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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 :)

The Gentleman's Underwater Bubble Blower Thread

Fantastic. Truly. Thank you for posting.
 
It's a type of photogrammetry called Structure from Motion.

It involves the photographer taking a ton of images to sample the entire space and distance. Then the algorithm does all the work. At this point you still need to take a shitload of frames for the algorithm to do it's thing. But maybe if you were shooting motion on a slider, very, very slowly and the camera stayed exactly the same distance from everything in frame you could maybe use the motion frames to achieve this? Maybe? But as soon as a piece of coral or a fish or something was not the same exact distance from the camera, the process would likely fall apart. And as you know Rodrigo, not many things in the ocean stay in exactly the same place for too long, including the particulates in the water.

But who knows what happens as the science gets more advanced. Might be a magic button someday...
 
DEEP KOMODO

DEEP KOMODO

Everyone: So John: is Gates doing anything with KOMODO?

Me: Well, given Gates / RED history reaching all the way back to RED ONE, what do you think?

Everyone: Oh, yeah, right. Duh.


Yes, DEEP KOMODO is real. It’s everything you expect from Gates: simple, bulletproof, reliable. DK is also many things you won’t expect. More on that later…

DK tidbits:
• Fits in a backpack. A real, regular size camera backpack.
• DSLR, Mirrorless and compact PL glass. (think CP.3)
• Own Gates 60 / 80 / 10 inch ports? SPR’s? Laowa Probe Lens kit? They work with DK, straight up.
• Balanced / Trim out of the box, yet fully adjustable to different lenses and configs.
• Optimized for Diver Operation. SDI surface feed.

Don’t take a Chance… take a Gates!

J-

Follow us on Insta, FB and GatesHousings.com
 
I am wondering if either Gates or Nauticam will be making an adapter to accommodate the Nikonos 15mm on their new Komodo housings. I have had 2 in my cupboard Since retiring my Nikonos V’s decades ago, just waiting to put them on their first digital system. The flange distance of the Canon RS mount should make this possible. Also the smaller size of the entire system should make this lens the ideal compact streamlined companion to the Komodo.
 
Mark van Coller said:
I am wondering if either Gates or Nauticam will be making an adapter to accommodate the Nikonos 15mm on their new Komodo housings. I have had 2 in my cupboard Since retiring my Nikonos V’s decades ago, just waiting to put them on their first digital system. The flange distance of the Canon RS mount should make this possible. Also the smaller size of the entire system should make this lens the ideal compact streamlined companion to the Komodo.
Click to expand...

The question that always comes to mind when asked this is utility... Is a 75 deg diagonal field of view at 6K FF /40 FPS max really that useful for you? And narrower at 4K 60, where a lot of people will spend most of their time underwater.

It isn't a difficult part to adapt, we just like to spend our time making the most useful things. Correcting modern optics for in water use is a lot more challenging, but ultimately deemed more useful, and where we've spent most of our effort.
 
Ryan Canon said:
The question that always comes to mind when asked this is utility... Is a 75 deg diagonal field of view at 6K FF /40 FPS max really that useful for you? And narrower at 4K 60, where a lot of people will spend most of their time underwater.

It isn't a difficult part to adapt, we just like to spend our time making the most useful things. Correcting modern optics for in water use is a lot more challenging, but ultimately deemed more useful, and where we've spent most of our effort.
Click to expand...

Agreed, can't count the times I have had to explain that the 15mm (really a 20mm, called 15mm because it was equivalent to a 15mm lens behind a flat port, back in the early days (1960s) of UW photography) doesn't compare that well with modern superwides behind dome port when used on smaller than full frame (36x24mm) sensors.

Now that lens on a housed EOS R5 could be pretty spectacular... (Might get banned for mentioning that today. :wink5:)
 
Hi Ryan. I would say yes to your question. Of all the lenses we shoot underwater the canon 16-35mm is by far the most used for the majority of shooting situations. Infact a 16-35 permanently lives inside one of our housings and is used most of the time at 16mm. The 15mm gives almost the same angle of view but in a much smaller package than the 16-35mm with 80mm extension ring and a 230mm dome port. Given the smaller size of Komodo this would be a perfect match for a much smaller more nimble cinema camera system for certain situations like free diving .
Michael I think you are absolutely correct the 15mm might be a spectacular lens if mounter on a canonR5
 
Mark:

Maybe I am misunderstanding but I think your assessment is incorrect. As I stated earlier the Nikonos 15 is actually a 20mm lens with a dome, so your true 16mm with a dome is 20-25% wider - which is a big deal underwater. Since the mid-80s when the amount of professional underwater video shooting was vastly more than the film days it became pretty clear that 90 degree FOV was kind of the minimum for professional level U/W motion pictures for multiple reasons. As we moved into the HD period most top level (i.e. Planet Earth and such) production was done with lenses from 105-110 degrees FOV.

