Underwater Bubble Blowin' Users Group

[Michael Hastings]

Checkout this new splash bag for the RED ONE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_VBPOpl4wQ

They claim it goes 9 feet underwater! I find that hard to believe. It has a scuba inflator hose intake so you could equalise the pressure. Except the unit would then be EXTREMELY buoyant and place HUGE stress on the welded seams. I think that at even 2 feet underwater it would be very hard to use. However it would be great for shooting in the rain or maybe for 1/2 in out shots.

I have never used a splash bag deeper than surface level with any success. What do others reckon?


George

George, I saw this at NAB and it seems very well made. Even though sometimes we compete, I have to say the people at ASL are pretty good guys and pretty sharp - I don't think they would say that it could go to 9 feet if it couldn't. If you squeezed most of the air out you could probably sink it okay. However, I don't think they are expecting it to be used much for true underwater - I think that is more so people understand that it is truly totally submersible and waterproof and there is some safety factor.

 

[Johnny Friday]

I'll second what Mike has echoed. Saw it at the Cinegear expo and Anthony seems to have made a easy to use submersible housing. Looks like you would have to weight it if truly shooting u/w and then purge the hot air and add cool air from time to time in order to dissipate the heat. But agree w/ mike would be something to use under a waterfall or storm type conditions or a quick underwater dunk. But seems to have the ability to get at every control.

 

[Hugh fairs]

Hi, first time post.
I have been reading with interest, postings about the various underwater housings for the Red One camera and their shortcomings.
Below is a link to the housing I have had built to my specification.
I mainly work in TV drama in the UK and have 'drowned' more soap stars than you can shake a stick at.
I used the Aquavideo housing at the Pinewood tank in December 08.
I was disappointed in not being able to adjust iris or focus and thought I could do better.
Check out the link. http://www.underwater-camera.com/site/RED_ONE_housing.pdf

Regards to all Hugh. (Newbie)
http://www.underwater-camera.com

 

[CoralSeaTV]

Splashbag

Splashbag

George, I saw this at NAB and it seems very well made. Even though sometimes we compete, I have to say the people at ASL are pretty good guys and pretty sharp - I don't think they would say that it could go to 9 feet if it couldn't. If you squeezed most of the air out you could probably sink it okay. However, I don't think they are expecting it to be used much for true underwater - I think that is more so people understand that it is truly totally submersible and waterproof and there is some safety factor.

I stand corrected!

It always seems to me that in a soft bag once you go underwater to any depth the water pressure pushing on the camera/lens etc is very likely to cause damage. And with the RED wouldn't it block the ventilation holes at the base of the camera as any air left in the bag is now at the highest point?

Anyway, yes it looks very well made and I am sure they know there stuff.

Does anyone know the approx cost of it?

Thanks

George

 

[Johnny Friday]

So...now there are TWO BUBBLE BLOWER THREADS. This is the OLD and one that was MISPLACED for a year or so...and there's another floating around...SURE is difficult to even find these threads now when searching "bubble blower" Nothing seems to come up relevant.

 

[Johnny Friday]

National Commercial Shot on RED - UNDERWATER

National Commercial Shot on RED - UNDERWATER

i posted this on the second U/W thread, but that thread seems to be lost in a black hole some place...at least this OLD (once lost) thread is a sticky. MAYBE we should come back to this THREAD for U/W.

Just got off a quick shoot for a razor commercial. Sharks are of course the main players. Main cameras were RED MX: topside and underwater. Some additional footage shot on Cannon 5D and the go pro believe it or not.

.....can't say much more, but expect a change from the same old good looking middle aged man shaving in his bath towel in the b-room. Nice to see some of these big agencies stepping up and moving to some fun and fast paced action.

few pics attached while operating the RED MX with Nikon 10-17 fisheye as well as Nikon 16-85 housed in Gates Housing.

Pics taken by MOONDOG - Greg Mooney

 

[Richard Foster]

Where did you shoot, Johnny?

 

[Johnny Friday]

Where did you shoot, Johnny?

Richard, shot off of Grand Bahamas at tiger beach

 

[Richard Foster]

Thanks. It's been a while since I was on Grand Bahama. I need to get underwater soon. It's been since Christmas!

