Davide DB

Welcome aboard!

Old post but... From your photos I see you are using a 3,7V Lipo battery pack. 3,7V are enough to power your A7? camera? I shot video only so I'm thinking for a similar out of the box solution for my GH5M2 that can be powered via USB-C...

I updated the first post with several projects I missed in the last weeks. Thank you all!

Added to our DIYpedia

Top post table updated with the new Weefine WED-5 PRO monitor

I thought the same but he would need the other way around. He has an M14 threaded hole on the housing. Anyway, as Chris suggested, this should be ok: https://www.backscatter.com/Nauticam-M14-Offset-Connector-w-Vacuum-Valve-II-Pu Once we have an M16 thread hole, what kind of connector do we need on the cable? P.S. I'll try to move part of this thread to DIY forum. Bear with me!

In the history of underwater photography, there have never been so many strobes as there are today.

Hi Giacomo, Long story short: set a slightly lower Kelvin value on your GoPro (e.g. 5000K). Long Story: Lower Kelvin values mean warmer light, while higher values mean cooler light. This is a rule that never changes. You can do the test with the GoPro on the sofa or directly with your cell phone, which will surely have a "pro" function that allows you to set the Kelvin value. By acting on the Kelvin scale, you might be thrown off because it seems to work exactly the opposite of what I wrote in the beginning. In reality, when you set the white balance Kelvin on a camera, you are not adjusting the temperature of the light you are using to illuminate, but you are telling the camera the temperature of the light you are using. So the camera will adjust accordingly. I'll try to re-explain it. Remember that the camera will always try to achieve a correct white balance. So, if the scene is actually 5000º K, but you set the camera to 4000º K, you're telling the camera that the scene is warmer than it really is. To compensate, the camera will shift the colors toward blue. On the contrary, if you set the camera to 6000º K, you're telling it that the scene is cooler than it is. The camera will compensate by shifting the colors toward orange. So it seems to work in reverse, but it doesn't. Ciao

Hi ChrisL, Welcome aboard! Coming from WP, I'm sure you will find a lot of known names. Ciao

I didn't remember that the A7SIII had the second native ISO at 12800. I tried the FX3 which has the same native ISO, and sometimes that value is too high, but in those conditions, it is certainly a godsend. Thank you for the explanations and also, kudos on your videos.

For medium portrait and fish Inlove the Panasonic 12-35mm with the 6" dome port. As example, this video was entirely filmed with it. The size of the filmed John Dory fish goes from a ping pong paddle to a tennis racket. And, as I have written several times, the lens with the simple 6-inch acrylic dome port is tack sharp. It's easy to find it used and I love it very much ❤️

Thanks, What's your typical iso value on wa shots? Ciao

Hi Braven Welcome aboard!

Beautiful images indeed, I see you use three powerful lights. Could you explain more about their position and use? Thanks

Wow, I've never seen anything like it. I guess the clip has great scientific value. Thanks for sharing it.

If a bigger focus range is what you are looking for, then the small AOI UCL-05N could be a valid option: https://www.aoi-uw.com/products/wet-lenses/aoi-ucl-05n.html It's the same as the old Fantasea UCL-05LF 6. Here a comparison test: Wildlife in the BalanceReview of Fantasea UCL-05LF 6 Macro Lens - Wildlife in th...Review of Fantasea UCL-05LF compared to Inon and Dyron lenses. The Fantasea outperforms in almost all cases.

Welcome aboard to both of you! I hope you like the forum. Ciao

Out of curiosity, how many boat trips are needed to have a good experience? And, not including air transfer to go there, how much can a stay there with the trips to swim with the whales cost?

