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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Underwater Bubble Blowin' Users Group

haha, well congrats. sounds like it will be a nice ceremony.

keep me posted when you're in town next time. i'm sure we can find some trouble to get ourselves into! ;)
 
CamDiver said:
George, great monitor. What is the bottom line on it? Cost wise. Part Number? What are the tech specs on it also?

Cheers in advance.
Mark.
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Mark,

The HD monitor inside is a Panasonic 7.9" BT LH80W. The monitor housing cost me about $3.5k Australian to have made (the HD monitor was about $2.5K (so that's $6000 all up, yikes!)

Underwater you can (1) turn the monitor on and off. (1) access pixel for pixel in HD, (2) Access built in waveform monitor, (4) Access the Panasonic "Focus in Red" focus check system which is not all that good. Unfortunately it cannot receive cable TV, which would be neat while waiting for coral to spawn.

That's about it, I made a sun shade for it out of some 1mm plastic sheet stuff. All up that whole thing is pretty large. Once HD monitors get to around 6" I would make it out of aceytal as it is very easy to work with, does not corrode and is very light.

Regards


George
 
Tom said:
haha, well congrats. sounds like it will be a nice ceremony.

keep me posted when you're in town next time. i'm sure we can find some trouble to get ourselves into! ;)
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Hey no worries Tom. May also look at doing some more photography soon too. I have just managed to get my first concept image reserved by the management company of a recording group for an ID shot I had for their weekly radio spot in the UK. It's all good. The wedding is set for the end of October.

Hey George, thanks for that info. Much appreciated. Shame about not getting cable though. SHeesh, at that price you would have expected it right? :biggrin:

Cheers,
Mark.
 
CoralSeaTV said:
Once HD monitors get to around 6" I would make it out of aceytal as it is very easy to work with, does not corrode and is very light.

Regards


George
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George, nice job on the monitor. We are making ours out of Delrin (acetal) - as you point out it is a great material to work with (if a bit expensive). With hd-sdi on the RED limited to 720p (live) it is hard to get a monitor that performs much better than the RED lcd, and you get the camera controls that are on the RED lcd as well. Our housing also has controls for the buttons on the top which mirror the buttons on the side of the camera so allows you the zoom function as well as the user programmables.

Mark: congrats on the wedding. Another one bites the dust, but seriously nice to hear you found your soul mate.
 
Tokina 11-16mm

Tokina 11-16mm

Since birger is finally coming on line it's time to talk lenses.

Anyone here used the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8? about $570 and available for both Nikon and Canon.

Although I already bought the Canon EF-S 10-22 f3.5 - 4.5 I'm looking for the best solution for the RED housing customers.

I have heard very good things about this tokina 11-16, i.e. that it is sharper - particularly in the corners - than either the Canon or the Nikon 12-24. And of course it is an f2.8 constant aperture.

I don't mind the short zoom range - I bought the lens for the superwide aspect and would have been fine if it were just a fixed focal length prime and the tokina is a good compromise. It doesn't sound like much but 10-22 is 2.2x zoom and 11-16 is only 1.5x and in general it is much easier to make high quality lenses with limited zoom - particularly wide angles.

Mark Crabtree has already been using this lens for topside and says it works fine with his birger mount.
 
For land based wide angle creative shots with RED One I've been using the Nikon 14mm f2.8 ED - with excellent results. It is the widest angle rectilinear prime lens that Nikon makes. I don't dive for shooting, but rather surface and near-surface shooting of water sports (surfing, jetski, etc.). I'll be one of the first people to take delivery of Epic and Scarlet. I'll have custom lightweight aluminum surfzone water housings made for my Epic and Scarlet cameras by SPL Waterhousings in San Diego. I was the one who helped SPL design the first custom lightweight aluminum surf zone housing made for RED One several months ago. SPL did a very nice job fabricating that housing. The Nikon 14mm may be the lens I use on Epic in my splash zone housing. Epic's full frame S35mm sensor should dance real well with the Nikon 14mm's wide field of view - a 114 degree FOV on a full frame sensor - and I like it being rectilinear.

Again, the Nikon 14mm f2.8D ED AF is an excellent wide angle lens - and it has the aperture ring so it can be used with dumb or smart mounts on RED.

BTW - IMO for deep dive housings for RED cameras, Mike Hastings (AquaVideoRed206) is hard to beat...
 
Mike,
I think Gibby's on the right track. After using my 18-50 for a few months now underwater and topside. I am convinced I'll stick with a few prime lenses for underwater---Macro however will be a different story.

