Davide DB

On my GH5 I followed @Interceptor121 article and and I am more or less OK with the calculations. https://interceptor121.com/2019/05/12/nauticam-wwl-1the-best-wide-angle-lens-for-underwater-video-on-the-gh5-and-other-micro-four-thirds/ I select a M43 camera from the list and I compile the form with a 11 mm lens trying different aperture and distances. https://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Lovely sequence. I don't know what your version was like but this one is very entertaining. Maybe I would have tried to close it with a winner! How was it that you mounted the diopter? I wouldn't have thought it possible to shoot such subjects with a close focus lens mounted. Actually the outlined circle of light accentuates the epic of the clash. It almost looks like a boxing ring or a circus ring 😆 Thanks for sharing

"she" could be a Gymnothorax chilospilus AKA Whitelip Moray Eel. https://reefguide.org/gymnothoraxchilospilus.html https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=4444+4444+1106+0760 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipspot_moray_eel https://www.fishbase.se/FieldGuide/FieldGuideSummary.php?GenusName=Gymnothorax&SpeciesName=chilospilus&sps=&print=

Welcome aboard Pete! Let's dreams come true!

from video description: Shot with: TG6,GoPro 10, Kraken Hydra 5000s (2)

I'm more into video, so the question could be silly. Why cranking ISO to 5000? Stunning effect. Where did you dive?

When mine came back from service I had to check its serial number because I thought it was a new housing from the factory 🤣

Yes. In my opinion, the issue is simpler. We have millions of videos of people taking the action cam underwater because, they want to take home a memory and it's cheap. Those with ambition and passion quickly move on to more complete (and expensive) cameras and setups. So having perfect videos with the GoPro is practically an exercise in style for its own sake. Not that you can't make them, but the skills and especially the money you have to invest in them make you prefer to switch to a real camera. Take for example the videos made for AOI by Kay Burn Lim. Certainly more than ideal conditions but they are the state of the art of these cameras, but at what price? That setup, with no lights, goes in a used Olympus M43 kit territory. Does it worth it? On the other hand, even major film productions, both terrestrial and underwater, use GoPro's for B-Rolls and also for alternative shots. Advertising is usually avoided. The BBC still maintains its British understatement by dedicating special episodes to the BTS and How-To but now in the scripts of many documentaries, it is fashionable to make edits in which the 'real time' is emphasised by showing how the crew achieves its goals. For example I really like Bertie Gregory's style and I remember very well that in one of his encounters with the leopard seal he had a GoPro on one arm of his camera lights. In the edit there were shots taken with the GoPro mixed perfectly with his Red.

I was thinking that if the book worths mention, we could add a note on the language. For example I see this book on Nudibranchs (always by Egidio Trainito): https://opistobranquis.info/en/recursos/llibres-recomanats/nudibranchi-del-mediterraneo/ Nudibranchi del Mediterraneo by Egidio Trainito and Mauro Doneddu This book becomes the “de facto” bible about the Mediterranean nudibranchs. The authors, Egidio Trainito and Mauro Doneddu, have surpassed themselves on this occasion. This work contains all species of opisthobranch molluscs observed to date in the Mediterranean Sea, with interesting descriptions and lots of great colour pictures. This book, written in Italian, consists of an introduction to the opisthobranchs and its classification. The systematics have been updated from the first edition of 2005, so some species names have changed. Then comes a descriptive part with the records of 363 species, profusely illustrated with 650 excellent original photos made by the best underwater photographers in the Mediterranean. Trainito and Doneddu demostrate, once again, that the discovery of new species is still possible, even in a sea so heavily studied as the Mediterranean Sea. In this book a new species associated with the habitat of the red coral (Corallium rubrum) is described, the Tritonia coralliumrubri. If the first edition of 2005 was complete, this second edition is almost unbeatable. An ideal reference work for all nature-lovers, divers and marine biologysts; absolutely essential in your library.

I don't know the details of the transaction but reading "shipping and billing address" reminded me of an incident I almost stumbled upon myself years ago. Some fraudulent buyers ask for goods to be shipped to an address other than the one registered on the Paypal, Ebay or credit card account. It's a classic scam. If you Google 'billing shipping address paypal' a lot of results come up. In practice, IIRC, paypal & co. only insure products shipped to the registered address of the credit card on which the account is based. If you ship to a different address and even if you have a delivery receipt and the buyer opens a dispute, paypal does not protect you. This is why some sellers have restrictive policies on shipping addresses.

