Nikolausz

Yes, sturgeons. They were very friendly.

For a while I used a DIY tetrapod based on Loc-line parts. I'm about to disassemble it for a new project and I thought I share it here. It didn't work that well. It was noisy and adjusting position was not easy. Don't try this direction. I hope you can learn from a failed project. You can see it "in action" (also a good example of wrong lighting set up) in this video:

It's not for us.

I had a project last year to film a catfish hunting during the night. I only have a sony A6400 aps-c camera and a 10-18 mm f/4 zoom, which is a fine set-up during the day. I had 2 video lamps and the I managed to film some nice footage (3 night dives), but still I felt that a full-frame sensor would be proper for this job. I'm planning to try it again this year, but after calculation of the cost to switch to full-frame and considering my budget, I decided that instead of complete switching I just purchased a bright aperture affordable prime lens (sony 11mm f/1.8). I hope, this will be a significant improvement (2 f stops) with a minimal investement. I hope it will be good example for the use of prime lenses underwater

Today I also observed some problems with the AOI lens. Probably some sediment particles were trapped between the GoPro and the AOI lens (or in front of the lens), which caused visible errors. This might be a problem in low visibility situations.

I also posted a real comparison including clips taken with "naked" GoPro without the AOI lens. You have to check the corners and the fish swim close to the lens. For me, this lens was my best investment in this year (so far)

Thanks. I think, it would be not that difficult to produce specific bayonets for popular action cameras, such as Insta360 Ace Pro or DJI Osmo Action 4 (and later). GoPro is still the most popular one, and the underwater housing is the same for many generations (10-12), so it makes sense to support this brand first. I can imagine even that a 3rd party brand will specifically support these alternative action cameras. Finally Backscatter has its own adapter with filter slot. By the way AOI is also designed for smartphones.

I left my tool I use to position the cameras, so some footage are slant, but I included those, so you can check the corner sharpness. I'm absolutely happy. Even the chub very close to the lens is perfectly sharp.

I've just back from the shooting. This AOI is indeed a fantastic lens. I will post some videos soon.

Sometimes I have this problem as well. It's hard to do anything to prevent this.

I'm planning to use my AOI+GP12 tomorrow for the first time in a river (attached to protective case with standard battery). Do you have any recommendation, potential mistakes to be avoided?

In videos, you have to be closer (1-1.5 m) to have any visible effect of your video light. Any video light (regardless how many lumens). You can make a DIY plastic cone and it will have some effect but the WeeFine optical condenser has real lenses in and it's quite effective.

I have a WeeFine Smart Focus 6000 (6000 Lumen) and a Smart Focus 7000 (7000) is on the way. In my opinion it's a quite good quality system. I agree with Davide that you need a pair of light. So far I paired my Smart Focus 6000 with a cheap Chinese lamp and it was OK, but it has a colder light and changing the light intensity was possible only in 3 steps. The best is to have 2 identical lights and I wanted to order the same but the Smart Focus 6000 was discontinued and was replaced by the 7000. It has the same form factor and very similar weight, so I think it will be fine. The Smart Focus 10000 (WF074) is better for wide angle (120 degree and 10000 lumens) videos but not for macro. As I see, due to the dome port (which is excellent for wide angle videos) you cannot add the optical collector snoots that you can add to the Smart Focus 7000. This is an excellent solution for macro.

I think the linear is not just a crop but also a post-processing to de-fisheye the look, but in my opinion there should be an option to di this in post processing, when needed. My AOI lens has arrived yesterday. I hope I can try it soon

A recent comparison video by Brent Durand

Since there is no real optical zoom in GoPro, I guess the linear mode is just a crop and a kind of upscaling. Isn't it just better to crop it during the post processing of the video files?

I'm happy it finally worked out in time. I hope that you can still record same mating activity. I'm looking forward to see the new footage

Way overpriced. This one is more affordable but still expensive: https://actionpro.de/produkt/t-housing-aluminiumgehaeuse-h10-power-f-gopro-hero-10-und-hero-9/

It's on Amazon prime (in Germany)

And they even used GP7 or lower, since this Telesin housing is a discontinued model for GP5-7. It would be cool to have an upgraded model for GP12

Yesterday I watched the Freshwater episode of the Wild Isles (BBC?) and they clearly not sponsored by GoPro. The production team even couldn't afford an original GoPro housing so they used a Telesin one. I would also highlight the naturally designed wooden pole and the rock as a tripod replacement.

I agree that a GoPro is so affordable that many people just consider why not to take one for the dive. Really beginner divers with no experience in film making. My colleague is planning to do his first dive course in Egypt in May and he asked me whether to buy a GoPro (I try to convince not). It's also free to post garbage footage on youtube, so it's full with them. But it's not because of the quality of the GoPro and other action cameras but due to the "camera operators" and lack of skills and knowledge (and taste). On the other hand I know that even big productions, "blue chip" wildlife movies use GoPro cameras and not just for B-rolls. Finally the quality is really not that bad in my opinion, and 20 years ago we have just dreamed about such level.