I was thinking of buying a zeiss 14mm PL mount superspeed and just might do so very soon. BUT, another solution that seems nice to me is the Cannon EF a4mm f2.8L lens. I think it just might be a great u/w solution---anyone else care to comment? I'd like to get it and try it out before I get the zeiss. I can tell you that shooting the zeiss 8mm PL produced incredible results....and super sharp edge to edge as compared to the RED 18mm wide open. I think shooting a prime lens should surely produced crisper results imo.

View attachment 7022
 
Hey Johnny any price notes on those lenses, the Zeiss 14mm and the 8mm? If thats the 8R I guess I know that price tag, steep.

Macro wise I am very much erring toward the Tamron 90mm f2.8. I already have that glass. I can understand some people getting cold feel due to the telephoto aspect and the telescoping of the lens. I reckon there's not too many issues with that in regards to what I need it for.

Cheers.
Mark.
P.S Got the notes so I guess we wait for Stuarts feedback.
 
Mark,
Just made a call to a local camera store in Ca. and this is what I got:

EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM: price in USA around: $2,299.00

as for the Zeiss 14mm superspeed...i haven't checked yet. I expect a big tag though. I checked on a used zeiss 14mm f/2.0 ??can't recall if which it was---but not a superspeed: but price used: $6,500 and PL mount.

Yeah...the 8r is $32k +or-

i think i'm going with a prime lens 60mm for macro.
 
The Nikon 14mm f2.8D ED AF rectilinear cost me $1,500 USD from B&H. Beautiful lens - very crisp, clean, and contrasty - and no bending weirdness. IMO it would work very well in deep dive situations - and in the surf zone. Several reviewers gave the lens high marks, and since I bought the lens and used it extensively now, I can second those excellent reviews.
 
Cheers Johnny.
I will be able to get a better Internet connection in South Africa so will check out lenses etc if I have time to there. I will also be having a good chat with Russ and Cindy about stuff so all is good.

How was the homecoming?

Cheers,
Mark.
 
Mark,
what I also like about that EF lens is that it was made to work with the bayer sensor as far as i heard. So it might be a better lens than even the zeiss glass considering it's made to work with digital photography---sounds logical to me as was explained to me.

....being home is great. but loads of things to do. Working on the boat everyday since it's hurricane season and got some pretty cool hurricane weather shots over the past week.
 
Cool Beans dude (pssst, it would help if you took them out of the fridge), let me know if you need a pair of hands around the place, I need to get the missus working to save up for more glass.....:)

Cheers,
Mark.
 
BajaProductions said:
Mark,
what I also like about that EF lens is that it was made to work with the bayer sensor as far as i heard. So it might be a better lens than even the zeiss glass considering it's made to work with digital photography---sounds logical to me as was explained to me.

....being home is great. but loads of things to do. Working on the boat everyday since it's hurricane season and got some pretty cool hurricane weather shots over the past week.
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Not only is edge to edge and full aperture performance improved on the series II lenses but with RED we are only shooting the center of the 14mm Canon (which is a full frame lens) so it should be the sharpest wide angle other than - maybe - an ultraprime or masterprime.

I still think for a lot of things you are going to want a wider lens than a 14 - most of the modern video wide angle lenses we have been using for the past 7 or 8 years have been closer to the angle of view of the 10 to 12 mm on RED.
 
AquaVideoRed206 said:
I still think for a lot of things you are going to want a wider lens than a 14 - most of the modern video wide angle lenses we have been using for the past 7 or 8 years have been closer to the angle of view of the 10 to 12 mm on RED.
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Yep, agreed. As wide as possible without breaking the bank, is that possible ? Is there any given formula for working out the angle of view in degrees in relation to the focal length of any given lens? ie what should we expect as a field of view in degrees from say a 10mm as opposed to a 14mm? I have gotten so used to shooting the Z1 with the Fathoms 120 degree external WA adapter lens. What focal distance lens would be required on RED to replicate the 117 degree FOV of the Fathom SWP44?

Cheers,
Mark.
 
Hey guys I'm bidding a documentary that requires three under water shoots over the next year, exact datres are TBD. We have a red but no housing or other underwater specific equipment. I have a scuba liscense, but have never shot underwater, so I don't want to learn with a clients money at stake. At least one dive will be a cage dive. PM me with your rates if you are interested. The shooting locations are Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Thanks,
Gopher
 
Gopher77 said:
Hey guys I'm bidding a documentary that requires three under water shoots over the next year, exact datres are TBD. We have a red but no housing or other underwater specific equipment. I have a scuba liscense, but have never shot underwater, so I don't want to learn with a clients money at stake. At least one dive will be a cage dive. PM me with your rates if you are interested. The shooting locations are Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Thanks,
Gopher
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PM sent.
 
I have a 12mm Zeiss T2.1 PL mount lens for sale, currently with Mike at AquaVideo in Ft. Lauderdale. PM him or me if you are interested.

Amund
 
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