Davide DB

The housing looks very well-made, although it's worth noting that the page only features CAD renderings. I have two observations: the renderings do not show the bottom part, where I assume there is a tripod mount, and hopefully, sacrificial anodes to prevent galvanic corrosion. In the past, I used an Easydive housing for the GoPro 5, and despite having anodes, significant corrosion developed on the stainless steel locking clip. I’ve seen the same issue happen to a friend’s T-Housing GoPro case—again, in the area where the steel clip meets the aluminum body. In both cases, the anodes seemed ineffective. The housing appears to come with a full range of accessories, making it a real gem. However, in Italian, we have a saying: "è più la spesa che l'impresa," which roughly translates to "the game isn't worth the candle." A few years ago, I had the chance to try the Hugyfot housing with an integrated 5" monitor—an expensive and high-end product. Now, we have the AOI housing, but I don’t recall whether it includes adapters for future GoPro models. So my question is: with the addition of the lens, vacuum system (and monitor), (GoPro media-mod is complusory to use the extra battery) what price range are we looking at? I tend to agree with @homodelphinius This housing makes me think of many scientific applications. In recent months, I’ve been using GoPros with additional batteries in icy rivers to document trout spawning. Having 4/5 of these housings 🤑 along with the ability to remotely control the monitor and shutter, would have been a huge advantage. Besides GoPro Lab, there is now a license available that allows interfacing with the GoPro via the USB-C port. In the past, I participated in the development of devices for deep time-lapse recordings lasting several days. For that project, we used modified GoPros. P.S. Recently, I took a family trip to the Maldives and brought with me just a GoPro with an AOI lens and the original plastic housing. I haven't reviewed the footage yet, but I didn’t experience any fogging issues since I sealed the housing in an air-conditioned room and used small moisture-absorbing pads. The battery lasted just long enough for two dives, but on a proper liveaboard, I would have needed to open the housing after the second dive. What I missed the most was having a monitor to properly frame my shots. It's nearly impossible to capture stable footage while holding the small GoPro in front of my face 👴🏼

Sorry, I've nothing online at the moment. I have to dig into my archive. ATM I found only this example of thin DOF inside a white gorgonians forest shot by my buddy for an upcoming feature. Lumix 12-35mm @F2.8

I suggest to attach jpeg or png images so the forum board is able to render them

When we started out on this incredible journey, I never could have imagined how quickly and how far we would come. Thank you all so much for helping to make this community so special with the enthusiasm, passion and experience you put into it. Thanks you all!

Actually on my example with WA shots I swim with the camera in my hands. Hummm you will probably have to make some modifications, or else: If the feet have a common thread (1/4“ or M8-M10 you might find compatible 1” balls. Another option: many sliders have a 1/4” photo attachment at the bottom to mount them on tripods. you could take advantage of it to attach a plate with 1" balls. However, regarding the equipment used on professional productions, for sliders you don't use ball bearings but use Teflon friction bearings or similar materials. There is a company that sells all the parts, and in the catalog there are also parts designed to work underwater. They also supposedly have a technical consulting service to help make custom solutions. there are also lots of projects in the film and TV field on their page. I leave links below for those who would like to learn more: Parts: https://www.igus.eu/product/940?C=DE&L=en&artNr=WW-10-30-10-SL-HKA Custom projects for camera sliders: https://www.igus.eu/industry/camera-technology Last but not the least, if you are looking for ready to use bespoken solutions: https://www.waterproofmedia.co.uk/

Good news for owners of some of these well regarded lenses. Monster Adapter is set to launch an F to Z mount adapter equipped with a motor to operate old AF-D lenses.

My interest in the slider for macro video (not extreme) is not so much for focus but to get small side or frontal tracking shots. Trying to explain. I happen to do these frontal tracking shots with a medium wide lens inside small soft coral forests. You don't need perfect focus, quite the contrary. I open the lens to F2.8 and focus about half a meter away i.e. to the first coral in front of me. Then I advance slowly with the camera near close to the bottom to get in between the corals. In this way I will have in focus only a portion of the field in front of me flowing as I advance. Sometimes you get a nice artistic effect. Wanting to translate this effect into macro, the perfect lens would be a 130° or 160° EMWL advanced slowly through the corals getting an unusual view. If you watch some scenes in some documentaries you will find that it is widely used. If you look at the first picture with Roger Munn and the manual slider, I think he's doing just something similar among the polyps of that hard coral with an EMWL.

the most important factor is being able to maintain a minimum total height. The more pieces you put in, the more micro shaking you will have.

