Underwater Bubble Blowers User Group Thread NEW

[Eve Hazelton]

Hey all! Just off to do some tests and shoot some fun stuff with the Gates and Scarlet system this afternoon - got so excited that I just had to let you all know! Will hopefully post some more images up here later today/tomorrow.

We have had it it the water all ready a week or so ago and it just performed BEAUTIFULLY! Some of the Scarlet footage was included in this weeks Underwater Realm Blog if you wanted to see a quick grade as well http://vimeo.com/39211084

Really enjoying seeing how the Scarlet performs - it really is something quite magical! Very happy lady today!

Will get some feedback/ pics up though and let you know how we get on

 

[Tom Hamilton]

Gates Tripod re-purposed

Gates Tripod re-purposed

In the continuing theme of keeping travel weight and cost to a minimum, here is the Gates u/w tripod re-purposed for topside use, came in very handy setting up in awkward places on rocky shorelines as we were capturing wave sequences in Baja for a client last week. One small note, just make sure those ball joints are cinched down tight, and don't leave the rig's side. Just in case. It is after all, designed for underwater/weightless use.

For the close up breaking wave shots in heavy salt spray, we left the rig inside the AV housing, and operated the Epic via the Redmote (inside a plastic sandwich bag), it worked very well through the acrylic back plate.

If anyone has interest, we shot underwater with the Sigma 15mm diagonal fisheye, frame grabs available.

 

[John J Ellerbrock]

GatesFest

GatesFest

Good Day Everyone,

This year marks the fourth GatesFest to be held aboard the new Carib Dancer / Bahamas July 14-21. As before, GatesFest is a week aboard an Aggressor / Dancer Fleet vessel where you some of the latest Gates equipment is available to try, test and evaluate. But equally important is learning: e.g. the techniques of underwater shooting; the finer points of editing / grading; and key equipment considerations. Pretty much any topic that will help you be successful as an underwater cameraman.

This year we have a big bonus: David Ulloa, a seasoned underwater professional, will be on hand for for GatesU. What is 'GatesU'? Well, each evening David will present a topic of interest to the group. For example:

• Shooting at night.
• White balance and methodology
• Gear Configuration – Making your housing work for you.
• Lights and Sun – For fill or affect?
• Post Production – Not an afterthought.
• Fundamentals of sequencing and shot selection – how to visually tell the story.
• Working with aquatic wildlife – getting the shot.

GatesFest is open to amatuers and professionals alike -- everyone will learn something new in a classroom quite literally 'a giant stride away'.

More info is here: http://www.liveaboardfleet.com/gatesfest/

Or feel free to PM me or email JohnEGates@sbcglobal.net

Best to all,

J-

 

[Tom Hamilton]

John,

Sounds very interesting. Can you give us some idea of the dive sites, is this boat going to Tiger Beach to visit Emma the very large and intimidating resident Tiger Shark?

Are you OK with competing housings from other manufacturers showing up for the event?

Cheers,

Tom

 

[John J Ellerbrock]

John,

Sounds very interesting. Can you give us some idea of the dive sites, is this boat going to Tiger Beach to visit Emma the very large and intimidating resident Tiger Shark?

Are you OK with competing housings from other manufacturers showing up for the event?

Cheers,

Tom

Hey Tom,

Pretty sure the itinerary does not include Tiger Beach. That's specialized stuff. Go with Jim Abernathy / Shearwater if you do.

For GatesFest, bring whatever you like. While this is a chance to use some Gates equipment, it's about learning and shooting your own stuff.

J-

 

[Michael Hastings]

Hey Tom,

Pretty sure the itinerary does not include Tiger Beach. That's specialized stuff. Go with Jim Abernathy / Shearwater if you do.

For GatesFest, bring whatever you like. While this is a chance to use some Gates equipment, it's about learning and shooting your own stuff.

J-

Nobody's got more experience with Emma than Jim, but Scotty Gray at Blue Iguana Charters also does a really nice job (Frazier can give a good recommendation - he's done half a dozen trips with Scotty and I've done two myself). Scotty also has a crane and Shark cage available. Most experienced divers will free swim, but they have used the cage on a number of television and commercial shoots (as well as with a few young kids as well) and that is nice to have available for those kind of projects.

 

[David Cole]

I just returned a week ago from Tiger Beach with Stuart Cove's operation. If you don't want to do a live-aboard or don't have time, it's the way to go. I highly recommend it! I filmed a beautiful tiger, tons of lemons and a hammerhead in one day trip.

By the way - I was shooting 3D, but sadly not with my Scarlets. Hopefully we'll have the Aquavideo beamsplitter rig ready for the next trip (uhm... Mike...).

 

[Michael Hastings]

I just returned a week ago from Tiger Beach with Stuart Cove's operation. If you don't want to do a live-aboard or don't have time, it's the way to go. I highly recommend it! I filmed a beautiful tiger, tons of lemons and a hammerhead in one day trip.

By the way - I was shooting 3D, but sadly not with my Scarlets. Hopefully we'll have the Aquavideo beamsplitter rig ready for the next trip (uhm... Mike...).

It was an AquaVideo housing though!

As far as the beamsplitter underwater, soon (I need a clone - forget flying cars - where's my CLONE ?!?!)

 

[Tom Hamilton]

This year we have a big bonus: David Ulloa, a seasoned underwater professional, will be on hand for for GatesU. What is 'GatesU'? Well, each evening David will present a topic of interest to the group. For example:

• Shooting at night.
• White balance and methodology
• Gear Configuration – Making your housing work for you.
• Lights and Sun – For fill or affect?
• Post Production – Not an afterthought.
• Fundamentals of sequencing and shot selection – how to visually tell the story.
• Working with aquatic wildlife – getting the shot.

