Feedback wanted

I shot this video recently in Bonaire.

Any opinions? My $ is tied up in still gear (Subal, D300 etc) which I'm more serious about. The video is more of a lark. I'm thinking that this is good enough for "lark" quality.

How much would I have to spend to get much better quality?

Andy

I shot this video recently in Bonaire.

I used my Canon HG10 and a Nemo 200 housing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij83XhFzs0U which costs $249. (no controls after hitting the water), a $65 monitor and a set of L&M HID's and a $150 WA screw-on lens. I now think that to get better quality stuff I think I'd need to spend a lot more money and probably not worth the trade off for what I'd get.

 

Any opinions? My $ is tied up in still gear (Subal, D300 etc) which I'm more serious about. The video is more of a lark. I'm thinking that this is good enough for "lark" quality.

 

How much would I have to spend to get much better quality?

 

Andy

It is good enough for lark quality for sure and alot of it was better than lark. Not sure if you are using a filter or not, but you try a Red Filter and white balance through the filter on the surface and get a pretty good job done if you have no control over it when in the housing (Wagsy showed that trick awhile back and he got nice results.) If you hit things with lights, you can always adjust back in post. I would guess the next housing option up (just housing side of things would the Ikelite HG10, but is discontinued.

Not sure what your budget is is how much much better quality means to you (which could change the answer somewhat, so for instance if you said you had a budget of $x to change things up) but as a lark, or more, it looks like you are okay with what you have. If you really start getting into video, you can always upgrade then. If you are happy with what you have (and there is no reason not to be) not sure I would say get more toys now. There will be a time where you may start feeling limited by the equipment..

Thanks. Will have to look up Wagsy's post. I'm thinking that I would hold off until Nikon comes out with a 1080 vid DSLR. It sure would be nice to cut down on weight and baggage. There were many times I was carrying the D300 wishing I had the video camera and vise versa. Would sure be nice to switch between the two on the same dive. But then what about lights? (that was kind of a rhetorical question).

Thanks. Will have to look up Wagsy's post. I'm thinking that I would hold off until Nikon comes out with a 1080 vid DSLR. It sure would be nice to cut down on weight and baggage. There were many times I was carrying the D300 wishing I had the video camera and vise versa. Would sure be nice to switch between the two on the same dive. But then what about lights? (that was kind of a rhetorical question).

If you can hold out til then, that makes alot of sense. Even 720p60 is going to be pretty good also, though it seems Nikon has not quite caught Canon in the video in dSLR chase. (Not trying to bash Nikon by the statment, just what people have indicated.) My last couple of trips to family and friends I just bought my Canon 5D Mark II and been pleased and less to carry. As to the lights, give it time, lkelite started that ball rolling already with the a strobe/video light Ikelite Strobe Video Light

. As to the lights, give it time, lkelite started that ball rolling already with the a strobe/video light Ikelite Strobe Video Light

Yeah, I saw those babies at $1K each! Then probably $2K after trade in for another subal housing plus whatever camera Nikon comes out with that has 1080p...Yikes. I got 2 kids in college and another going in a year. Plus I still like to travel. I need to hit the lottery.

I do like the idea of WB to the filter on the surface then adjusting in post for the lights. The L&M lights I had kept shutting off and that technique would have given me a lot more usable film I think. Wags stuff always looks good. I'd be interested in finding his posts with the filter technique.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems that the high ISO performance of the vdslr's just gives you a better less noisey picture with a filter in low light than a camcorder is capable of right now. I'm happy with my D300 and my "lark" like video. By the time I'm ready to do the next big $8K upgrade it will be a different ball game by then anyway. I can probably find a used Ikelite housing before the next trip. Cheaper toy.

Thanks

Andy

Hi Andy

Nice little clip there, although you cannot really expect great quality from a unit like that.

Yes DSLR's are going to change things but at the moment a good dedicated video camera housing is still much easy to shoot stuff.

The WB trick is to warm the camera up abit while you are in the shallows then as you go down deeper put the filter on to help with the colour.

Even point it up at the blue sky and do a manual WB as that will warm it up abit.

It will be red in the shallows abit but as you go deeper it will get better then add the filter as you go down etc....

Of course your WB setting needs to be in the manual mode and not on auto.

Using lights and natural WB colour is always a balancing act.

In a perfect world... to be able to manually select two different WB presets as you go from natural light shots to video lights on a dive would be perfect.

Cheers....

Yeah, I saw those babies at $1K each! Then probably $2K after trade in for another subal housing plus whatever camera Nikon comes out with that has 1080p...Yikes. I got 2 kids in college and another going in a year. Plus I still like to travel. I need to hit the lottery.

Maybe all of us should chip in a buck and get some tickets

I do like the idea of WB to the filter on the surface then adjusting in post for the lights. The L&M lights I had kept shutting off and that technique would have given me a lot more usable film I think. Wags stuff always looks good. I'd be interested in finding his posts with the filter technique.

He has a few posts (well more than a few) on white balance and through the threads. They was a good one discussing the cuddle technique (kind of funny one). But the one I was thinking of I could not find just now. Was good for the situation you described (no ability to access WB in camera.) Basically it was something like "Guess how I did this guys," for some video. What he did was set white balance at the surface (for some reason I recall against the side of a white/grey van) and just dove that way. Not sure if there was a limit as to when it was not as effective.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems that the high ISO performance of the vdslr's just gives you a better less noisey picture with a filter in low light than a camcorder is capable of right now. I'm happy with my D300 and my "lark" like video. By the time I'm ready to do the next big $8K upgrade it will be a different ball game by then anyway. I can probably find a used Ikelite housing before the next trip. Cheaper toy.

I have not found any comparisons among cameras (i.e. Canon HC9 vs Canon 5D Mark II) and have not had a chance to dive with the 5D , but from what I have shot above water and in darker conditions, it does a real good job.

Some discussion on the 7D vs 5D video quality issue more for some background and this thread 7D footage for low light. There were also some other good discussions of pros/cons, but could not dig them up. Aliasing and jello affect are the big issues and the vDSLR, and some ergonomics, but also how the camera (5D) is being used alot despite the issues.

The WB trick is to warm the camera up abit while you are in the shallows then as you go down deeper put the filter on to help with the colour.

Hey did not see this post I was typing my reply and you snuck in. Didn't you have a post about pointing it at a van or something and not touching it? I recall that one and trying it.....