 

[Michael Hastings]

i posted this on the second U/W thread, but that thread seems to be lost in a black hole some place...at least this OLD (once lost) thread is a sticky. MAYBE we should come back to this THREAD for U/W.

Just got off a quick shoot for a razor commercial. Sharks are of course the main players. Main cameras were RED MX: topside and underwater. Some additional footage shot on Cannon 5D and the go pro believe it or not.

.....can't say much more, but expect a change from the same old good looking middle aged man shaving in his bath towel in the b-room. Nice to see some of these big agencies stepping up and moving to some fun and fast paced action.

few pics attached while operating the RED MX with Nikon 10-17 fisheye as well as Nikon 16-85 housed in Gates Housing.

Pics taken by MOONDOG - Greg Mooney

Looks like you had some good conditions. Is that my longtime customer/friend Rob McDonald there with his AquaVideo™ housing in the second shot?

How'd you get this thread to work again? I thought it was lost?

 

[Johnny Friday]

Mike,
i thought those were just normal conditions in the Bahamas. But yeah....quite nice and yes, that's Rob....GREAT guy. Pleasure to work with him.


.....well, try to find the other thread. This one now comes up as of a few weeks ago. I can't seem to find the other one...or rather i can if i go to MY postings. BUt if you search underwater Bubble....nothing seems to come up. BUT, this one is a STICKY....so i went back to this one. Would be nice if both were meshed together, but likely not going to happen.

 

[Johnny Friday]

was hoping we could pump some life back into this thread. Seems we have TWO underwater bubble blower threads going....THIS ONE is the OLD---lost one when RU did some updating. BUT, it's also a STICKY.

Recent shoot on the sea of cortez. Images and video coming as i grade them. But here's a couple of frame grabs from a recent trip for two docs we are shooting. One we are finishing up on Steinbeck and Rickets....there journey into the region in the 1940's and another on a lonely island out in the Sea of Cortez that sees a lot of action---big animals.....title yet to be decided. All is for HULU TV and then international broadcast.

 

[Johnny Friday]

Portable Work Station

Portable Work Station

I was asked recently about what I use to go out into the field and after about the tenth time, i thought maybe some others would get some use of this information OR could add useful information for those of us going into the field and capturing digital images...and of course requiring lots of HDD space and backup as well.

My typical setup when out camping; on a boat or in a lodge---basically any place outside of my office is this:

1. first and foremost--ALWAYS: 110V (4 outlet) Voltage Regulator and surge protector--they are cheap and in places where you don't know the power--hell even my home-- i connect them. I was on an island in the Berring Sea and watched a hard drive burn up in smoke when we plugged into the towns Generator Power with surges beyond the 60hz range--way beyond. Anyway, i go NO PLACE without it AND a cheap power strip surge protector is waste. I've seen several of those go up in smoke.

2. HDD's: of course i used to travel (like many of us) with a bunch of Lacie or other manufacturer Hard drive boxes that EACH require us to have a 110v outlet and a BUNCH of HDD boxes. When you fill them up, you put them in their travel box and your done---LOTS OF SPACE.
My SOLUTION: single Hot Swappable bay drive for 3.5" SATA drives with connectivity via E-sata: So you buy one single Hot Swappable Bay box and all you need are a bunch of 3.5" SATA drives that are much more affordable than buying Pre-Built setups.

Enter SSD Modules and RED Mags: So with REDMAGS and SSD or even REDRAID: you can go from your drive to your backup and once near full (should leave 15% free--so you don't slow the system down) you pull the drive, put it in its packing box and load (hot swap) a new drive. EASY, CONVENIENT AND AFFORDABLE.
***Estata bay drives hooked up with the new REDMAG station make for a fast and reliable transfer.

I've been doing this for the past two years now with a 5 bay drive and the past few months using a single hot swappable bay drive box. Very portable and effective tool for going out on boats, into the woods, ice flows or on a mountain top.

Here's a few pics of my station setup on my boat. EVERYTHING is plugged into my CHEAPEST and most precious piece of equipment...my Voltage Regulator.