A little history:

I started in 1981, and as far as I can determine was the first in the world to make and market a completely self contained U/W video system (i.e. camera and recorder in the same housing - no cable to the surface) while I was still in college. I was able to shoot with every generation of pro camera through those years all the way to 8K Helium.

I was even a tester and appeared in the national marketing campaign for Sony's first 3 chip camera, and as such became known in the pro video industry and usually had access to the newest cameras and lenses and was able to test every generation of superwide lenses from Canon, Fujinon, Nikon and Angenieux on shoots from Curacao, Cayman, Cozumel and all the way to the Philippines. Time again it was apparent that the wider we could go the better because even a foot or so closer to the subject was not only clearer but more colorful (something not always considered) because of the way water is a progressive filter and the way reds are attenuated so quickly - not only from depth from surface but horizontally as well. For an example of this just take your camera a foot or so underwater in a pool or whatever, hit a white balance, and take it out and see how reddish it will be.

I was also good friends with Rick Frehsee, Greg Johnston and several other of the top underwater still photographers and - while the Nikonos with the 15 was the goto setup in the 80s - by the nineties they were moving to housed cameras because they could use the 16-35 or 14mm lenses for even better results. Although I didn't know him well (opposite coasts) I think Howard Hall went that direction as well with his still photography.

These days we consider one of the 10 or 11mm lenses to be the ideal. (11-24L Canon is probably the primo right now)

PS:
quote from David Doubilet from 10 years ago shooting full frame D3:

"We use a range of Nikkor lenses, along with a few speciality lenses, such as a custom endoscope.
For many recent assignments, we have been using wide-angle rectilinear zoom lenses, specifically the 17-35mm and the 14-24mm, which cover a wide range of subjects."

And consider that they are using those lenses on full frame dSLR sensor rather than a 1.5x smaller Helium sensor. David is 10 years older than me so not sure how much shooting he does these days but I suspect he would go to one of the wider 12mm rectilinears.

------

I plan on purchasing both the Komodo and EOS-R5, and will house both but I suspect the R5 with the RF15-35mm might become the goto underwater shooter because the 15 will be as wide or wider than the 11-24 on Komodo (or possibly the 11-24 EF on R5 or wondering if they will make an RF equivalent)

Size is obviously an issue but Komodo or R5 are getting to the point where they are so small that any smaller they will be harder to keep steady while swimming underwater (IS might help there too).

And these cameras are so cheap that it will probably be about the same or less expensive to buy a new camera and regular housing than a new housing that could use your current camera with Nikonos 15.
 
NIKONOS RS Lenses

NIKONOS RS Lenses

It's all tradeoffs, Mark. RS lenses are scarce, difficult to get serviced. Yet they are the only lenses in existence designed specifically for underwater (not adapted land optics), and for some DP's that makes all the difference. IMAX films have been shot on RS . They are comparatively compact (=travel able), with quick bayonet change.
 
Imax films have also been shot on housings with 6" acrylic compass domes.:wink5: I know because a number of years ago McGillivray-Freeman asked me if I could replace a dome on their underwater housing. I told them to send it to me to see. Turns out it was the same compass dome I had been using for years on our housings.

Just teasing you, John. Your Komodo housing looks pretty sweet. Hope you are all well out there and surviving the pandemic.

Like LA, it is getting crazy here. Positive rate in Miami hit 33% yesterday. My son runs a medical group with a dozen locations and 50+ doctors. Three from three different locations tested positive yesterday.
 
Hiya Mike! You're bustin' chops? Hahahahaaa... You and the family stay safe. Please extend thanks to your son for being on the front lines.

J-
 
DEEP KOMODO is RED APPROVED

DEEP KOMODO is RED APPROVED

https://www.facebook.com/gates.underwaterproducts/posts/2761960957393890


DK-3Wx150DPI-RED-APPROVED.png
 
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