IMHO this is the best for divers in the Med. But as i wrote it's in Italian only. https://www.nhbs.com/atlante-di-flora-fauna-del-mediterraneo-atlas-of-flora-fauna-of-the-mediterranean-book

I own that but it's really an outdated book with drawings and no pictures. I have a long list of latest books for Mediterranean species. All the collection from Egidio Trainito is exceptional with one or more photos for each species. But they are only in Italian so i would not add them to this list.

I have been following this user for quite some time. He tries compact cameras and action cams in everyday scenes so you get a good idea. He has posted many videos of the Insta 360 ace pro. I was intrigued by this one where he tests additional standard 52 mm macro lenses and in the comments explains that Insta makes an adapter that mounts directly to the camera body. There is an underwater housing and possibly AOI has a specific adapter to mount their lens on the housing. The AOI site has all the separate pieces but figuring out what is needed is not easy.

Free wet lens for everyone 😄 Let me think about it

First of all, what's your camera/housing?

Do you mean Kraken's list? That is a photographic tecnique list. Maybe it worths a list on the id section. Know your species...

I love this photo. What's wrong with it? Beautiful sponge and sea surface seems marble. Was it raining?

For sure, blennies are among the most loved and photographed underwater subjects, perhaps second only to nudibranchs! I recommend this book by marine biologist Francesco Tiralongo, published in 2020 and published in English and Italian. The book is specific to the Mediterranean but many species are far more widespread. A book that cannot be missed in the library of a diver with a passion for macro photography. With the author's permission, I post some photos of the book here.

The classic straw that breaks the camel's back!

We look forward to read a report from you (full of BTS photos) 🙂

Being the first time, I would go with the default lens and port. I don't know which critters you can spot there but on your LX-10 you have a 24-72mm zoom. Quite enough IMHO. I would use 1080@50p even if it's only 28 Mbps. Topaz or Resolve superscale makes miracles but you can switch your camera to 4K@30p in a blink. 30p can be slowed down to 80% easily. If the critter isn't moving fast you can break the 180° rule filming at the same FPS number. Nobody will scream 🙂

Well, could we call it Blackwater? I wouldn't watch it before a night dive 👻

Bertrand Loyer's film was shot in 2015 on an ocean buoy between France and Corsica. It was the first time it was filmed alive (and not dying or dead) in its environment. they encountered several Giant oarfish. Some had their tails cut off after the anal slit, while others, more complete, measured up to 9 m! The footage is exceptional. The sounds and music, based on the wind instrument Duduk, impart a very spooky note to the images. Giant oarfish apart, there is a shot of a white shark in the Mediterranean Sea. I never figured out if it is stock footage or was taken while diving under the buoy. French, English, Spanish language with tons of subtitles, enjoy your viewing

I have watched all the videos and also the tutorials. You can also interrogate me. 👮🏼‍♂️ What I got out of it: Blackwater video seems to be more difficult than photography. It is important to be a diver with good skills. Keeping the critters in focus is really a challenge: MF with focus peaking or latest PDAF tech. Exposure challenge: Zebra stripes help me! If I think back to my difficulty in shooting small animals in the current in the daytime blue, I think I would not be able to do better than the videos I have seen. But I can still say in no uncertain terms that, Aquatilis aside and maybe one other, they are all terrible. They are all burned out or out of focus and ruined by backscatter. For many of them it is not possible to trace the cameras used. The video tutorial seems to contradict the article linked above. It says to use lights between 4K and 10K lumens. Basically really bright lights while didn't understand what it says about focus light placement. Then looking at the tutorial example video brings to mind the saying "do as I say but don't do as I do" 🙂 It made a lot more sense to me to not use too strong lights because you lose the reflected luminescence of many organisms and then the distances are short. It seems to me that the recommendations of macro shots and not wide angle shots apply more. With fairly concentrated lights only around the subject you avoid illuminating the entire portion of water between the lens and the subject limiting backscatter. A low power medium wide focus light would help to not lose the critter into the dark. I read that many divers use a handheld torch to scout critters. Of course I am thinking out loud: until you try it in the water it is hard to know the truth. I am waiting for the tests of @bghazzal 😜

Yes, Puccio says it in his video and he swaps the lens on the two mounting systems.