*bought my esata (they also make fire wire and usb boxes--but what's the point) at Mac Gurus here: http://www.macgurus.com/store/ecom-prodshow/BurlyLite_SATA.html


**attached pics: at bottom is the Esata Hot Swappable 3.5" SATA drive; above is the REDMAG 1.8" SSD Module Reader connected via Esata; and on top is a 1TB fire wire drive. All are connected to my macbook pro. I use a dual Estata mini Pci connection so can run two Esata devices.

 

[Johnny Friday]

Humpback Whale - Sea of Cortez

Humpback Whale - Sea of Cortez

Week of May 5-20: Sea of Cortez
filming for two docs going straight to HULU TV's Ocean Realms

Here's a RARE encounter with a Humpback whale. There are FAR more amazing encounters in other parts of the world in MUCH cleaner water, but for the Sea of Cortez Humpback whale encounters are quite rare. You can usually see them passing by, but this curious whale stopped, turned around and came back to me and stayed with me for about ten minutes just hovering under me about 25'. She was one of two individuals feeding in the San Jose Channel and just seemed to take a break from her routine to see what was hovering above her.

Shot RED ONE MX & Gates Deep Red housing; 16:9; redcode 36; 29.97 using Tokina 10-17 fisheye

 

[Johnny Friday]

Underwater Scooter Shooting anyone?

Underwater Scooter Shooting anyone?

Wanted to ask if anyone is using an underwater scooter and shooting at same time with a camera mount? I'm about to build a system and wondered if anyone has some experience and or helpful information they would not mind sharing. Have a few ideas already in mind for as small/fast unit as possible with mobility and small size factor with Epic.

Great to hear from those that have shot with scooters.
thanks.....

 

[Johnny Friday]

UNDERWATER SCOOTER CAMERA RIG

.....so have this in motion now. Scooter can hold the RED ONE GATES Housing as well as even a larger housing. Mountable with Lights and can even tow a cameraman. This is a pretty awesome and NEW solution to getting "DIFFERENT" shots. More to follow in next few weeks with photos etc....for now, here's a pic of the scooter itself weighing in at 52lbs complete....can go in one or two cases. In one case about 75lbs complete or two cases under 50lbs each. This thing is fast and has a run time exceeding two hours on a single battery.

 

[Johnny Friday]

UNDERWATER EPIC M

UNDERWATER EPIC M

EPIC M #628 -- NOW AVAILABLE

Have a fully functional Epic M Available for rental as well as Underwater housing ready to go next week. Final testing to take place in next few days to fit the camera into the housing, and all looks good so far.

Kit soon to include Nikon Mount and Nikon Lenses

Contact Johnny Friday for further details at: johnnyfriday(at)me.com

 

[Johnny Friday]

Frame Grabs: National Geographic Migrations
....worked with Adam Ravetch of Arctic Bear Productions on this shoot. i think we spent four weeks in the Bering Sea....What a place. Absolutely HATE it and LOVE it. When conditions are right there, it's one of the most beautiful places on the planet. But that's about ten days a year. That said, some extraordinary animals and behavior. This shoot was purely about Walrus and their Pups. Next up this July - Polar Bears & Walrus. We shot MOST of this segment on RED. For a link to a BTS segment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZyNZkNgcv4&feature=relmfu

 

[Richard Foster]

:cheers2:Thanks for the BTS, Johnny. The shot of the walrus and pup is priceless. You guys really work hard under difficult conditions to get those shots. Here's to you. You do beautiful work.

 

[C.H.Haskell]

THanks for sharing Johnny, great to see this thread again.

I had an awesome under water shoot with an EPIC-M a few months back and had a great experience using an Aquavideo prototype housing. I have a few days off and will write a review of my experience with both the housing the EPIC underwater. Here is some footy. http://vimeo.com/21689019

I am not at the stage of deciding if i should go with PVC or an aluminum housing and curious what some other pros have to say about the pros and cons. I used a PVC one and it worked great, nice, light weight etc but my concern is strength and limited mounting abilities compared to aluminum which allows welding etc.

Mike at Aquavideo has been very helpful along the process, so I am here to be persuaded one way or the other.

Also I should add we have an EPIC-M available and ready to go underwater if need be!

Cheers

Clay