwater or marine ecosystems. However, the surge in tourism has overwhelmed these systems. The issue is accelerated by new beachside toilets near the shore, reducing the longer travel through soil before reaching the reef – the biological breakdown. The discharge of untreated sewage from liveaboard boats intensifies the challenge,” “Liveaboard operators have a lot to answer for, because their solutions for this problem are much more straightforward than island-based operations. Of course, this would come at a cost, but ultimately the cost of losing Raja Ampat reefs would be a lot more expensive. The livelihoods of local communities depend upon these reefs. Strict regulations need to be put in place,” says Chandler. She manages the team of on-site scientists remotely but has come to Raja Ampat to see what is happening with her own eyes. Under her leadership, cyanobacteria blooms have been monitored around Arborek Island for almost two years, and various photogrammetry projects 3D-map nearby reefs to observe bleaching in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an American scientific and regulatory agency. “The problem with cyanobacteria is that stopping the blooms is a huge task. It demands all stakeholders – villagers, resorts, liveaboards, and homestays – to come together, as new ways to offload sewage need to be put in place. But it has to be done if we want to keep the coral reefs alive,” says Chandler. “The real worry lies with the fact that bleached reefs’ chances to recover are minimal once smothered by cyanobacteria, and the cyanobacterial blooms are only getting bigger and more frequent.” Installing bio tanks – wastewater treatment systems that use microorganisms to break down sewage – across Raja Ampat and on liveaboards could be a critical first step. However, Arborek’s low-lying geography presents a challenge: high tides cause septic tanks to float up, complicating their installation. But the stakes are high. “It would be heartbreaking to see the most biodiverse reefs in the world succumb under the weight of preventable anthropological stressors like wastewater and overtourism,” says Chandler. Since 2022, Gress and Chandler have sent multiple alerts to the government and BLUD, accompanied by data collected over many months clearly showing the increase and impact of cyanobacteria. Their appeals have been rebuffed.
-
Article - More than 80% of the world’s reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record
International Coral Reef Initiative page on the subject: https://icriforum.org/4gbe-2025/ The most intense global coral bleaching event on record is still ongoing, according to scientists. One year on from the official declaration of the fourth global coral bleaching event by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), bleaching alerts continue to develop across the world.
-
Nauticam - is the spacer needed for Inon diopter?
For what it's worth, I just screw the Inon UCL-165 directly on my housing's M67 threaded port, no spacer, but I'm guessing this might depend on the port/lens used. Inon has a compatibility chart here: http://www.inon.jp/products/lens/ucl165m67/compatibility.html , but it's old and lens info is a little tricky to spot.
-
Interesting: Thailand "bans" u/w photograpy for newbies and training
Let’s see how these new regulations play out in practice. If enforcement is anything like it was in the Similan (Koh Bon, Koh Tachai) and Surin (Richelieu Rock)National Parks, well—I wouldn’t hold my breath... The new rules about snorkeling zones are interesting too: snorkelers are now supposed to stick to areas where there's at least two metres of water above the coral, to avoid disturbing the reef. Sounds good on paper. Let’s see if operators actually drop people into those areas—and whether the breadcrumb buffets are finally off the reef fish menu...
-
Article - More than 80% of the world’s reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record
NOOA Current Global Bleaching: Status Update & Data Submission - Updated: April 21, 2025 https://www.coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/research/coral_bleaching_report.php On April 15, 2024, NOAA (in partnership with the International Coral Reef Initiative) confirmed the world is in the midst of its 4th global coral bleaching event. From 1 January 2023 to 20 April 2025, bleaching-level heat stress has impacted 83.7% of the world’s coral reef area and mass coral bleaching has been documented in at least 83 countries and territories. The ongoing global coral bleaching event is the biggest to date. The previous record was during the 3rd global coral bleaching event, which occurred from 2014-2017, when 68.2% of the world's reef area experienced bleaching-level heat stress. The 1st and 2nd global coral bleaching events occurred in 1998 and 2010, respectively. Animation of NOAA CRW's Daily 5km Bleaching Alert Area Maximum product, for the period January 1, 2023 - April 20, 2025
-
Article - More than 80% of the world’s reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record
Sad news, but predictable as humanity continues to offer micro-solutions to macro-problems... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/23/coral-reef-bleaching-worst-global-event-on-record The world’s coral reefs have been pushed into “uncharted territory” by the worst global bleaching event on record that has now hit more than 80% of the planet’s reefs, scientists have warned. Reefs in at least 82 countries and territories have been exposed to enough heat to turn corals white since the global event started in January 2023, the latest data from the US government’s Coral Reef Watch shows. (...) The 84% of reefs exposed to bleaching-level heat in this ongoing fourth event compares with 68% during the third event, which lasted from 2014 to 2017, 37% in 2010 and 21% in the first event in 1998. Even reefs considered by scientists to be refuges from the ocean’s rising levels of heat have been bleached, Dr Derek Manzello, the director of Coral Reef Watch, said. “The fact that so many reef areas have been impacted, including purported thermal refugia like Raja Ampat and the Gulf of Eilat, suggests that ocean warming has reached a level where there is no longer any safe harbour from coral bleaching and its ramifications,” he said.
-
South East Asia Recommendations for late November
Late November should be ok for Okinawa (it normally gets rough, with northern winds blowing in December), but even with island hopping, 14-18 days of travel is too long for the area I think (unless you're planning on combining this with non-diving land travel). November is a shoulder month, it should also be just the start of rainy season in many places in Indonesia, including Bali, which can affect diving but could still be ok, however northern Indonesia should be a safe bet.