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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

Thanks for the kind words too. Patience, energy and an appreciation of the marine environment, all key elements once the diving has been mastered, to an extent as we are never masters of the Ocean. You will find your own pace and I'm sure you will know when you are ready.

Yes, I am sure Scarlet will be a very interesting package, just waiting to see what the form factor will be.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
New ikelite UW home for HV20 just arrived, really nice build quality and easy to setup. I went with Ikelite mainly cause it was the least expensive ($900) pro housing on the market I could find.

Now that I think about it I feel I might need at least one light...maybe two. I really want the colors to pop. Any suggestions?
 
I only use lights for Macro. Use the color corrective filters, wide angle and White Balance to sort out your wide colors. otherwise you end up with two small light dots in the middle of the shot when wide. Carry a light if you get a wet mate macro diopter, I think Ikelite have an outlet source for those. Also see if you can get the wide angle adapter lens, again from an Ikelite source.

Best,
Mark.
 
Thanks for the heads up, sounds like...go for lights on the ECU but not necessary for going wide. As far as the wet mate goes, are you talking about something like this?

http://reefphoto.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=117_118

I also see the woody's but I only have what is available in 67mm thread...at least these macro diopters seem less expensive. The Ikelite wide seems reasonable at 275ish. I can already tell its the lights that might push my targeted budget but all in all so far so good.
 
Those diopters are single element, fixed to the front of the cam inside the housing before the dive. That means you will be governed for the dive to those lens parameters. There should be a wet mate diopter somewhere, one that can be placed in front of the Wide lens when a Macro op arises and then taken away when you want to revert wide. Most housings now have an internal diopter flip filter for just that scenario. Same with water color filters, as they are orange in color for blue water and shouldn't be used in conjunction with lights as in doing so will render the image orange.

Single element diopters give rise to greater instances of chromatic aberration but are duly economic. To avoid this I would suggest Century Optics Achromatic Diopters (multi element diopters) which run around $475 for the +3.5 and $450 for the +2. I would use either one of these and many times I would also stack these (the greater magnification diopter on the camera first) whilst shooting for "The Majesty of Muck".

Lights can be found to suit most budgets from a few hundred bucks to thousands.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
Haskell said:
"Majesty of Muck"...a great title for an even better film Mark, well done mate. The Z1 really performed well, I can only imagine how it must have been to watch on the big screen. Your UW work it quite impressive, I have much to learn before I could ever think about taking RED below the surface. You really managed to wrap up a picture lock with in a very reasonable schedule, I assume your were trying to meet the demands of a particular festivals entry? Good luck with the picture, and congrats on its recognition.

Side note...As I have been researching a small UW video solution, I cant help to think about the UW SCARLET...a compact high end underwater unit. I am sure the housing folks will be keen on the development of the Scarlet.
Click to expand...

maybe Scarlet will have that new ion repellent technology it's supposedly a fairly mature idea. don't know how far down it'll go though, maybe good enough for snorkeling?
 
Arrgh!

Damn NDA's.

If only I could post images and info from the current GibCor co-production project that is financed and finalized for shooting RED 4K underwater you guys would be jumping up and down like me and saying, "Holy Batman Robin."

I can say that the RED ONE camera is about to go where no man has been before and that the results are going to be simply fracking amazing. My partners in crime and I are actively training with UW RED 4K camera systems in drysuits with shark suits and rebreathers in preparation for this historic event.

I knew when I was shooting Deadliest Job in the World that I was making ground breaking television. This is going to reset the bar.

Thanks for providing this tool Jim,

Sharky

I'll post more when allowed...Arrgh!
 
Ken,
As of now I ban you from posting any future snippets of this same vein. Not only is it stressing for the reader, an affront to any adventurer but its just plain saddening to read that you guys are having just way too much fun.

Spare a thought for us guys having to put up with long empty hours on a boat having to battle over zealous Tiger Sharks, putting up with the contagious dry humor of south Africa with only the slimmest of chances at possibly getting a new angle on marine behavior.

Any more of this and I'll have no option but to ask the powers that be to ban any future postings. Sheesh.

Best to ya mate,
Mark.
 
How's the office environment going guy's?

How's the office environment going guy's?

Coz mine's just fine. From yesterday.

55_1200044981.jpg


and

55_1199984550.jpg


Havin' fun.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
Crappy Viz out here at the mo, and just to piss off all the guys sat in the offices......mind you It was not far off this today. 5m Viz so just enough notice as shadows emerged from the gloom. This girl was almost resting her snozzle on my glass to get this shot.

