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The Gentleman's Underwater Bubble Blower Thread

Hi Guys,

Does anyone have experience of using the GlobalmediaPro 160 LI batteries inside a Deep Red housing? I am currently using the LI95S but these are only lasting an hour and I'am doing a lot of rebreather dives with the rig and often spend up to 4 or 5 hours in the water and need longer life. Also has anyone mounted 2 of these batteries inside the Deep Red so i might get close to 3 or 4 hours of life out of a 2 battery set up?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Paul
 
Best batts I know of are the Swit 8172 which fit in Deep Epic. 160Wh. They are also IATA complaint. There is a housing extention you could use if you want more space to mount more batteries.

We do lots of rebreather work with these battereis and don't find battery life a problem. I would guess most of our refreather work is more like 3 hours. You can power down when needed too.

I dont know about Global media pro but size is critical in the housing.

Dave
 
Anyone used hot swap dual V-lock battery plates like the Switronix GPTS V-Mount ?
These allow hot swap but if two batteries are connected will that extend burn time?

From the Gates Deep Red housing if side SSD or HDD mounted on the side there should be enough space for two batteries on the top. Air circulation may be a problem though.

David
 
Rudi Herbert said:
Jim,

I have. let's just say the best looking lens is the Nikon 10-24 and the 14-24 looks better than it does behind a regular dome, but that's about it. I tested the 14-24 behind a 12" dome once, a one off I found at a studio, and with my dome it looks about the same as it did with that 12" dome. Which is to say, better than any other dome but still some soft corners. Of course, with my dome the lens effectively becomes a 10-16mm and if you're really bent on using that lens for its superior contrast and color rendition, you can zoom in and discard the outer 5% of the edges and be left with plenty wide FOV and a sharp picture. Which is not too bad if your final delivery is HD and you're shooting Epic at 5K. But if you don't want to bother with any of that, then no, the lens is not as good as it is on land. Having said that, I have finally understood (well, my engineers have) why this lens does not look so good and it is related to its full frame image circle. I am in the process of designing a second adapter aimed exclusively at full frame lenses, which basically is based on the architecture of the Nikonos 15, and that adapter will allow use of the 14-24 with perfectly sharp edges.

Right now though, I really encourage anyone who has not looked at the Nikon 10-24 to give it a look. It is not just any other wide zoom, it is crazy sharp and straight, heads and shoulders above the Tokina 11-16. Never mind the minimum aperture of 3.5. I was doing a comparison against the Tokina 11-16, both wide open, and because the nikon is so much cleaner at 3.5 than the Tokina is at 2.8, I was able to push the shadows in the Nikon image further than I was with the Tokina. For my money, there is no better rectilinear lens out there than this nikon 10-24, and until I or anybody else manages to build an adapter for thee Nikon 14-24, I don't see any other DX/APS format lens taking the mantle from the Nikon 10-24.

But that's just me of course, a self confessed fanatic of wide angle and of sharp edges...
Click to expand...

Thanks Rudi, The concern I have is the slower speed of the 10-24. As you know I work in a lot of dark spaces and the 14-24 is a bit faster at 2.8. Do you think the trade off is worth it, is the 10-24 that much sharper, How do you think they compare in that aspect?

Thanks and one of these days I need to make my way down to your neck of the woods!
 
david cheung said:
Anyone used hot swap dual V-lock battery plates like the Switronix GPTS V-Mount ?
These allow hot swap but if two batteries are connected will that extend burn time?

From the Gates Deep Red housing if side SSD or HDD mounted on the side there should be enough space for two batteries on the top. Air circulation may be a problem though.

David
Click to expand...

No issues using Switronix in either my Epic or Red housing. I sometimes run with two hot swappable batteries when doing say a timelapse or just a long dive/shoot. No issue with heat or air circulation on the Gates housings. Also no issue with the Global Media 160 batts...i've got four of them and they have lasted two years now...They are the cheap end of batts, but so far no issues. As for making the batts/cameral last on a long dive, just turn the camera off..
 
