Underwater Bubble Blowers User Group Thread NEW

[John J Ellerbrock]

Hi Tom and Pawel,
thanks for your quick respones: I am sorry if I caused confusion - the REDMOTE is always inside the GATES housing and works, but as soon as we connect the surface feed video cable the REDMOTE disconnects.
best wishes and kind regards,
Martin

Martin,

This is a new one. I can certainly help you troubleshoot via email JohnEGates@sbcglobal.net or phone +1-858-391-0052.

J-

 

[martinnoweck]

John,
thanks for the quick response - we wrapped today, but I will talk to the underwater technician tomorrow and would your contact details to him - maybe it is better the two of you get in contact ;-)
Anyway - it wasn't a big downside this time, because we only needed the redmote and we had to change batteries, too.
best wishes and kind regards,
Martin

p.s. the team was impressed by your housing!

 

[martinnoweck]

John,
thanks for the quick response - we wrapped today, but I will talk to the underwater technician tomorrow and would your contact details to him - maybe it is better the two of you get in contact ;-)
Anyway - it wasn't a big downside this time, because we only needed the redmote and we had to change batteries, too.
best wishes and kind regards,
Martin

p.s. the team was impressed by your housing!

 

[John J Ellerbrock]

John,
thanks for the quick response - we wrapped today, but I will talk to the underwater technician tomorrow and would your contact details to him - maybe it is better the two of you get in contact ;-)
Anyway - it wasn't a big downside this time, because we only needed the redmote and we had to change batteries, too.
best wishes and kind regards,
Martin

p.s. the team was impressed by your housing!

Thanks for the kind words Martin. We're standing by to assist.

 

[John J Ellerbrock]

If anyone is interested here is a little making of clip from our recent Coral Sea 3D expedition to trial our new DEEP ATOM. The clip was shot on my Deep Red. We have a 3D teaser coming soon as well cut from the actual 3D footage.

https://vimeo.com/46557239

Love it Ross. Looking forward to the demo reel.

 

[Ken Corben]

Hi Ken the 3D housing looks nice how much does it weigh may I ask?

The iSea 3D housing weighs in at 75 Kilos (165 lbs).

Ross, thank you for sharing the BTS video. Really looks like spectacular fun!
Really glad to see healthy sharks. Is that a tourist feeding station or a natural population?

I ask since I have been truly saddened by the complete absence of sharks in the Western Solomon Islands after several weeks of filming the reefs day and night. The local tribal leader of the island group I was diving explained to me that as a boy his reefs were full of sharks and that the corrupt government has sold all the shark fishing rights to the shark finning industry. Heart breaking really.

Meanwhile, I ran into the Shark Angels here in Fiji. Julie and Deborah are operating a local education program for the children of Fiji to understand the importance of preserving the sharks of Fiji. Small efforts like this make a difference. I encourage all of us to contribute to their efforts in any way possible including joining Shark Angels, free use of our footage libraries, social media links to their website, etc. http://sharkangels.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=69

Another great example here in Fiji is the work of Brandon Paige at Aqua-Trek and the local Chief of Bequa Lagoon. Working together they protect, preserve and strictly enforce their shark sanctuary. It was a complete thrill to see more than 2 dozen very healthy bull sharks amongst the "clouds" of lemon, nurse, and reef sharks. So many sharks it was difficult to compose a shot
Brandon and his Fijian shark crew are the best I have ever worked with in my career.
http://aquatrek.com/

My son Kai is 8. It would be a very very sad day for me to explain why there are no more sharks in the sea when he begins to explore the oceans with me later this decade.

Sharky

BTW - The 3D is absolutely amazing creatively and technically. Better to be lucky than good.

Frame grabs from the iPhone 4s shot with the iSea 4 housing in 1080 30P.
iSea 4 housings are now shipping for $399 and available online at:
http://moceanarmor.com/welcome-to-blog/

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Ken, The stereo (side-by-side) "rig" on the first picture looks very sexy

Keep up the good work protecting the sharks.

 

[Johnny Friday]

Black Sea Nettles

Black Sea Nettles

Here are a couple of frame grabs of the Black Sea Nettles that have been off the coast of San Diego recently. Water was muck green this day, but good enough for extreme close ups....these are truly beautiful to watch in the water and how the light hits them and relays through their bodies....

Frame grabs using Epic @ 5k HD @ 29.97 and Duclos PL 11-16 with LED lights and touched up a bit in photoshop.
Thanks go out to Bob Cranston this day as we were on his boat and Howard Hall for telling us where to find the Nettles.

[/url] Black Sea Nettle by RedCineUnderwater, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Johnny, is it my spectacles or are those shots out of focus? They look a bit soft to my eye. Otherwise, nice shots.

 

[Mark_Thorpe]

Johnny, you know you can remedy that. Get some Nikonos macro lenses, weld some scaffolding extension tubes to your rig to give it that rugby goalpost look, fix a BCD / Lift Bag to the carrying handle and call it Bertha! Or maybe someone beat you to it? :yikes:

Nice stills mate.
M

 

[Tom Hamilton]

Haha Mark, good one, in my distant youth I was a roadie for a rock band, I know scaffolding! A bitch to work with, gotta make sure every last bolt is cinched down tight (long story, short career, you don't wanna know).

Johnny's shot is gorgeous, the Nettle's body is in sharp focus, the tail drifts slowly out to softness, very cinematic look. I love that lens, would not part with mine at any price.

Edge to edge sharpness is an artistic choice, a very selective thing.

That having been said, after watching Dave Nardini's Red Sea shots using the Epic/Nikonos lens combination, I am beginning to understand what Pawel is talking about.