I had the opportunity to chat with one of the filming assistants on this very documentary of the photos. The slider is self-made by a guy who does this work for the BBC and other blue-chip productions. It is electronic, and although it works well, it requires ongoing maintenance in the field. In these productions and with this equipment you dip into two or three people who help run it. The fluid heads used are film heads, and vintage fluid heads are often used because they are more water resistant and are completely removable. One of these vintage heads such as a Ronford Baker can cost as much as 2 to 3,000 euros. In short, a whole other world!

For focus distance should be ok. Let me know how it goes 😉

What else can we say? Documentaries are a cultural product and therefore they too reflect the spirit of the times. As you often love to say it is the Netflixication of nature documentaries or, as Cory Doctorow puts it, the Enshittification of nature documentaries. P.S. if you do a Youtube search you will find that virtually all of the video ads chosen by NBC are titled, “Tom Hank Narrates...”

Mine is similar to the one in your photo. It is impossible to shoot during movement. The camera wobbles during movement because the carriage is too small. One of the parameters to take into account is the advance in mm for each rotation of the crank. In these models it is about 1 mm per rotation. More advance per rotation is needed. Blue chip productions use huge DIY sliders. They are usually electric but there are also manual ones. In both cases I have been told that even using these monsters requires patience and commitment and results are not granted. Credit: Roger Munn (https://www.instagram.com/rogermunns/) I was intrigued by this model from Novoflex which has no screw but rack and German construction but (for me) it's expensive to give it a try.

Absolutely. For Easydive, basically the camera tray has an integrated electronic board which connects to the camera (a model via usb and another via Wi-fi) and translates controls to the handle. Main controls are mapped directly but other controls are accessed via menu. IIRC correctly, forget custom buttons and such. I had investigated for my Panasonic and the functions I use most often for video. several functions were impossible to have mapped directly. So, yes, the devil is in the details. Also, their ports and domes are not great. I know several users who use the old Igloo/Underwave crystal domes. They were very popular in the days of film and both Easydive and Isotta were compatible. The advantage is that if you change cameras, for a few hundred euros they reprogram the electronic board in the tray and you are ready. They even send you a firmware update by email for the wi-fi version. On the latest models you can switch off the electronic board from the outside and the camera goes directly into stand-by. Then I don't really remember what the problem was with the bulkhead for the external monitor. In short, a world apart. It's a solution you either hate or love. There are no half-measures.

Welcome aboard! You are in the right place 😉

Where I can find the Gates tripod video? I have a macro slider with an endless screw and I can move the tray only via the wheel

Could you elaborate on the macro slider? I saw an identical model and was wondering if it would work for underwater shooting, Do you have any examples of shooting done with the slider? Thank you very much

The guy who made the special 30m hdmi cable, years ago, used a multi cores cable and he asked if I needed a remote trigger too because there were several free cores left. So it's possible and maybe you can find a good technician who makes these kind of works. It's common in cinema and TV services

Is it the same concept of Easydive housings?

Is it you current setup? Were you able to use that macro slider underwater? Thanks

I successfully brought the HDMI signal from my GH5 up to 30m via a custom cable. Assuming your camera can be driven via USB, you need two cables and two bulkheads. Or a special cable. If it's just a few centimetres of water, you could try the wi-fi cable trick like for gopros. Anyway, the specialist for these things is @Tom Kline

In the past, only Nauticam had produced housings for Panasonic FFs. I think the housings sold can be counted on the fingers of one hand and the probably the owners all know each other and every year they go to dinner together to celebrate 😜 It seems to me that this model has all the makings of a very good camera but I'm not a photographer and I won't get into it. Nauticam also has a dedicated port chart for the L-mount. As a camera it is definitely at the high end of the market, with a very attractive price. Anyway here are some data and photos. Key features Full-frame 44MP dual gain CMOS sensor Up to 40fps continuous shooting with pre-burst capture (e-shutter only) 8.1K/8K video at up to 30p 5.76M dot viewfinder Flip-out and tilt rear screen ProRes 422 and ProRes RAW capture Capture to CFExpress Type B, UHS II SD or external SSD Multi-shot high res mode up to 177MP 32-bit float audio via optional XLR 2 adapter https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-lumix-dc-s1rii-initial-review

No detailed info so far. IMO is a manual one...

Hi Don, Welcome aboard!

Thanks @Tino Dietsche Parts added to our DIYpedia 🙂

It's a Nauticam R5 housing. You open the cover and bring it back. In this way the cover stays on the housing all the time. A bit extreme but he is very happy with this solution.