Sorry I've been off for a bit, been busy, a few answers,

Ron,
Yes, the Nikon 10-24 is indeed a DX lens, fits perfectly on the Red One (yet another reason why I still shoot that camera) but will vignette slightly on the Epic. Without running proper numbers, I figure you'd have to zoom in about 5-7% in post to fit the Epic frame, but that will still give you plenty of resolution from a 5K image AND a wider field of view and sharp edges than most other lenses. But I understand shooting while seeing a vignette is not something a lot of people feel comfortable with for framing, etc.

Jim,
Oddly enough, the F3.5 maximum aperture of the Nikon 10-24 has not been much of an issue yet. I wish I'd tested it when I was up in your neck of the woods, but I did take it down to about 200 ft on a wreck the other day and compared the images to those I had shot on the Tokina 11-16 at F2.8 on the same wreck last year and the Nikon images were of course darker, but with very little CA and fuzziness I was able to brighten the shadows much more than on the Tokina. Remember, if you need to zoom/stretch your footage because of blurred edges, you will magnify the noise, CA and other aberrations, which the Tonina 11-16 has plenty of. The Nikon 14-24 on the other hand has none of that of course, BUT it does suffer from soft corners, so in terms of effective FOV and actual mass underwater (remember you need to use the 14-24 with a 486 PE, whereas you can get by with a 286 PE on the 10-24, and those two extra inches mean an additional 1.8 lbs of ballast on the housing) the 10-24 is an all around more sensible choice.

I suspect the issue of maximum aperture should become relatively irrelevant with Dragon, provided we manage to fix the color issues with the RED, and as Mike Hastings reminded me the other day, we spent decades shooting 50 ASA film and then gasped in amazement at the advent of 200 ASA and then 400 ASA, and now we don't seem to make an 800 ISO sensor work :-)
 
...further to this, i suspect most of us would not want to shoot at f3.5 anyway...i cannot recall ever setting fstop that wide open....as rule, i'd suggest never try to shoot wider than 5.6....unless doing macro work, but none of these lenses we are talking about are macro lenses. So i don't see an F3.5 lens as a problem at all and quite frankly too much has been made of faster lenses for underwater work anyway. I suspect we all want to stay away from shallow DOF.
 
Mark, Rob and others who have inquired about my corrected port,

Right now, I need to do the following:

- Send the one prototype I have to a lab for tracing/mapping, to compare the actual properties of the finished against the original design of my engineers, and any variances against the first prototype. Anybody know a good optical lab for this, info much appreciated.

- Build a few more prototypes with different glass formulations and test for improvements/variations. I figure we'll stay with BK7, but I might be able to find good prices for better glass at not prohibitive prices.

- Once I have a few prototypes that seem stable and deliver consistent results, I will need to perform MTF, focus and light loss, as well as comparisons to regular domes, tests on a tank, which I will have to build and take of all the testing myself. Not really looking forward to this but don't have anyone, as of yet, to do it. Suggestions appreciated.

- Once this testing produces results and those results, hopefully, validate my claim that this is indeed a step forward from a regular dome of any size, then I'll need to find a good proto mechanical place and have a couple of housings for the port designed and built. I would like to come up with a universal mount that can be adapted to most housings, both DSLR and cinema. With a couple of those port housings, I would then have to adapt them to existing housings and have a couple of beta testers beside myself shoot them out in the wild, the resulting footage available for scrutiny. Anybody can recommend a good proto mechanical shop with expertise in metal and glass enclosures such as port, info much appreciated.

- At that point I'd have to decide whether I want to produce the whole thing myself and offer a final port/housing assembly with different fittings for different housings (such as Zen does in the stills world) or instead sell the port directly to manufacturers so they can implement it into their designs as best it suits them, probably the preferred option. One way or the other, at that point I will need to collaborate with whatever manufacturers want to offer the product, which is easier said than done. Most people will require a sample of the port, etc, etc, etc, and the not so pleasant part of signing contracts and agreements begins. On that note, Mike Hastings and Aquavideo are already onboard and waiting for me to have units built so they can offer them with their housings.

So this is where I am right now, tantalizingly close to the end but VERY tired, tied up in a million other projects that I committed to finishing (and so I will) and having spent a very large chunk on the initial engineering time it took to design this first prototype.

