Davide DB

You are brave to discuss these things in a general forum. I appreciate your effort. Videos shot with the lens confirm the distortion at the corners. IMHO with a starting FOV of 155 degrees no wet lens will do. The Osmo Action 4/5 have a narrower "standard" FOV. Perhaps with this FOV the situation changes but we would need to know which FOV was used in all those terrible underwater video. They point out here that the 155 degrees is diagonal and the horizontal FOVs are quite different. https://forum.dji.com/thread-216036-1-1.html Here is a practical comparison. Between standard and wide there is almost no difference. Too bad. This action camera looked the most promising from an underwater point of view.

I don't get your question. There's no difference weighting objects individually or together. Salt and fresh water weight difference is about 2.5%

Caught up in work commitments, I didn't have a chance to respond to this beautiful post of yours that doesn't stop at camera manufacturers but opens the view to the postwar Japanese industry. Very interesting. I had been looking for other insights and found a long article written in Italian on a photography site and it echoes exactly your explanations. This article, too, details the workings of the Japanese industrial model (organized in Keiretsu (系列) pointing to it as a key to Japan's success in the photographic and also in the electronics post war industry. The authors of the article are paranoid about copyright. I post the link here: https://www.nocsensei.com/camera/storia/massimilianoterzi/il-modello-industriale-giapponese-del-dopoguerra-e-lindutria-fotografica/ What struck me most was a table taken from one of the many sources in the bibliography. Basically in the postwar period until the 1970s, the number of new models of German cameras could be counted on the fingers of one hand while the Japanese were flying. Worth mention another explanation on Reddit that I found interesting. Basically, in the postwar period the leading German companies found themselves on the “wrong” side of the wall and this dealt a death blow to that industry. How did Japan come to dominate the camera industry?

I am reopening this old thread because this WE I had the opportunity to reuse my Pana 12-35mm with 6” dome. As much as 12mm (24 FF equivalent) is indeed too narrow for panoramic shots, it turns out to be a killer lens for medium and narrow field shots. the lens is razor sharp. At the same focal length it is much more defined than the 14-42mm + WWL-1B. But returning to the subject of the topic, I confirm that IBIS is completely confused by the FOV change made by WWL-1B. Shooting with the 12-35mm even at 35mm (70mm equiv. FF) is rock steady while my shots with the WWL always have a strange “sway”. In some shots it is almost imperceptible but it is there. Looking back at all my shots taken with the WWL over the years I was in despair: with experience instead of getting better, I was getting worse. Reusing the 12-35mm was a pleasant experience.

Catchphrases in these cases are endless but it is best to avoid them. It is hard not to say banalities. The quality of after sales services and warranty, in theory and I repeat “in theory”, should shelter us from these incidents and we should evaluate them regardless of the quality of the product itself. I mean, I can have a poor product but get an impeccable warranty but I can also have a high quality product that is unfortunately defective (it is in the order of things) and I find out that the after sales service is terrible. It sounds like a triviality but today it is very easy to get feedback on the features and intrinsic quality of a product (dozens of reviews, video tests, and influencers lavishing tags) but it is very difficult to get information on the “what if” i.e., after sales service. So thank you for your report.

Looking forward to read your review. What's the first impression out of water? Controls? Thanks

Given that, unfortunately during the years, I had to polish with Novus several polycarbonate domes of all brands and size, I'll try resume the steps. Novus is the lightest polish product out there, so while removing a scratch requires a lot of elbow grease, the slow process makes it difficult to do damage. The correct sequence is 3 > 2 > (optional) 1. Always. Number 3 l: basically it's the real polish and even the lightest scratch requires a lot of work. Number 2: it is the finishing cream. After passing No. 2 you're done. Number 1: It doesn't do anything, fondamentally it's a simple glass cleaner. If the scratch after #2 is still there. Start again with #3. It is important to use a different cloth for each number and rinse the worked piece after each step. Some cautions: always work on a much larger part of the scratch. If you insist only on the scratch you risk creating a pit, or rather a different curvature, which creates distortions. All my domes had an inner coating. An external coating on a plastic (hence prone to scratches) dome is beyond me but that's it, both Inon and AOI have this design! IMHO I would have sanded the whole lens. Anyway, for an average scratch, working by hand, it really takes a lot of time and patience. Deep scratches don't go away but you can round the edges and make them invisible in water. Then there are the ones you can't do anything. I would be curious to try it with a Dremel and a soft pad but then I never buy it. Every time I do the hard work by hand, I tell myself it will be the last time I scratch the dome.

