Back from the P.I., getting better now....

Well, I made my 2nd video trip back to Puerto Galera in the P.I. and returned a couple of days ago....This time only 5-10% of my footage is no good due to failure to zoom in 10% to stop vignetting.....Previously 50-60% of my footage needed massive color correction....this time 80% of my footage is usable.....and I seem to be getting better holding the passenger bus more still in the currents, although there is room for improvement there still. My previous 8 day trip netted 4 hours of footage, this time I did 90 minutes of footage, with more usable footage in 90 minutes than the previous 4 hours.

I used lights 95% of the time this time around without a color correction lens....also did some nigth dives.....it was a crackup, as my Amphibico dual 35-50 watts selectable HID's spread wide were so powerful at night, I turned them down to 35 watts.....and everyone followed me around and basically didn't need their own dive lights anymore.....they sure produce a HUGE swath of illumination.....I noted my night time illumination was often spilling over onto critters that the still guys would snap.....so I asked them if my spillover gave them any problems, they said it was a blessing, really helped with their focusing at night...too bad they were behind me when I would find a critter and they would come in off to the side and snap strobed stills and the damn strobe stuff would show in my footage, ruining it.

I think I am going to take the spare flip down arm and bite the bullet and get a Century achromatic +4 diopter at $350 before I go to Indonesia and since I use supplemental lighting so much, just take out the color correction arm which only takes 5 minutes and put in the thicker achromatic, stronger diopter for macro stuff......that tunnel vision I have seen on some stronger diopters really ruins the shot in my opinion.

I also need to do something about an underwater tripod.....especially if I switch from +2 to +4 diopter.

As to the top viewing port, it is not in a good position for macro...where I need to be behind the camea, and the rear viewing port is also too small to use as a manual focus monitor...

I talked to the Amphibico guys at the Long Beach scuba show and they are working on their wide aspect HiDef external monitor which I will get.

Only a few of my shots were out of focus this time around using autofocus, and per suggestions here, I switched the image stablization to hard and it seems to work a tad better.

I did get some night video of a small 3" long cuttlefish snapping up a small fish to eat.....boy do they throw out their grabbing arm fast.....

Wags, if I were doing all that whale shark thing, I think the top viewing port would be better suited as I know you prefer to use that for the wide angle stuff. Oh, and congrats on the upcoming wedding....

So I am far more satisfied with the footage second time around, AND, I STILL haven't scratched the port.....

Anyway I am having a blast....now, to figure out this editing thing.....

great report Dave, glad to see you had better luck..

I hope you didn't drink all the San Migs, i will be there in a week....

Well done Dave. Where are you going in Indonesia?

You might want to consider dimming those HIDs even more for night time use. You will get closer to a lot of stuff if you do and less chance of blowing out the highlights (unless you're manually speeding up the shutter when the iris is at it's smallest). It's kinder on the fish too! You could use a little disc of lighting gel. People like Rosco, Lee and Formatt do a matt grey neutral density filter gel in various strengths available from theatrical suppliers or in the UK direct from Formatt. I cut a disc of it which snaps into the front of the light. Failing that you could invent something or use a pair of black tights. If you have Amphibico lights then the old ones used to have a threaded front so you might be able to screw on a glass ND filter.

..........You might want to consider dimming those HIDs even more for night time use. You will get closer to a lot of stuff if you do and less chance of blowing out the highlights (unless you're manually speeding up the shutter when the iris is at it's smallest). It's kinder on the fish too! ....

I know my halogen lights are considered old technology, but the ability to instantly turn them on/off is a feature I really appreciate. I use a small flashlight on night dives for spotting.

great report Dave, glad to see you had better luck..

 

I hope you didn't drink all the San Migs, i will be there in a week....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

lol on the san migs...try the gin : ginebra.

OH MY GOD !!!

Palm trees, pilsner, pretty ladies and a pool...

"These are a few of my favorite P's... "

Dive safe

DeanB

The Amphbico 35-50W HID's have a diffuse white plastic overlay film.....I kept those on and had it turned down to the 35 watt setting, but parts of things were still occassionaly blown out....the plastic overlay is stuck to a plastic disc....I could just get a disc that was a little more opaque and not have any film over it.....

It is hard to say when I am going to Indonesia...hopefully in the next 6 months or so....with me timeframes are so hit and miss since I own my own biz if is a matter of when I do a few large jobs which one can never anticipate and when I can afford to leave it and not earn income for 10 days which is the real killer, not the trip cost....

Mike, I never liked the taste of alcohol (that quirk allows me to accuse cops who pull me over of drinking on the job AND get away with it) so I left all the San Miguels for you....although you might find a shortage of Pepsi in town....

By the way, when using the lights during the day, from the time I turn on my HID's, then set up the shot, it is usually takes about 10 seconds, and that is all the time my lights seem to need to give good illumination.....My Nightrider HID dive light takes much longer than that.....but the Amphibico HID's are real fast.....