Would I like to become a manufacturer and enter into this difficult world? Yes and no. I know that I don't want to just sell off my port design, so to some extent it will remain my baby, and as I have other cool projects in the back burner, then perhaps this will be just the start, but right now I need some help or divine intervention with just getting this port done, and it is not financial but simply a way to get all the above things done that doesn't require me to be the one doing everything, because if so, it will take very long. Though it will get done.

Hope that answers the questions I've received both here and privately, and whoever needs to contact me directly can either send me a PM or e-mail me: Rudi@IdeasinBlue.com
 
I’m looking for feedback on the Optitek Nikon mount when used in the Gates Epic Housing. I’m trying to decide between the Optitek Nikon mount and the Canon mount. I’m not invested in either type of lens yet.

My concern with the Canon mount is the iris adjusts done through the Epic is in increments, so I’m thinking those incremental changes will be noticeable when doing shots such as panning down from the surface to looking horizontally?

I’ve seen the Optitek mount, (though I haven’t used it yet). It seems like the small amount of turn that adjusts from wide open to closed iris would make it difficult to do subtle adjustments.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ernie Kovacs
 
Hi Ernie,

The Canon mount will adjust the iris in steps indeed. So you will notice it very hard when done during shooting.
But, the iris-adjustment is very responsive. The RED Nikon mount, FYI, is very slow and inaccurate.
I have no experience with the Optitek Nikon mount, but that will definitely work more smooth than the RED Canon mount.
HTH
 
We support a number of Deep Epic housings here and other F55 housings using the same Nikon lens sets as Deep Epic. A couple of clients use Canon mounts successfully but they are not so well used as the Nikon approach.

Our Go to lenses are

Optitek Mount

Tokina 10 17
Tokina 11 16
Nikon 17 55
Nikon 70 180 macro zoom

or

PL or A mount

Duclos 11 16
Red 17 50
Leica 100mm Apro Macro using A mount

Our prefered Nikon approach with Optitek works fine for Wildlife work but some operators prefer the PL approach.

If you go down the stock Nikon/Tokina route you may have to go through a number of lenses to find one thats outstanding. It seems flange sensor distance is off on some so they don't track focus as good as others.

A Canon 500D diopter may be useful for the 17 55 lens.

The Optitek is a good solid mount and well supported. We have several here and all have been very reliable.

If your changing mounts on Epic always check camera columation all be it dificult if youve got different mount on camera.

If we are shooting on Canon 5D2 or 5D3 our prefered lenses are Canon 16 35mm mk2 and Canon 24 70. 15mm fish eye, and 100
mm macro. Same lenses are good for Epic for underwater.

You could consider also FD prime lenses with gears or FD lenses remounted to EF with gears on a Canon Mount. Im constantly supprised how good these lenses are.

We do shoot on various prime sets too for features work but thats a whole bunch of other detail which I don't think you need here.
 
Ernie Kovacs said:
I’m looking for feedback on the Optitek Nikon mount when used in the Gates Epic Housing. I’m trying to decide between the Optitek Nikon mount and the Canon mount. I’m not invested in either type of lens yet.

My concern with the Canon mount is the iris adjusts done through the Epic is in increments, so I’m thinking those incremental changes will be noticeable when doing shots such as panning down from the surface to looking horizontally?

I’ve seen the Optitek mount, (though I haven’t used it yet). It seems like the small amount of turn that adjusts from wide open to closed iris would make it difficult to do subtle adjustments.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ernie Kovacs
Click to expand...


The Opti-Tek is a a great mount and one of first to support Nikon lenses on the RED. I use it 90% of the time shooting underwater. That HOWEVER will change. The new Fans interfere with the Iris gears (using on Gates Housing)....and therefore will not work. As Michael pointed out the RED Nikon mount would be an obvious solution, but RED has been slow to support the lenses we as underwater shooters tend to use. Also their Canon mount has more time out there and just more shooters using Nikon glass in the indie world....hence my belief we have little support for the Nikon mount from RED. I've had my RED nikon mount for around 6-8 months and have not been able to use it once underater since it either does not support my lenses or the electronic iris just does not work well.

