Davide DB

Like underwater, more or less 😛

Hi David, Welcome aboard!

I know this is a sensitive topic, and I’m not here to judge anyone. I know many people in this community enjoy these dives and will keep doing them. I’ll admit, the photos you can get are amazing and it's very tempting, but personally, I’ve decided not to do them. We often talk about how photographers (or simply divers) affect the ocean. For example, everyone seems to agree with the new rules in Thailand about diver experience, or the fact that we can't wear gloves in the Red Sea. No one complains about those rules. But let’s be honest: shark feeding changes how these animals behave. In the end, it’s all part of what we call human impact on nature. The classic justification for these dives has always been that they help debunk negative myths about sharks. But guys, we are all adults now and it’s 2026. Does that still make sense? To change the subject, Shark Week, which used the same justification, continues to cause a lot of damage IMHO. I’d love to hear what you think about this 😇

A huge thanks to everyone supporting our project by buying merchandise from our site ❤️

Your monitor has a nice flat surface on the back. Perfect for some DIY float! The ideal theoretical situation would be one where moving the lights does not change the trim at all. Unfortunately, cameras are small and have a form factor optimized for taking photos rather than shooting video like camcorders. As a result, we all end up with a sort of 'M-configuration' or something close to it. The first approach would be to make the lights neutral or nearly neutral. Keldan offers very expensive floats for their lights 😃 Another way is to move the floats onto the housing itself, AKA place the foam as close as possible to the center of gravity. It is an almost impractical option for mirrorless cameras, but in your case, with the sled, you have plenty of space. If you can find some closed-cell PVC foam, you can cut and shape it however you like. If you search the forum, we have discussed this quite a bit in the past.

Wow, I didn't imagine you would encounter blue sharks that large there. I'm not a fan of slow motion; yes, perhaps with some faster cuts you could keep it under 3 minutes. The images are very beautiful. I like: the sun rays piercing the water the pastel blue color, which is absolutely not 'electric'. the backlit shots don't have that 'evil' magenta that often appears with compressed codecs. Did you use N-Raw? Did you set the White Balance (WB) underwater or in post-production? I noticed from the kit and the lighting on the shark that you are using Keldan blue filters. Did you use a Spectrum filter on the lens? What type? From the video, I can't tell what depth you are at. Thank you in advance

Hi Ange, Welcome aboard and we hope to solve your problem! Please, just open a thread in the relevant subforum. Ciao

Hi Chris, Welcome aboard!

I'm not a fan of these dives either.

Hi Nuno, Welcome aboard! You're in the perfect place to get tons of info and... spend a lot of money 😁 Ciao

The only problem you might have is always the trim—specifically the torque you have to apply (with your wrists) to keep it level or to tilt it up and down. Assuming it is neutral or slightly negative, if you hold the arms in the shooting position and let go, or hold it with just one finger, what happens? I mean, how does it position itself?

Thanks I hope in the next few weeks. The work was funded by this European Project so it will published on the University YT channel I guess.

Thanks for the nice words. The story behind the footage of bottom trawling in action is long and, in some ways, controversial. I’ve seen those BBC shots, and I’m thrilled that icons with the communicative and economic power of David Attenborough and the BBC have produced and published them. Footage like this has always existed among professionals, but it has always been kept well-hidden in the archives of companies and research institutes. Nobody wants to show them because they speak for themselves. Even a child can understand them, and the damage to a company's image is immediate. Consider that for years, various environmental organizations (Oceana, WWF...) have used very old, poor-quality, and almost incomprehensible images for their campaigns against bottom trawling. Ten years ago, in one of my videos, I tackled the subject of indiscriminate fishing and asked them for permission to use that footage. They told me the clips had been passed down for years and they didn't even know who the original owner was. So, I decided to find others. First, I tried to shoot them myself. The technique is well-known and used specifically by those who study and improve fishing gear: usually GoPros mounted on the trawl doors and at the end of the net. My attempts with fishermen were, obviously, unsuccessful. You take a risk just by asking to film! It was the same story with universities. Later, I found some beautiful footage on YouTube shot in Northern Europe by a university professor working on modernizing fishing techniques. No story, permission denied! Then I found footage from another foreign university that never replied to my requests. After months of unanswered emails, I decided to use them anyway, given that on YouTube, unless otherwise specified, Fair Use guidelines apply. They aren't as beautiful as the BBC's, but they’re enough for my scope. The onboard footage, however, is real, and that too is like a punch to the gut when you realize that, on average, 30% of the catch from bottom trawling is thrown back into the sea, and very few species survive. As Professor Carlo Cerrano says in my video: 'It's like harvesting a vineyard with a bulldozer. Bottom trawling images start at about 60" and there are English subtitles. https://youtu.be/lWX7xY4HHw8?si=8dx9w4ZxNthlzo7b&t=58

Yes of course, but I was told that several dome/ports are treated/coated on the inside.

