Nikolausz

Is there anybody a good printing solution for N85 focus gear for Sony 10-18mm f/4 (SEL1018) zoom on Sony a6400 (or similar A6xxx) in Nauticam housing (housing zoom knob). I'm totally noob for 3D printing but I have access to a printer and help.

They are colour corrected but not too much and not necessary final. However, complete removal of blue cast is not my aim. I don't like those clinically corrected videos, where the impression is that it's not recorded underwater. Long time ago I read an article about designing the Finding Nemo animated movie and they introduced underwater particles (backscatter) and vanished colours in far away subjects, just to be more realistic, underwater-like.

I used AWB on the Sony but I found that GoPro is better with fixed WB, so I tuned according to the video lamps, so I used 5000K, it makes wide footage more rich in blue. Maybe these subjects are not that colourful, but I see a subtle difference bringing out the colours well. This video below is a better examples for the colours of GoPro with external lights (more colourful subjects and available lights are less dominating).

It's interesting that you favoured GoPro footage. Have you watched it on phone or on a large monitor? I think it makes a big difference, but I agree that the difference is not that big and when the conditions are good for GoPro shooting with a large camera doesn't bring too much.

In shallow water or with proper light these action cameras can produce really good results, especially with the AOI (or Inon) wide correction lens. I always praised the close focus improvement by the AOI UWL-03 but it's more prone to show the particles close to the lens than the AF lens with shallower depth of field. Shooting towards the sun is also more complicated with the AOI but under ideal conditions I'm pretty happy with the results from the GoPro.

You can buy currently the GoPro set-up around 600 euro, while the cheapest wide-angle option for Sony A6400 (with this zoom lens) is 1750 euro when a Saltedline housing (400 euro with 6" dome port) is used and not the more expensive Nauticam case (there would be not much optical optical improvement going for the more expensive housing).

During my last trip to Raja Ampat I had the chance to compare a Sony A6400 with the 10-18mm f/4 lens to the GoPro12 with AOI UWL-5 wide lens for videos. My original plan was to use the Sony camera mainly for macro and have the GoPro setup for wide angle. However, most of the dives were more appropriate for wide scene videography. So I used both camera very similarly, therefore, I produced many similar footage, which is a good opportunity for comparison. I tried to max out both systems. Sony was on XAVC S 4K, 25p 100M, while GoPro was used with GoPro Labs (4K 60p, highest bitrate). You can see the setup below: I've uploaded two videos with many footage on my YT channel. The perspective is a bit different but they can be compared. There was a recent thread about the "cinematic" application of action cameras. I think the GoPro is not that bad but I observed many optical errors. What do you think about the results?

Sure, I also sold GoPro and even Yi 4K+ (old action camera) footage. My problem is that bad quality videos are promoted as "cinematic" ones, and maybe it lowers the expectation of the general audience.

I don't have problem with clickbait titles or thumbnails, since sometimes it's necessary to reach broader audience. I'm OK with it, I don't click just because of it. My major problem is that the videos sequences posted are really bad quality (some aspects) and it's sold as cinematic, which suggest higher quality and the audience are OK with it and they don't recognise that nothing is sharp. I also use GoPro in addition to my Sony APS-C mirrorless (A6400) and the quality from the action camera is not bad. Some short sequence I already posted on my channel from my Raja Ampat trip (maybe I should blur the corners):

I like Vu Nguyen's opinion about cinematographers:

I've recently came across a video on youtube about tips and tricks to shoot cinematic footage by any action camera. The YT channel is run by a couple creating mainly travel videos with lots of underwater sequences. The recommendations (use tray, add lights, get closer etc.) are totally appropriate but the underwater video sequences are just not OK and IMHO, and they are far from cinematic, or I just haven't seen that movie. My main problem is that they forced hyperview and the corners are somehow stretched and not sharp. Actually, only the middle segment is usable according to my standard. I left a comment, but in general other comments are positive. So the people are happy with those results. Most of the people will watch YT videos on smartphone, so maybe trying to reach cinematic quality is just overrated or the people's quality expectations are lowered drastically. I'm curious about your opinion. Please, don't leave negative comments on the video on YT, I don't want to bash their channels, so lets rather discuss here, and more as a phenomenon (with this particular example) general. By the way I think it's possible to achieve cinematic quality with action cameras as many footage in big blue chip productions were taken by action cameras. So here is the video I mentioned:

Nice job

I lost my cap for the Nauticam USB-C (see picture below) bulkhead. If you have by chance a faulty USB-C bulkhead connector with the cap and it just collects dust I would buy it for a reasonable price. I live in Germany, so it only makes sense to post it from Europe.

It won't short. I've tested it unintentionally, so it's not just waterproof but also your camera is protected in case of leakage (which is highly unlikely if you screw back the cap properly).

Yes, it's a video light

This is my fully pimped up GoPro with an extra shutter release mechanism from AliExpress. I rarely use it this way but it was OK with gloves

A friend of mine is in Dahab currently and found an interesting colony. Can somebody identify it? I suspect some sponge or colonial ascidia.

I used a previous version of this light. It's the typical cheap Chinese underwater video lamp you can buy on AliExpress around 50-60 Euro. It's not a high CRI light, it's strong but has a typical "blueish" light. I ordered some warm filter for it to upgrade but finally I've never tried. I've checked the homepage you linked and this one looks more interesting: LetonPower Official StoreLetonPower Shark CB 6000 Lumens White/Yellow/Blue/Red Mul...Shark CX Underwater Video Light, 6000 Lumens 5500K, 7 Lighting Modes, CRI 96, 120° Illumination Angle.

I can also recommend Weefine lights

I would sell the DJI and buy an Insta360 X5 if you really needed a 360 degree camera underwater

I'm not talking about macro videography, but a normal scene, or fish videos hugely benefit from a better close focus ability of an action camera. For real macro videography I use a Sony A6400 with appropriate macro lenses (but it's still lots of fiddling around).

Matthias Lebo made a quite extensive comparison of the recent action cameras: I made the following comment: "DJI has really bad corners (otherwise colours look good), iPhone is the most versatile and it has a bit more background separation, Insta clips straight out of the camera are the best, but GoPro is surprisingly good, when there is enough light (but I would use a default -0.5 correction)" My opinion hasn't changed. I can still spot the bad corners of the DJI videos. Another overlooked feature is the close focus ability (or lack of it). Yes, they are fixed focus cameras; therefore, the way the focus is set is very important. Many youtubers complained that even from an arm length their face is not sharp. Underwater, it's very important to move very close to the subject, so actually the smaller sensor of the GoPro is an advantage due to the larger DOF and better close focus ability (especially if we used video lights and marginally better noise is not an issue). This close focus feature can be improved with add on lenses (Inon or AOI). Now, you can use those lenses on Insta360 and DJI cameras, but they were originally designed to GoPros, so I guess they work better with GoPro. I used many action cameras including Yi 4K+, Firefly 8SE, various Insta360 and GoPro cameras (also tried DJI). Currently I use GoPro Hero 12. In my opinion, the difference in video quality among those cameras are not that big and the quality of the light, camera positioning and movement, quality of the water (visibility) have much bigger effects on the final quality. So those are all very capable cameras. My next camera will also be a GoPro, or an action camera with AF or some basic focusing change option.

I considered smart focus, because of the additional blue light and the optical condensor (kind of snoot) you can attache (screw) to the lamp. Honestly, I haven't used that much those functions, so for video I would also suggest solar flare over the smart focus version.

I use 2 WeeFine Smart Focus 7000, which is practically the same with some extras. I also use it for my Sony A6400, but often with GoPro 12. They're good but don't expect them to lit big reef scenes. However, if you around or closer than 1m they will do the job.

I usually use my action camera on the top of my mirrorless housing, but time to time I use action camera alone. As soon as you add lights it's recommended to use a tray and floating arms. It makes the handling and moving the camera without small handshakes, which results better footage. Here, you can see my maxed out GoPro set up.