BW addicted! 😁

Welcome aboard Sasha! As @humu9679 wrote, we are GAS king! 🙂

A Waterpixeler dressed with his 1000 pocket vest caught at the custom and forced to throw away his lens

They are five episodes so a lot of stock footage and specific assignment. It's composed from the work of several different cameramen. Clips of the Australian Sea dragon are of Dean Spraakman. He has to pay the bills! 😄 I am not a native speaker so I cannot judge whether he has such an attractive voice

The world will never be the same once you've seen it from below. Dive into Our Oceans, a thrilling five-episode series, narrated by Barack Obama, that invites you to join Emmy winning wildlife filmmaker James Honeyborne on an awe-inspiring adventure. This groundbreaking show will whisk you away on a global journey, uncovering the mesmerizing stories of our planet's five majestic oceans. Each episode delves into the unique characters of the creatures within these ecosystems, from playful and cunning to resilient and mysterious. Ride along the world's great current as we reveal nature's most spectacular aquatic personalities and breathtaking wonders. (on November 20)

Here in Italy for that price you get 50Gb or even unlimited. @OneYellowTang yes, you are right but everybody acknowledge that iPhone is considered to be a breaking point. I had a Nokia N85 and was contemplating switching to PalmOS. Everyone was using Blackberrys for work... Returning to photography, was there such a radical change in the past that the players in the field changed? I am thinking of the time when The historical European brands, Leica, Zeiss, Kodak, Agfa were supplanted by Fuji, Nikon, Canon. The Japanese started working as manufacturing plants for Western companies and then replaced them. I don't know if we can point to a precise turning point that can be traced back to technological innovations.

Yes, we already know this from the previous posts. But as David wrote. It's too late and you already have another one. So why don't try?

On a side note: I thought the quote was from "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" movie with Leslie Nilsen or a similar absurd comic movie. Then I discovered that the original line is much much older. Sorry for hijacking the thread 😇

Hey, is that a dome in your pants or are you just happy to see me? [cit.] 🤣

Welcome aboard Edward, We hope you will enjoy our new home! Ciao

Water refractive index.

This guys has been posting for a while, macro and BW photos shot with a GH7: https://www.facebook.com/groups/216446581877881/user/591319383

Gopro 13 underwater Review by Backscatter Edit: there are some important mentions about focus peaking (useless uw) battery life and filters.

This is true to some extent. This was the main driver for the development of these technologies, the most immediate use. But there are much more creative applications. Again from the second part of article I had linked in another thread: https://www.dpreview.com/articles/0681063194/computational-photography-part-ii-computational-sensors-and-optics This technology is already being used. It is the one that allows you to blur in post parts of the image. Combined with other AI devilry is what allows Davinci Resolve to mimic different lenses in post. Not perfect abut It already works, and with the speed at which these things are going (just remember what was DALL-E one year ago) I can imagine what's possible in a couple of years. Then I am not a photographer but there are several features in Photoshop that allow similar things. Here I take up a somewhat crazy post on another forum. https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/88008-the-camera-of-the-future-is-not-full-frame-with-a-prime-lens/ The concept is: For ergonomic reasons, cameras will remain among us with similar shapes and sizes and will never be replaced by a smartphone. These cameras will have technology similar to what is implemented on smartphones that will allow you to have a single lens and decide what lens to use, which film emulation and other parameters in post production. Quoting the computational photography article I linked: So if we already have all these features in our smartphones with tiny little sensors, imagine what I could achieve with a proper camera. Why not? And here we arrive to you second statement: Yes, thay have a monopoly of a shrinking market so they have no incentive to push things forward with tech that they don't control. So IMHO a real change can only come from an external actor. Certainly not one from a more profitable market such as the smartphone market. That's why I was giving the example of Apple. This company had never produced a phone but was a leader in designing computers that are in everyday use and had the genius to think outside the box. How it ended up we all know. That is why in the previous post I was referring to DJI. This company has all the cards to accomplish something similar. It is a world leader in the drone market. These flying things incorporate several completely different technologies: Photography and video flight systems sensors telecommunications Today a drone is a super concentrate of integrated technology. Leveraging their knowledge in different fields, they have been entering “adjacent” markets for years with excellent results: Their camera gimbals are among the most widely used by professionals in the industry Their LIDAR focus systems for cameras and manual lenses are the most advanced in the world and are used by professionals along with their gimbals. One of their very strange cameras is beginning to be used in blockbuster film. Their remote image control systems have become among the best in the film industry. Their action cameras in just a few iterations have reached and surpassed Gopro levels. The Osmo Pocket is one of the most incredible projects of recent times. Their strength lies in integration. You have a DJI wireless microphone? you connect it via BT with one click with all their products. All of this where in 2024 we, 90% of mirrorless users, consider it normal that the only reliable way to download photos and videos from our camera, is to physically remove the card and insert it into a special reader. Ciao

great report and beautiful photos as usual.

I think your diving conditions are similar to what we have here, so I understand you. My GH5 at 17 meters is pretty much at the limit and I don't think a gopro can do any better in the Mediterranean. So okay. You need to add a small 20 cm arm. All you need is a flexible arm on which to attach some Stix to compensate for the weight of the light. You need to move the light away. One light is usually not enough. I disagree with that. A kit like this, with the arms or a folded arm takes up zero space and you hang it with a paracord and boltsnap from a jacket d-ring. For me too 😄😄😄

You use Davinci Resolve and anyway an underwater video must be color corrected/graded hence I would try: White balance : native color: flat Regarding the light position... hummm. A front facing light and so near to the lens is going to give you a lot of backscatter. P.S. Don't forget to try the BGULDS Filter 😉

Welcome aboard Nando! the legion of action cameras is growing 😎