If i was starting fresh---RED Canon mount all the way.
 
There may be a solution for the Optitek fan update issue. I understand you can just use the new top fan and origional front fan which wont affect the mount. Also there may be a new suplimentary gear on its way for iris control which doesnt cause issues with the new front fan. you dont have to fit the new fans at all for UW use.
 
Dave Blackham said:
There may be a solution for the Optitek fan update issue. I understand you can just use the new top fan and origional front fan which wont affect the mount. Also there may be a new suplimentary gear on its way for iris control which doesnt cause issues with the new front fan. you dont have to fit the new fans at all for UW use.
Click to expand...

Very true, however with Dragon on its way....we can only suspect that the new fans were a prerequisite for the hot Dragon sensor/video board. I would expect that those fan upgrades have much to do with the dragon upgrade. But right you are...currently works with no issues, but if you install the front fan, you'll have problems. I've not heard of any news about a new Iris solution for the Optitek mount. Is this with Gates or with Jacek? and is this concrete? And a mount modification or a completely new mount?
 
Johnny Friday said:
Very true, however with Dragon on its way....we can only suspect that the new fans were a prerequisite for the hot Dragon sensor/video board. I would expect that those fan upgrades have much to do with the dragon upgrade. But right you are...currently works with no issues, but if you install the front fan, you'll have problems. I've not heard of any news about a new Iris solution for the Optitek mount. Is this with Gates or with Jacek? and is this concrete? And a mount modification or a completely new mount?
Click to expand...

Gates, I think, same Optitek base mount, new suplimentary gear.
 
Ernie Kovacs said:
I’m looking for feedback on the Optitek Nikon mount when used in the Gates Epic Housing. I’m trying to decide between the Optitek Nikon mount and the Canon mount. I’m not invested in either type of lens yet.

My concern with the Canon mount is the iris adjusts done through the Epic is in increments, so I’m thinking those incremental changes will be noticeable when doing shots such as panning down from the surface to looking horizontally?

I’ve seen the Optitek mount, (though I haven’t used it yet). It seems like the small amount of turn that adjusts from wide open to closed iris would make it difficult to do subtle adjustments.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ernie Kovacs
Click to expand...


Hi Ernie,

I have been using the Optitek Nikon mount and have been quite happy with it. I haven't used any electronic mount underwater so I will let the other guys comment on their experience.

Along with the other positive comments on the Optitek, I do like the fact that I can adjust the iris using the iris knob without taking my hands off the handles. I suppose that you can do this with the Canon mount by assigning the two user buttons on the side to open and close the iris. However, I like to have one of these assigned to 1:1 focus..but that's just my personal preference.
Anyway, lots of choices out there but I am a fan of the Optitek. Just my two pesos.
 
Ernie Kovacs said:
I’m looking for feedback on the Optitek Nikon mount when used in the Gates Epic Housing. I’m trying to decide between the Optitek Nikon mount and the Canon mount. I’m not invested in either type of lens yet.

Ernie Kovacs
Click to expand...

Ernie, I have an Optitek nikon mount for sale that is barely used and will give you a good deal. It's a great mount but we had a large investment in Canon lenses so switched back once the Red Canon mount came out.

Contact me via PM or my email below (preferred) if you are interested.
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback on the Optitek mount. I'm still trying to decide about using that or Canon mount.
Regarding the Fan upgrade, so far I have only added the top fan (no front fan) and that seems to be working well so far. So Optitek will still fit.

I'm also leaning toward Canon for the 8 to 15mm lens that I've heard good things about.

Ernie Kovacs
 
Ernie Kovacs said:
Thanks everyone for the feedback on the Optitek mount. I'm still trying to decide about using that or Canon mount.
Regarding the Fan upgrade, so far I have only added the top fan (no front fan) and that seems to be working well so far. So Optitek will still fit.

I'm also leaning toward Canon for the 8 to 15mm lens that I've heard good things about.

Ernie Kovacs
Click to expand...

One thing about Epic is that mounts are EXTREMELY easy to change - four easily accessible screws - takes about a minute.
 
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