Rinse and dry ASAP. Even if it's a weak acid, don't use it at these concentrations.

Yes, maybe it’s just that I didn't apply myself enough. I've never used a glass mini-dome with the fisheye. All my attempts at shooting video with the sun in the frame turned out unsatisfying and milky. I also noticed that the port has to be perfectly clean on the inside. The Pana 8mm was able to focus on even the smallest grain of dust internally.

For video, the situation is slightly different. If the story I have in mind requires divers, I try to find an experienced buddy. Sometimes we agree beforehand on the movements and whether I want his lights visible in the shot. Occasionally, I even hand him a couple of torches to try and create some interesting lighting effects. This only works if the buddy is a photographer themselves or has some video experience: they immediately understand the shots I’m aiming for and act accordingly. In these cases, we make it clear from the start: we descend on our own and intentionally break away from the rest of the group. The problem starts when I focus exclusively on marine life or, even worse, macro. When I ask who wants to dive with me, usually everyone disappears 👻 I’ve even become a running joke at my local dive center. People say: "You're a PITA just like Davide and his camera!" 😀 Photographers in the group are a whole other story: I avoid them like the plague. My footage with a photographer flashing nearby looks like Baghdad in 1991! In the end, despite having been a radical GUE diver, the filmmaker in me dreams of a solo diving future! ☠️

100% agree. If you wait for the next big thing, you'll be waiting forever. That's just how tech works.

Are you sure that all those info contained in the xmp sidecar file is not in the MP4 file? No I haven't used it since. I was about to buy it, but then I saw several posts on the forum from people who hadn't heard back from tech support in months, and news that the company had been acquired. So I stop. I managed to get a pirated version 😇 just to test it out, and I have to say, it did everything I needed. I could even select subclips within a single file and assign different labels/keywords to each one. When I exported to DaVinci, the metadata and subclips were all there. It was awesome. The search was fast, but if I remember correctly, you had to re-insert the backup drive to search because the app doesn't have its own database; it only works with proprietary sidecar files in hidden folders next to the video files. I eventually uninstalled it because I didn't want to buy it and waste time cataloging my entire archive with a product that seemed EOL (End of Life). Now there's this news about an update last September. Can we really trust it? The fact remains that for my basic needs, Digikam might be just as good. It’s been around for 23 years, uses standard XMP metadata, and even if disaster strikes, its database is open-source and Digikam has a massive community behind it. P.S. I've never saw Catalyst Prepare/ browse software. I want to avoid vendor lock-in at all costs. I used Edius for years before moving to DaVinci, and it had its own proprietary asset manager. If I had relied on that for my archive, I’d be totally screwed right now. That’s why I’m looking for a brand-agnostic solution

My buddy and I have spent the last six months working exclusively on this documentary, commissioned by the Università Politecnica delle Marche as part of MAPA - MArine Adriatic PArk Project - Interreg Italy Croatia. The goal is to raise public awareness about the richness of sandy environments, which have always been dismissed as barren deserts. Yet, the majority of professional fishing worldwide takes place right in these habitats. Specifically, there’s a long-standing effort to promote a Marine Protected Area in front of Mount Conero, in the Adriatic Sea. I hope the university publishes the full video soon so I can share it with you. For now, here’s the trailer. PS: I know I don’t need to explain this to you guys—you’re all muck diving addicts anyway! 😁

Thanks for the update and nice rig! Post a few more photos if you can. Maybe the double buoyancy arms are overkill. The topic of trim has been coming up a lot lately. Ideally, you want to concentrate the buoyancy around the camera body while making the lights neutral at the same time. The goal is to avoid having the upward lift out on the arms as much as possible; that way, when you move the arms, you don't shift the overall balance—or at least, you minimize the effect. As Chris mentioned, the real issue is the torque on your wrists when you're tilting up or down. You end up fighting that force with your wrists, which isn't ideal for smooth video. P.S. Would you mind if I merge this post with your original thread where you first shared the photos of your setup? I’m really interested in your Azores experience. I’ve been thinking about it for a family vacation with some diving on the side. Would you mind opening a thread? 🤩

Hi Oriane Welcome aboard I hope you'll enjoy the forum. Nice to see another mediterranean buddy! I Miss Lavandou and Porquerolles. I went there countless times during the 90s and 2000s. I truly miss those days. Ciao

100% agree

Yes, I saw it. Very strange. I asked Pavel to give us some feedback. I hope he replies

No, it's not a typo. Marelux USA and Europe prices are 1:1 dollar/euro and Marelux Europe website specifies prices are VAT excluded.