Filter or WB on A630

New to Video. I usually shoot a D200 but just for kicks I am going to also use my friends Canon A630 on an upcoming trip to Roatan. He and I just got back from the Virgin Islands where he took many hours of UW video during the 2 weeks. He got the housing for it only a few days before we left so there was no chance to practice. Naturally, everything is blueish and needs to be color corrected.

Should I be looking for a filter? Can I use my Magic Filter and slip it inside the housing, or is there a white balance adjustment on the camera?

Hi Ramaroodle,

A filter won't help you correct the clips your friend has already shot , but will be useful for the future.

I often shoot video clips on my compact with a filter and they are great. I keep meaning to put a little video together, but I don't know how to compress it suitably.

Some compact camera's allow you to use manual WB on video mode, while others only allow you to use Auto WB. I am not sure of the option on the Canon A630.

As far as the MFs go. The Auto-Magic filter is the one you need if you camera will not let you set WB on video mode. My Fuji will only shoot vid in auto WB, and that is what I use. If your camera will allow you to use a manual WB in video mode, then you can use any filter (in Magic's case that would be either the original Magic or the Auto-Magic).

Here is the only example vid I have online of a movie shot with a compact Panasonic FX01 and magic filter (I didn't take it, but I am in it). The filter was used for the underwater shots.

Hope this helps,

Alex

New to Video. I usually shoot a D200 but just for kicks I am going to also use my friends Canon A630 on an upcoming trip to Roatan. He and I just got back from the Virgin Islands where he took many hours of UW video during the 2 weeks. He got the housing for it only a few days before we left so there was no chance to practice. Naturally, everything is blueish and needs to be color corrected.

 

Should I be looking for a filter? Can I use my Magic Filter and slip it inside the housing, or is there a white balance adjustment on the camera?

The Canon A630 has an UW setting (or maybe 2). Setting to "cloudy" has also been suggested.

How deep are you going? Deeper means you'll need a flash. The on-camera flash is going to perfrorm poorly. I've used the Inon D-2000 with my A630 in Bonaire last year, and wasted a whole lot of shots trying different settings (Program, Auto, Av, etc). Practice/explore the different settings above water, to see what the camera mode is doing wrt aperature and shutter speed.

Let us know how it goes.

Tom E.