Not Totally Happy

The cost of genuine UR/Pro filters is a lot different than either the Magic Filters or a normal U/V filter.

One of the problems with being in Australia is that everything you buy locally has had shipping , duties and taxes applied to them.

I believe the price was in AUD inclusive of 10% GST.

the Magic Filter would be considerably cheaper. It comes in pre sized circles that you fit into a threaded filter by removing the glass of a cheap filter and then putting the filter in instead

By "UV" filter you mean the normal greyish filters that are aplenty on ebay right?

Are most filter lenses able to be removed easily?

yep, they have a small ring that keeps the glass in place. You need a set of calipers or two small screw drivers or some such to unscrew the set ring

The cost is different I found out.

How do normal land camera filters compare to these expensive ones designed for underwater?

If I got this UV filter off ebay;

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/37mm-CPL-FILTER-for...1QQcmdZViewItem

I would be able to change the lense?

UV filter is just for land stuff.

URPRO filters are the way to go.

You can get plastic that you can cut to size or glass, both are exact same underwater but plastic gets scratched really easy.

You can get them from Peter over there in Cairns

www.scubapix.com

Ok,

I'm not paying $190 - $200 for one filter lense.

I don't care if it is plastic or glass because it's inside the housing screwed onto my camera - so I'm not worried about scratching.

So what I want is a cheap 37mm UV filter (about $15 on ebay) and then I can get it home, rip out the UV filter and insert the plastic colored filters right?

Welcome to the world of underwater video $$$$$

It all depends on your budget and what quality you are after.

If you get a magic filter to cut for the UV ring......be warned.... don't touch it with your fingers...once in leave it.

I destroyed mine even before I got it in the water.

The best it to have a flip $$$ URPRO filter so you can flip it or place it in front of the camera for depth and out when you are shallow. If you get a cheap redish plastic filter, it will not do what the URPRO's will do.

Ok,

 

I'm not paying $190 - $200 for one filter lense.

 

I don't care if it is plastic or glass because it's inside the housing screwed onto my camera - so I'm not worried about scratching.

 

So what I want is a cheap 37mm UV filter (about $15 on ebay) and then I can get it home, rip out the UV filter and insert the plastic colored filters right?

That is correct yes, but as Wags says, handle the plastic filter very carefully

If you get a magic filter to cut for the UV ring......be warned.... don't touch it with your fingers

Why, it's not hallogen glass is it? The same happens if you are replacing a hallogen bulb in something.

How do you put it in then without touching it and what would you use to clean it? How could you avoid touching the lense with normal everyday use?

Magic Filters mainly for still cameras.

Go and have a good read

URPRO Filters mainly for video.

Go and have a good read

It's up to you but a $200 glass one in a ring, it will last for years, work better and you can put your fingers all over it and clean it no probs.

Then again if you have a housing/camera that can be WB then you may not even need one for an average dive depth.

Danytink... we can point you in the right direction but it's up to you to work out what will work for you.

I'm surprised you guys didn't know about this site?

This shop is selling the same filters for half the price;

http://www.underwater.com.au/product.php/id/URPRO002/

I've got a couple of old glass colour correction filters that worked fine. They were unbranded and much cheaper than UR-Pro.

A few years ago I trashed a big UR-Pro plastic external filter on it's first ever dive (staghorn coral). In subsequent discussions with them about re-polishing etc. I was genuinely interested in what UR-Pro had managed to patent about their filters, and what makes them so unique. I had a search for the patent (was involved with patent stuff in my old career) but couldn't find it, and I could never get a specific answer or a patent number out of them. Just that they "sill hold the patents" and that other filters will not give the same performance. Would still love to know what's so special about them.

You can read about filter basics here:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/filters-and...ht-photography/

There is no difference between filtering for video and filtering for still. It's all in what you are trying to accomplish. Light works the same way.

There are tables describing the "recipes" for some combo filters including the UR Pro ones. UR Pro filters aren't magic, they're simply FL-B filters repurposed. If you can find FL-B filters in your size they will work well and be much cheaper than UR PRo.

So these Ebay ones will do the same as Ur-pro?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Cozo-55mm-Yellow-Gr...1QQcmdZViewItem

The point of an under water filter is to help white-balance the image. If you don't have access to manual white-balance through the housing, then you can try to white-balance in your editing software. I use Sony Vegas, and there is a software filter you can run on your footage that will let you select something in the image that is supposed to be white. It will then correct the colors in your clip to account for the extra green.

A lot of the discussion has been on color correcting your video. However, you said that when you watch directly from the tape, it looks good. So, can you describe what it is about the clip you posted that doesn't look as good as what you watch directly off of the tape?

--Mark