 

[Johnny Friday]

David's Vimeo video was BEAUTIFUL ! even if it was on Vimeo.....

....and as we all know....at 4k & 5k....if you are sharp at 2 feet...anything an inch off is OUT OF FOCUS with this large a sensor

**the tail drifts back on that Jellyfish...but it does have a look to it...and combined with softer edges and shallow DOF, it's an easy enough image to look at. I think i shot it at F8

 

[Tom Hamilton]

Considering the light levels in that water, and the apparent DOF of the shot, I would have guessed a wider iris, but congrats anyways Johnny, hope you sell that motion sequence for substantial $$ to the folks out there with the big cash.

Champagne party at Johhny's place in La Paz next month, I'm flyin', Johhny's buying! :hat:

 

[Pawel Achtel]

...Edge to edge sharpness is an artistic choice, a very selective thing..

Nothing that Photoshop gaussian blur (during post) or Vaseline (during production) couldn't "fix" effectively :laugh:

Dome ports perform very poorly wide open - not just on the edges. When shooting with a dome astigmatism and field curvature are a function of image sensor size, so this degradation is not so prominent with 2/3" HD cameras. I'm just looking at a comarable shot captured with HDCAM and fully understand why Bob Cranston and Dave Hannan still use HDCAM despite all the hassle with tape and and baked-in look. BTW, with right skill and experience you can "bake-in" the exact look that you are after and the overall results are often superior to what I have seen shot with the Epic/dome combination.

 

[Tom Hamilton]

Well Pawel, I have never been a big fan of vaseline; they say it feels good, although some folks do find it, err, painfully efficacious and truth-evoking. :rolleyes5:

The fact that Bob Cranston still shoots HDCAM is neither here nor there. Current production requirements being what they are, how else would he be in compliance with the old-school network DP, the producer's directives, and the ever-antiquating precepts of broadcast television. He is on very short notice, methinks, and understands clearly what is soon to be technically shelved.

I guess Bob knows he is on the razor's edge, smart guy, will be watching his moves carefully.

 

[Johnny Friday]

I know Bob well and he's a smart guy....he's not only a great shooter and therefore is called upon all the time by producers that require results....Bob understands the broadcast world very well...he shoots all the time on his f900 for television broadcast and yes, for television it's a prudent choice for nat. hist. doc work. Some of his f900 has gone to the big screen. But we as cameramen do not dictate what camera or delivery format....that is up to the broadcasters. Guys like Bob have done very well with their investments using the f900, 750 etc....but the tape window is closing fast and at this point about over....Doesn't matter what scientific results say, matters what production companies desire for delivery format or approved camera---i'll be first to say that RED is not always the prudent choice for underwater tv work...but, that is what many production houses want. And you cannot argue yourself out of a job.....

that said, f900 doesn't stand up that great on the big screen like RED....You may disagree Pawel, but these are the demands of current production companies...and to say it does not hold up on the big screen is well....i don't know, not correct. You can argue this to the ground, but shot well and under conditions where we can obtain proper focus and exposure....it is massive to hold up in Post production where HDCAM on a 42 foot screen with many effects added just DOES NOT. You might have a better argument if you were suggesting 35mm film camera instead and many might agree.

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Johnny,

Yes, as usual, I disagree with your opinion.

I believe that it is complete and utter waste of time and money recording IMAX or 4k if the optics does not resolve 200 lines. It just doesn't make sense. And, if this is what the customer wants, I would be trying to educate them about the challenges and limitations of underwater optics combined with large sensor instead of feeding them bull shit with a big spoon and telling them artistic choice stories.

I can understand why you may struggle with this part and would rather give the customer what they ask for. No wonder so few underwater films are made because with an opinion like yours, the perception is that, because it is underwater, the images should be distorted, fuzzy, out of focus with bent image field.

As Jim Jannard or Jarred said: RED cameras will separate men from the boys. It is with the large sensor when focusing is much more critical than it was with HD cameras and pulling focus underwater is not an easy task.

The resulting contrast and sharpness will only be as good as the weakest link in the imaging system. And, if it is the underwater optics limiting the image quality, one would question the need for 4k recording format in circumstances where large sensor size creates even more astigmatism and image plane curvature than a small sensor does.

The fact that you are shooting with a 4k camera doesn't mean you are recording 4k or even 1k images. It only means that the camera is capable of recording such images.

 

[Will Keir]

So two questions about underwater housing for you all.

1) How to prevent the dome from fogging, sounds crazy but is Vaseline really the solution? Shooting underwater with GoPro's I get fog a lot. 90 degree F days, 60 degree water. I'm understanding the combo or hot to cold is the cause of my fog issues. Solution, keep the camera in a cooler close to the same temp as the water you will be filming in?

2) Can I use filters in anyone's underwater housing? Steak filters for example or polarizes.

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Will,

1. None of the things you mentioned will prevent fogging. Both DeepX and 3Deep have special features that completely eliminate the risk of fogging. I'm not aware of similar solutions in competitive housings and therefore we would not publish the solution.

In your case, it is best to keep and close the housing in cool, air-conditioned room with temperature lower than that of the water you are going to dive in.

2. No. Most wide angle lenses do not allow mounting filters. We had to design and test a special rear filter for the Nikonos 15mm lens (all other Nikonos lenses can accept front filters that can be also changed underwater)

 

[Johnny Friday]

Will, nothing top secret about keeping fog out of your housing...take compressed scuba air (which is very dry) and blow it i your housing as you are closing it....AND if using a gopro, make sure to turn off your LCD. But dry air displacing ambient air will assist with this. There are other solutions as well, but this is straight forward.

As for filters--you can also add gels to back of your lens.