Yes, PAL as broadcast standard is basically gone in most of Europe, because over-the-air TV is now almost entirely digital (DVB-T/T2) and no longer bound to the analog PAL encoding scheme. However, 50 Hz as a timing convention hasn’t completely disappeared, because it’s tied to the European mains electricity frequency (50 Hz) and the legacy content ecosystems built around it. Here I'm speaking about PAL but it applies to NTSC as well. Modern digital broadcasts in Europe are usually 50 fps (progressive) or 25 fps for TV programs, because decades of production workflows, cameras, and archives are built around 50 Hz. Live sports in Europe are commonly shot and broadcast at 50 fps, so TVs still need to handle 50 Hz perfectly. Films are usually 24 fps worldwide, but in Europe they were often sped up slightly to 25 fps for broadcast or streaming (unless the service uses the original 24 fps). But this is, again, another funny story. Even cheap TVs in Europe support 50 Hz, 60 Hz, and often higher refresh rates like 100/120 Hz. The panel itself may be 120 Hz (or a multiple), but it will accept input in 50 Hz and 60 Hz and match the content timing to avoid judder. Gaming consoles and PCs in Europe default to 60 Hz for most things now, but they can output 50 Hz if needed. But gaming is completely another story. Computers and smartphones don’t care about PAL; they run at 60 Hz or higher (90 Hz, 120 Hz, 144 Hz, etc.). When they play 25 fps or 50 fps video, the player software or display hardware uses frame rate conversion to match the screen refresh rate. There are different behaviors between Apple and Android devices though. So, the bottom line is that PAL as a format is dead, but 50 Hz as a video timing is very much alive in European broadcast and video production and decades of PAL material are at 25 fps, and conversion to 60 Hz introduces artifacts unless handled carefully.Last but not the least: now LEDs are replacing other light technologies but a classic incandescent light bulb turns on and off 50 or 60 times a second, based on the power frequency. If you don't use a frame rate that is a multiple of the power frequency, you get bad flickering. A modern TV panel is natively 120 Hz. At the beginning of the transition from CRT to flat panels, in Europe all TV panels were 100 Hz because multiplying 50 Hz to 100 Hz is a perfect 2:2 ratio. Simple, no judder. On the other hand, 120 Hz wouldn’t evenly divide by 50 Hz and would require more complex frame interpolation or uneven pulldown. USA and other NTSC countries went directly to 120 Hz for the same reasons: 60 Hz × 2 = 120 Hz (perfect) and 24 fps film content fits perfectly into 120 Hz with 5:5 pulldown (24 x 5). Then on the mid-2010s, panel manufacturing globalized. It became cheaper to make one panel type for all markets and technology was able to handle more complex and smart timing conversion modes. In the end, European started using 120 Hz panels. If the monitor/tv panel is not able to run (refresh rate) at the source video frame rate, the display has to “stretch” the video’s frames to fill the refresh cycles. This stretching is called pulldown and some methods create uneven motion known as judder. If the refresh rate is an exact multiple of the frame rate, life is easy: just repeat the single frames many times. The strange case is 24 fps on a 60 Hz monitor/display. 60 is not a multiple of 24. To fit 24 fps into 60 Hz, normally it was used a 3:2 pulldown: Frame A: show for 3 refreshes Frame B: show for 2 refreshes Frame C: show for 3 refreshes Frame D: show for 2 refreshes Over 1 second, it works out mathematically (24 fps > 60 refreshes), but motion looks slightly uneven: Some frame intervals are 50 ms, others are 33 ms, so panning shots feel jerky. This unevenness is judder. High-end TVs avoid judder by Matching refresh rate to the source (e.g., 24 Hz mode for films). Using motion interpolation to create in-between frames (smooth, but sometimes unnatural). Using 120 Hz panels to fit 24, 25, 30, 50, and 60 fps all without ugly cadence issues.Then there are other complicated techniques that I don't know enough about. Modern monitor have technologies like v-sync and others. I have always filmed at 25p and 50p, and now I have an archive with this frame rate. Also, because I make many videos with other enthusiasts like me, we have all always filmed with these frame rates. When you create a video project with your favorite editor, the first thing you have to set is the framerate of the timeline and the project. If you mix 50p, 60p, and 30p together, based on the project's settings, the software will have to apply some pulldown techniques, to bring bak everything to the framerate of the timeline. It's impossible not to create visible imperfections in the moving subjects or panning shots.

25p or 50p doesn't matter if you don't want to slow down the video. If you want to do a 50% slow motion, then choose 25p. This way, if you select a clip or a portion of it and use the retime function at 50% (specifying that you want the clip to change its duration based on the slow motion percentage), your clip will become exactly twice as long and it will be slowed down by 50%.

I can't film at 120p and I normally film at 50p (PAL country). But honestly, even if I could, it wouldn't make sense unless for special use cases (spoiler: blackwater/bonfire). Generally I hate videos that are all put together in slow motion on a 24/25p timeline. Personally, I find them deadly boring and they make me think that the cameraman doesn't have a steady hand and needs this trick to hide mistakes. In other cases, it's just a trend. Pay attention: there are tons of underwater videos that tell about vacations and liveaboards where the scenes between one dive and another, whether they show the fun on board or the preparations for the dive, are all in slow motion with background music (strictly chill-out or epic). By now, it's a real cliché and when I see white rich people smiling and laughing in slow motion on a boat deck, I skip the video. (No offence). IMHO, 50/60p can sometimes be a lifesaver when the shot is too short and magically those good 3-5 seconds become 6-8. This can happen in wildlife shots with subjects that are difficult to film, or because you simply messed up the shot and you absolutely need that clip. 100/120p is usually used for slow motion in sports shots, but almost no one uses it as a default. There are few popular cameras that offer it without compromising on crop or quality. In underwater filming, I can't think of a good example except Blackwater/Bonfire diving where the organisms move frantically. All of the videos you see are in slow motion at at least 50/60p, and 100/120p is a godsend. Let's hear other opinions

If Dave didn't print it, it means that it can't be done 🤣🤣🤣

Great article, Ben, congratulations. A great Actioncamepedia chapter 😄

The UK's seas have had their warmest start to the year since records began, helping to drive some dramatic changes in marine life and for its fishing communities. The average surface temperature of UK waters in the seven months to the end of July was more than 0.2C higher than any year since 1980, BBC analysis of provisional Met Office data suggests. Scientists and amateur naturalists have observed a remarkable range of species not usually widespread in UK waters, including octopus, bluefin tuna and mauve stinger jellyfish. The abundance of these creatures can be affected by natural cycles and fishing practices, but many researchers point to the warming seas as a crucial part of their rise.

IDK if it worths spending money for tech diving. Deep down you need light, so if you shoot video with your main rig, ok. Otherwise you would get noisy sh***y images. 800 iso is the normal limit for these cameras