Nikolausz

This looks very promising

You need an underwater housing. I considered this option and the only reasonable solution I found was the combination of the following 2 items: https://www.panoceanphoto.com/t-housing-h10-power https://actionpro.de/produkt/adapter-fuer-inon-objektive-t-housing-h10-power/ Another alternative is to buy a DJI Osmo Action 5 pro, that has a much better battery life.

Have you considered the AOI UCL-03? https://www.aoi-uw.com/products/wet-lenses/aoi-ucl-03.html

After a quick search I have 2 problems with this lens: 1. It's probably too large to fit into the standard dive case 2. Based on the examples the image quality is really bad. Only the centre is sharp and the corners are really blurry and it's still not macro.

In addition, it has a colour temperature sensor; which might help in underwater footage

The long battery life sounds really good. I would be happy with 3 hours 4K, so I don't have to think about some extra battery solutions for my GoPro. It seems to be compatible with the Action 4 housing, which means that AOI adapter and lenses are also available for Action 5 Pro

Number one rule for successful underwater youtube channel: you need a good looking snorkelist

A new contender is DJI Action 5 Pro. It looks actually not that bad. I found a review with lots of underwater scenes in it:

Challenge accepted. But it will take time.

It looks great. It would be interesting to try out also with larger sensor cameras.

It looks promising. My problem with the standard UWL-03 is optical issues when shooting toward the sun.

While many of us may hoped 8K resolution from the newly announced action camera that is affordable for most of us, some professionals have already reached 18.7K with a custom made cine camera. https://petapixel.com/2024/08/26/gorgeous-underwater-whale-footage-shot-with-custom-18-7k-cine-camera/ I would like to see a comparison with the new GoPro, but based on the posted videos, I'm not really impressed. Maybe the conditions were not so good or the camera operator was too far from the whales but I can't see the extra resolution (I watched at 4K) What do you think? My opinion is that due to the physical properties of the water it doesn't make sense to go beyond 4K with wide angle. More resolution might be useful for macro.

I will not upgrade. I may buy another GP12. There is not much image quality improvement (if any). The new lenses are interesting but not really useful for underwater use. There is still no housing supporting Max Lens Mod. The incompatibility issues (battery, new lenses) are very annoying.

The Weefine Smart Focus 7000 I use is more similar to a higher specced model, the Hydra 8000 WRGBU https://krakensports.ca/product/hydra-8000-wrgbu/

Fishing net floats are also good and they're cheap

We should not forget that DJI will release the OSMO Action 5Pro soon, so the race is still opened

I currently use 2 Weefine Smart Focus 7000. They are also Chinese products but from the middle class. I can just recommend them. The remote control via optical cable is very convenient and the quality of the light is good in my opinion. I also have 3 cheap basic lamp you can buy below 50 USD (EUR) in the AliExpress (or other portals). The ones I have are under the model name L15 with claimed 20000 - 22800 Lumen, which is a big exaggeration. Comparing to the weefine I would guess they are around 8000 Lumen and the light is colder. I like the fact that they use 18650 batteries. The battery pack of the weefine is quite expensive. I blue light of the cheaper lamps is actually better than of the Weefine for fluorescent videos. I have problems with one unit only. I can switch on the white light, but switching off or changing intensity is PITA. The other switch (coloured lights) is OK. I think these lights are quite OK for beginners. I would prefer 2 of these cheap lights over any, even most expensive filters.

I couldn't wait till 1st April with this joke. Nobody will remember the Hawk Tuah girl next year (I hope)

I’ve heard some rumors from a friend’s neighbor’s uncle that the company, Naughty Cam (don’t confuse with similarly sounding renowned camera housing and accessories manufacturer) is developing a secret compound to be used as anti-fog agent for our diving masks. The development was mainly driven by the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions on spitting on your mask. They managed to isolate a special peptide from saliva, which is produced in high concentration especially in alcohol-induced young female test targets. Scientists at Naughty Cam managed to sequence the peptide and working on heterologous expression, but so far they failed. Nevertheless, they applied for a patent and working on formulating a product under the brand “Hawk Tuah”. I also heard that it’s perfect for treating dome ports to prevent the formation of any water drops on the port in the case of split shots. I’m very curious of this product and eager to try it. Cheers

Amazing

Sony A6400, AF-C as I remember focus area was center.

I'm relatively new to this, so I don't have that much experience with AF cameras. I currently use a Sony A6400 and my approach depends on the lens. I use AF with wide lenses without problem. I tested SEL 10-18mm F4 and SEL 11mm F1.8 under low light low visibility conditions without any problem. Another lens I used with mixed results is the SEL 30mm f3.5 macro. In AF mode it often shift focus, especially if something appears in the foreground. Another issue is that even when used on a tripod, it applies some micro adjustment, which makes the whole footage bad. I have an example here: So in such case it's better to adjust focus with AF and then switch to MF. Sometimes, with larger high contracts subjects it works well: I have recently tried the 90mm macro lens and I concluded that the AF was quite OK but it's not a lens for hand held videos.

For those sticked to GoPro, I have a good news. Your camera is good enough to shoot a movie to be screened in IMAX theaters, so it will surely be OK for couple of years to post clips filmed with it on your youtube channels Skywalkers is a movie shot on a GoPro and will be screened in an IMAX theater. https://ymcinema.com/2024/06/19/filmed-for-imax-on-a-gopro/

Place your bet. AF or no AF? Meanwhile a film crew used some more advanced action cameras: https://www.slashcam.com/news/single/Mysterious-Sony----camera-seen-on-set-for-Formula--18042.html

DJI Ronin 4D is really great and the lens system they developed is also outstanding. I saw many good stuff about the Osmo Pocket camera and I just found out, that even underwater housings exist: https://garmade.com/en-de/products/for-dji-osmo-pocket-3-brdrc-40m-depth-waterproof-case-diving-housing-coverblack-handle