Jim Laurel

I think I've seen this issue maybe once or twice back when I first started using the A7SIII. I can't remember seeing it at all in the last year at least. Maybe Sony fixed it in one of the firmware updates.

The reason I'm normally not using LUTs is because I'm normally not filming in Log or RAW underwater. If I were filming for NatGeo or something (which I'm not), I probably would. But in that case, I'd also have a post-production team to do the color grading. As it is, I'm just filming for my own enjoyment. I usually shoot 4K 60P in XAVC-S-I in 10-bit 4:2:2 with the "standard" profile. I've found that I can get m colors, very, very close in this way, and that 10 bit 4:2:2 offers more than enough room to do the kind of minimal tweaking necessary to get it just right. The key is managing white balance in a fastidious way. I have set up my camera so that I can grab a white balance reliably, and fast enough to be ready for a creature swimming toward me that is as close as around 15 feet away.

Now that's doing alot with very little! Nice work, dhaas! I'd say you're extracting maximum value our of that compact rig.

The Sony 28-60 and WWL-1B don't produce this kind of flare, even shooting toward the surface. Something else going on here. Some of the example shots were definitely flare from strobes. In any case, strobes should be well behind the front of the lens, and not aimed inward. If anything, you want them aimed outward a little to reduce backscatter.

If shooting sunballs are your thing, then faster sync speeds are desirable. Among other things, a faster sync speed means you need less strobe power to adequately light objects in the foreground without clipping the sunball.

I don't normally use LUTs on the monitor underwater. This inexpensive monitor looks interesting, especially for the reasons Interceptor says (less drag/lower profile). Are there any reviews yet?

Hmm, I sure would like to know this too. I think I'm up to date on my Ninja firmware and the buttons work just fine. What version is supposedly problematic?

THE most important factor for an underwater video camera can white balance at depth. Without this capability, you will struggle to no end with color, and even if you are able to grade footage that wasn't correctly white balanced in the camera, you will lose alot of image quality in the process. And also, the camera's ability to produce quiet results at high ISOs. I can't speak for the 6000-series APS-C Sonys, but I can confirm that the A1, A7SIII and A7IV will white balance underwater just fine. The A7IV represents huge value as a hybrid video/stills underwater camera, but the one small downside is that it crops to APS-C in 4k60p. Also, I assume the FX3 will white balance at depth, as its core capabilities are the same as the A7SIII. Side Notes: The A7SIII and A7IV will fit into the Nauticam A1 housing. When the A7IV is in the A1 housing, you cannot change from video to photo mode, but other than that, everything works. The A7SIII works beautifully in the A1 housing.

Hey Interceptor!. Nice to see you here. --Jim

Some lovely work on your Instagram, Roman. I see you're a manta fan like me! What dome are you using with that 16-35? --Jim

I have one for you. Sent PM

Sample video with ambient white balance and cyan lights. Straight out of the camera. Sony A7SIII, Keldan Luna 8 lights with cyan modules. Notice that the small fish that are arm's length from the lens appear with correct colors, while water color is natural, and the sharks in the distance look the way you'd see them with your eyes. Then, as they approach the camera, colors remain natural with no pink or red cast from the video lights.

