humu9679

Aloha and welcome @Chris Nobes

@bghazzal has a great tutorial on the site here: https://waterpixels.net/articles/articles_technique/afterhours-magic-ambient-light-video-workflow-for-action-cameras-r161/ This is a great piece on getting better control of your color balance versus having the camera figure out everything, which often fails to capture things we envision. If you’re happy with the automation, maybe that’s the way to go. I think the frame in the lower left looks best to my eye. To sum up the tutorial: shoot in log or a “flat” mode. Use good quality filters to get back the range of color you would have shooting in bright sunlight above water. And understand this will not make video that looks good straight out of camera ready for social media.

I did have an HF-1 in my hands briefly to try out HSS with my UWT trigger a couple of years ago. And we know now how that was going to turn out. Only after looking more closely at a solution for my Sony’s sync speed issues did it become clear that each manufacturer creates its own mating protocols, etc. (some of us are to the left of bell curve). Anyhow, it’s also clear that trying to create protocols for TTL creates more complexity which can be tackled at a later date. As Chris suggests, if you can get a 1/400th of a second sync speed with your current kit, I think I’d take the point and remain undefeated in the table.

Aloha and welcome @Wiggy9798 !

That’s super, Ben! We are all now acolytes and will dutifully spread The Gospel.

Aloha and warm welcome @martin.strandbygaard !

Agreed, the dark band is likely a sync issue. I’m HSS curious, too, and I’m slowwwwly working my way towards that as I have an UWT trigger and a slow-synching A7c and A6400s. I’m about to pull the trigger for Retras. Inon has been too slow to the game. And I wouldn’t mind the HF-1 but would have to change triggers. How these triggers talk to strobes, and vice versa, seems a programming issue. Or a co-branding issue. Or a licensing issue. Or a money issue. Maybe all four? This falls into the Stuff That’s Good to Know, which we can switch off if it’s too painful to learn.

One is cumbersome enough, agreed. But if you’re one for punishment … You can change the placement of the lens holder on the Nauticam flip: just move the set pins with a 1.5mm allen wrench. IMG_0774.heic

Aloha and welcome neighbor. I’m over on Oahu.

Aloha and welcome Hilmar!

You might try doing this is a large tub of water, adding weight to your full kit until it feels easily controllable.

Here’s the link to a USA supplier of 613-core fiber cables: https://i-fiberoptics.com/asahi-multi-core-cable-detail.php?id=3360&sum=166 USD 7.50 per meter.

Aloha and welcome @Aqua Shutter

Aloha and welcome Kris! Mantis shrimp are great, eh?

Aloha and welcome STEMI! I think there are several folks here who really want a small kit, especially for travel. But, sigh, there’s a lot we give up when we can’t add our other bits.

Hi Tino. I shoot an A7c in a Nauticam housing. I’ve been good with my old Inon 240s, but I’ve been wanting to get new strobes to shoot high speed sync. For the set-up you have, you can do that with Backscatter flashes - the MF-2 and HF-1. You might consider the HF-1 if you’re interested in shooting high speed sync. I have a UW Technics trigger, so I may go with the Retra Maxi which you can buy with or without a 6k lumen video light.

Aloha and welcome @Canuck-Surfer The S series of Powershots were great. I hope Canon updates them one day.

Aloha and welcome @ChrisL

Beautifully done. My kind of video!

I think the 12-45’s small footprint and reasonable close focusing capabilities make it a good general purpose lens if you like making fish portraits and even larger creatures. It’s a 24-90mm equivalent, and underwater the smaller f4 aperture matters less with artificial light. Plus, almost all cameras now are so much better such that ISO sensitivities matter less, meaning push the hell out of your ISOs!

Aloha and welcome @braven

Aloha and welcome @couldnotcareless !

I understood you wanted to free dive doing this. And I do think photos/video would be made easier using a less magnifying lens, like the UCL-165 (I quite like these, and you can stack them), and also the CMC-2. The CMC-1, which I also own, can be a cantankerous little monster, so I wouldn’t use that unless I had more time to wrestle with it. I’ve not tried the UCL-90.

I would think that the Galapagos are a bucket list destination. I do hope, however, that all the travel isn’t doing damage to the fragile ecosystem.

I second what @Chris Ross writes, thoughtfully.