Magic Filters are Great/Save the Day (week)

I had a minor (are any minor?) flood on my second dive in Little Cayman yesterday through a loose bulkhead (my fault for not checking) that fried the electronics that allow my camera and strobe to communicate. I was bummed.

BUT! I had bought and brought Magic Filters with me to try out later in the week. Well my hand was forced earlier, so today I dived with my D70 and 10.5 mm lens.

Man am I impressed. I have NEVER seen such good color on my dive photos ever using a strobe. I am pretty much an amateur and do more point and shooting than reasoned adjustment on my photos.

Below are three photos I compressed and picked out after running through my photos today.

Steve Dingeldein

Yes, they certainly can save a trip when your strobe's die. By the way, all 3 of your shots look pretty underexposed to me. Tommorow try to stay out of the shadows and increase the exposure a bit.

Also, your photos #2 and #3 show you've got the sun in front of you, thus the shadows. Try to keep the sun in your back when shooting with filters.

Mat

Yes, thanks for the comments guys. I tend to underexpose as that seems to be easier to recover shooting RAW than over exposures. And regarding the position of the sun, that is something I realized I had to pay better attention to while underwater.

I was quite excited by the color I was getting even in suboptimal conditions and in the "wrong" position (sun in front). I will get my second and third dives with the filters today.

The baseline: they work - and work well.

SD

Glad to hear that they are working.

Maybe I should charge more money for the filters, then people might be less surprised when they work!

More posts like this please!

Alex

Alex,

I would easily have paid more for what it has done for me on this trip. I am simply amazed at the color that I am getting even in suboptimal conditions (diving early AM and late PM and me as a photographer and diver). Many of the photos are so vivid compared to ANYTHING I get with a strobe, particularly on wider angle shots. Many of the shots are how my eye sees the stuff underwater.

Now if there was only one to fit my 60 mm Nikon lens

Steve

Hi Steve,

It is possible to shoot the Magic filter with macro/close up lenses. But the results are generally quite limited by the depth of field. With careful focusing you can get some pleasing fish portraits, and it is probably worth a go (in your situation) if you have a large enough piece of filter to cut to stick on the front oor back of the 60mm.

Alex

Hi Steve,

 

It is possible to shoot the Magic filter with macro/close up lenses. But the results are generally quite limited by the depth of field. With careful focusing you can get some pleasing fish portraits, and it is probably worth a go (in your situation) if you have a large enough piece of filter to cut to stick on the front oor back of the 60mm.

Alex

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is there a was to stick the filter to the back of the Nikon 18-70DX?

Is there some standard way to do it or I have to improvised something?

I used a stepping ring (67mm - 77mm ) as a mount and then a blank 77mm filter ring as a retainer.

Saved me from sacrificing another filter to the " great god of camera experiments"

I can put a filter between the 18-70 and the +4 diopter I have in front, but I'm looking for a way to put it on the back of the lens if its possible at all.

Thanks, Alex. If I can find time and scissors I will operate on a piece for the 12-24 to cut it down to size.

I now consider these puppies gold. I'm impressed with the general color in my photos in suboptimal conditions (late afternoon diving, dive site orientation vis a vis the sun).

These filters explain why I have always wondered why video looked better color wise than film, particularly with wide angle.

I am quite amazed. I am skeptical by nature as a doctor and have heard a lot of BS in the medical world. The filters are analogous to a few things I have experienced in medicine where you get hold of a new drug or implant and smile and say, "Dang these things really work, and work beyond what I expected."

Steve

Alex,

How does the Magic Filter work with video? I can't find any mention of video here or on your site. Does it work well? Have you ever tried?

Dan

Mike Veitch had a forum topic last week, I think, about Magic Filters in video:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10249