This mixed light problem is always a challenge. I wish I had a better answer for you, but...the unfortunate truth is that a camera will either white balance at depth or it won't, and the A7C is one of the latter. Then you have ones like the GH5, which will kind of do it, but not very well. A red filter can help, and the Keldan you mention is the best one you'll find anywhere. You mention a 2 stop light loss, so I assume you're using the SF-2. But even with this filter, you may find that while your colors at depth in ambient light can be ok, you might see things like the surface going magenta when you pan up as an animal swims above you. With the A7C, there are a few ways to approach it. 1. No red filter and set your white balance to the color temperature of your (presumably daylight color) lights. Everything lit with ambient light will be very blue/cyan, and only those things lit by your lights fairly close (like a few feet away) will have correct color. 2. Use the red filter along with a cyan light, such as a Keldan with an "Ambient" filter, like an AF12. Put your lights on, hold your white balance card arm's length away, and execute a manual white balance. You'll get correct color on objects a few feet away from the camera, and things lit by ambient light will appear a but more natural. Of course, the best way of all to approach this is with a camera that will white balance at depth. I use the A1, A7SIII, and A7IV, all of which will do a good white balance at depth without a red filter. My technique is simply to turn on my cyan lights, hold the grey card at arm's length so that the cyan light is hitting it, and grab a white balance. This ensures that when an animal passes close to the camera, colors will remain true. There is no red color cast. I go for correct colors on things that are from arm's length to around 5-6 feet away, and let everything else fall where it may. But because I'm white balanced to the cyan lights, even the parts of the frame lit by ambient lights appear natural. I use my old (about 10 years old now) Keldan Luna 8s with the cyan modules, and a pair of the 4X with the AF12B filter. However, since I almost never use daylight balanced lights any more (there's little point to it, really...maybe at night?), I am going to switch to a pair of the new 8XR Ambient soon. I'd recommend against using a white card. Cameras will often fail to capture a custom white balance reading because the white card is clipped. I've seen some very experienced videographers who draw black diagonal lines across a white card with a thick sharpie, presumably to avoid this problem. You could also set exposure lower, but that can take too much time when you've just arrived at a new depth (so you need a new white balance), and an animal is approaching. I use this card from Keldan, which is just an xrite encased in resin. Color checker on one side and a grey card on the other. Works perfectly. Put it on a retract, grab white balance that let it snap back. If you have an extra moment when you start rolling, you can flip it over to the color checker side and show it to the camera as a reference. I grab white balance pretty obsessively whenever depth changes, but I also save white balances to the presets when there's no time to set one manually. That way, at least I'm in the ballpark. 1:~15-20ft, 2:~35-40ft, 3:~60ft This came in very handy recently in Socorro. We often had dolphins right as we entered the water, so I'd go in preset to the first WB setting. That allowed me to start filming right away as we descended. Never use auto white balance, because the camera will change it while a clip is being filmed, and you will have a devil of a time chasing a moving white balance when you edit. The folks over at Behind the Mask did a nice demo video about red filters and cyan lights.

I am using the A7S-III with the 28-60 and the WWL-1B. It's just about the perfect setup for video. I have also tried the WACP and the WACP-C, which my wife uses with her Canon 5DSR setup for stills. I think the WACP lenses have a small advantage for still images, but for video the WWL-1B works very well, with the advantage that you can take it on and off underwater. Sony is the only full-frame system that can use the WWL-1B, which was originally designed for compact and micro 4/3 cameras. The compact size is a substantial benefit. Here is some ungraded footage from a couple weeks ago. The edit was done in 2 hours on the passage back to San Jose, so it's pretty sloppy. It was intended for sharing among our friends on the boat. All of the footage is straight out of the camera. Sony A7SIII, Nauticam A1 housing, Atomos Ninja in Nauticam Housing, Keldan Luna 8 (cyan module), Keldan 4X (AF12B Ambient), Sony 28-60 lens, Nauticam WWL-1B. Standard color profile, XAVC HS 4K 10 bit 4:2:2 I recorded the humpback whale song recorded with a stereo pair of Aquarian hydrophones on Sony PCM D100 recorder. First music track ("Contigo en las Distancia" by Trio Tres Joyas) is an audition track recorded by our producer Yenkys Gonzalez in 2017. Drone footage courtesy of Diego Medina.

I'm very happy to have found this new community! I focus my efforts on video, but will dabble in UW still photography once in a while. Looking forward to meeting all of you and sharing our passion for underwater image making. I'm just getting started posting videos, but here's a start: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwO7dXjAlWx1e4q7BgwNOUpHoY8yueIR7