55_1200596635.jpg


Cheers,
Mark.
 
Hey Guys,

Crazy busy shooting RED 4K UW in Florida at present testing the camera, lenses, Aquavideo RED housing, ports and the Dive Rite O2ptima rebreather BTW - NICE RIG! http://www.rebreatherexpress.com/rebreathers/o2ptima.shtml

Just finished cross over training on the system and am testing it out in real world shooting scenarios.

Slammed at present diving, shooting, managing data and writing treatments in the evening - ya I'm a one man band on this shoot. I miss Gibby but he's burning the midnight oil in the post facility. Divide and conquer and one of us had to take RED UW :-)

I'll try and post a summary of shooting results in the next few days.

Sharky
 
Chucky's got nothing on me!

Ken all sounds good. Looks like I'll have a cool set of wheels when you get here. Looking at a second hand Land Rover 110 tomorrow morning. Bring lots of RED Stickers and glaringly horrid rub it in yer face, I've got a cool job T-shirts!!

Cheers,
Mark.
P.S Looking forward to the reviews.
 
Latest UW tests

Latest UW tests

Traveling today and will post frame grabs and video later this week from my latest underwater tests with RED ONE. The idea was to test in underwater scenarios that are not ideal since RED 4K in beautiful sunlit underwater seascapes is a no brainer re image quality. Steve Gibby and I have an underwater filming expedition coming up that will be under low light, low visibility conditions where we will be using the RED ONE and RED 18-50 lens.

Camera: GibCor RED ONE camera with out latest hardware upgrade.
Build: 12 with black calibration
Lens: Steve Gibby's RED 18-50
ND: none
Settings: 4K 2:1 24 FPS 320 ASA
Housing: Aquavideo PVC design with 6" acrylic dome port
Focus: Preset at 13.85" yielding focus from dome to infinity UW
F stop: Tested low range from WFO to F4
Monitor: RED LCD
Power: RED brick
Medium: RED CF cards
Fan Setting: HOT
Interior cooling used: medical one use only ice pack duration approx 1 hour

Water temp: 72 F
Surface temp: Mid 50's F

All the tests were specifically conducted in flat light (overcast) in low to limited visibility. I used the RED 18-50. The more I use this lens the more it is convincing me that it is an ideal UW lens for numerous applications. The biggest surprise was the RED LCD. In 5 foot visibility, the LCD yielded bright super clear images in amazing color. It was as if the LCD was diving in a different location than I was. The RED 18-50 was a super performer again underwater.

More to follow...any questions?

Sharky

Frame grab is a 2K tiff from RED ALERT to photoshop for resizing - no color correction done.
 
USB port

USB port

h2opixels said:
To all RED ONE housing manufacturers ... potentially an interesting thread :

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7837

Cheers ...
Click to expand...

David:

As implied in my post on that thread and my earlier posts here - we have been working under the assumption that this will be available in the not too distant future. Handheld ccu's are a standard accessory with virtually every Broadcast and Cine style mid to high end video camera as well as the competing digital cine cameras - and this is what we have used for any complex setup functions on our housings for Betacams, Varicams, F900s, etc.. Also I believe Stuart English told me as much at NAB 2007. In fact Stuart mentioned that the possibility was open to use the USB port for recording additional audio tracks via a normal USB audio interface. Obviously these weren't promises, but it really only makes sense, the USB interface is much more robust than the proprietary ones on Betacams, Varicams, HDCAMs, LANC, etc. And it is generally easier to create products using the USB signals and power.

As I have told the early purchasers, (we have 5 units on order with deposits so far - plus a couple for us - and a few more basically committed but waiting to get closer to camera delivery) we are happy to put a few controls for operating the rear LCD menu buttons, but given the nature of shooting RAW we don't really need that much and it is probably better to wait a few months to see what happens on the USB front before going to far with hitting all of the buttons manually.
 
CamDiver said:
Yeah,
Who's the third Dugong? (I know its a Manatee but that just doesn't sound as good).
Click to expand...

Ya, that's me the third Dugong. But at least I wore a different suit for you and Johnny this time :-)

You know for me there are times as an underwater filmmaker that I am torn between shooting and interacting. This wild mother and calf were so amazing that I passed the camera to the dive master and said, "Shoot this."

He had no clue what camera he was shooting and turned out to have a good eye. He shot an amazing sequence. Later I explained to the DM the meaning of the camera he had just shot underwater - met with a blank look. He did enthusiastically state that the RED LCD was amazing under water and, "Where can I get one for my HV 20?" That was funny.

Camdiver is pulling out his hair now I'm sure :-)
 
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