That's great John, one can never know enough about the art and science of the underwater shot, will try to make room in my schedule for that. Are we going to be graced by the presence of one of your Deep Epics?

I just returned a week ago from Tiger Beach with Stuart Cove's operation.

Any chance you can post some frame grabs David?

Frazier was displaying some spectacular R1-MX/AV footage of Emma at DEMA last year, that guy has his stuff down cold. Gorgeous! Emma seems like a real sweetheart too, I plan to meet her at the earliest opportunity, and have promised myself to be acutely aware of the exact location, and disposition, of her very large set of gnashers, at all times .

 

[John J Ellerbrock]

That's great John, one can never know enough about the art and science of the underwater shot, will try to make room in my schedule for that. Are we going to be graced by the presence of one of your Deep Epics?

At the moment, no. But that can change depending on the passenger profiles. But you'll be bringing your EPIC housing, right?

 

[John J Ellerbrock]

BTW I'm at NAB right now. The show is all 4K. The next technology wave. If you've not seen a 4K panel showing quality 4K images, it is...well....stunning.

 

[Pawel Achtel]

The next technology is here and it is called DeepX as commonly used dome ports and flat ports struggle to resolve even 300 lines except in the centre of the frame,

Wow, 6k Dragon announced today....can't wait to put this reptile inside the DeepX and 3Deep. RED made my day with this announcement! Happy times.

 

[Ross Isaacs]

I am still a bit confused Pawel. The Nikonos lenses (Very old technology) are no longer made and will never be made again. Where are you getting your supply of new Nikonos lenses from and how do you propose to get parts into the future to service all these lenses?

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Hey Ross,

I'm pleased to confirm that we can not only service Nikonos lenses, we have spare parts, we have huge stock including brand new units and we can service them in Australia and in US. We also have made it possible, manufacture and sell rear optical filters for the 15mm Nikonos lens, which are required for such a wide angle lens.

We have several reliable suppliers of quality Nikonos glass and I do not envisage that we run out of lenses even if we capture 100% of the market for underwater housings for RED :wink5:

You can currently order 15mm Nikonos lenses through our website. More Nikonos lenses will be added to our online store shortly.

We are now working on expanding lens options maintaining our philosophy and research that shows that only lenses specifically designed for underwater use can resolve the sensor corner-to-corner. Domes struggle to pass 300 lines, flat ports struggle with 150 lines per picture height in the corners. All Nikonos lenses out-resolve 5k Epic sensor in every part of the frame. I can't wait to tame the Dragon!

On an exciting note, we now have a major partner (a big name in cinematography) that will be officially launching DeepX and 3Deep at the Cine Gear Show 1 - 3 June.

 

[Pawel Achtel]

1080P is the mistake of the decade...

Jim

Underwater ports are the mistake of the century.

 

[Johnny Friday]

Underwater ports are the mistake of the century.

HuH? we've ALL shot using dome ports for how long? and now they are a mistake? I'm sorry i'm confused. this means that even your revolutionary dome port (i forget its name) is also a mistake? i was under the impression that it was a game changer. But now the Nikonos lens is the optimal lens for u/w work? what about macro work or what about story? i'm still not convinced with your 150 lines of rez argument or is it 300 lines. BUT, you do have your point of view.

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Jonny,

My point of view is based on research and measurements that we performed.

What you see in the sample taken in the corner of an 8"Aquatica dome that the MTF reaches 0% at approximately just 1/10 of the Nyquist frequency limit of the sensor. This means that there is no useful information past about 1/10 resolution of the sensor. Flat ports perform even worse. The chromatic aberrations in the corner using Master Prime 14mm lens and flat port measured about 17 pixels, which corresponds to about 150 lines per picture height. Mike Hastings has been trying to correct this CA for the last few weeks to demonstrate to us that he could obtain a sharp image out of it......and, we are still waiting. LOL

For comparison, Nikonos 15mm resolves right up to (and presumably above) the resolving ability of the Epic sensor.

If you have evidence contradicting these measurements you are welcome to share :wink5:

BTW, CinePort has been around for over 4 years and before RED One was even released. I believe it is still the sharpest dome port ever made. It measures 12" curvature limiting the amount of image plane curvature by more than 50% compared to smaller domes that are commonly used. I have shot about hundred hours of underwater footage with it and it was the best decision I have made. Of course, you can't use Nikonos lenses on HD-CAM camera, but things changed and we are now blessed with RED Epic.

 

[Johnny Friday]

I'm going to play devis advocate here.....but you show me.....you are the one making this claim. So what you show me here really means what to me? Pawel, i'll respect your engineering type diagrams, but show me the $$$. I'm not at all doubting you, but give me some side by side comparisons....you are the one making claims not me. I'm rather content with my images. And i know they resolve more than 150 lines or resolution. you've obviously vested a lot of time; research and talk, so do the work mate. Show us rather than claim it.

thanks Pawel.

 

[George Evatt]

Hi,

Here's some Epic footage shot the other day. Conditions were not great. Some shots were done on a flat port and some on a dome. All using Zeiss 14mm lens. Any comments most welcome.

https://vimeo.com/39883604

George Evatt
www.coralseatv.com
Sydney, Aistralia

 

[Pawel Achtel]

...what about macro work or what about story? ....

Nikonos system allows you lens changes in senconds from wide angle to macro. It also offers big selection of macro extension rings and wet macro diopters. I'm not aware of any other housing offering such flexibility.

Sorry, can't help you with the story LOL