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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

Hey Ken,
C'mon my man. I've seen your show reel! Your stuff is awesome. Loving what one does for a job shows in ones work I reckon. Mind you I'm actually looking to move back to 'civilization' myself once RED lands! Its a great ideal to think of living in a place like Palau and filming all the stuff on a daily basis but I need to be closer to the meetings, networking possibilities and still have a lot to learn on all the admin side of this game. Such is life.

Right, just ripping out the foam on a couple new Pelicans and getting ready for the off.

Have a good one,
Mark.
 
CamDiver said:
Hey Ken,
C'mon my man. I've seen your show reel! Your stuff is awesome. Loving what one does for a job shows in ones work I reckon.
Click to expand...

Mark,

Thank you for the compliment - coming from another underwater shooter means a great deal. I must say there is nothing I can compare an eye to eye underwater encounter with...EXCEPT seeing an audience's reaction to the footage in a 3D screening.:)

Travel well and we look forward to seeing the results of your efforts.

Sharky
 
......EXCEPT seeing an audience's reaction to the footage in a 3D screening.
Click to expand...
We're at the forefront of being able to do this with RED. Real opportunities only come along once or twice in a lifetime. Once recognized they should be taken and exploited to their fullest. The bait ball is waiting as are a myriad of other incredible encounter possibilities.

Our time is now.

Looking forward to the trip as every second passes. Almost there. Depending on the sketchy Internet access in deepest darkest Indonesia depends as to whether or not I'll be able to get word back to you guys. If not, and unless you hear contrary on the International news, I'll be back sometime mid July. I'll drop by in the coming few days before the off to wish everyone the best for their deliveries.

Cheers,
Mark.
P.S Lucky sod, with the Hammerheads that is. I've seen them from the surface but never underwater......15 years and they still evade me. Soon.
 
Hello Guys

Hello Guys

Hi, this is Mike Luzansky with H2O Photo Pros (www.h2ophotopros.com). Just wanted to introduce myself. Mark (camDiver) referred me to the group. Im extremely excited to get this bad boy underwater. We will be following very close with the development of the Gates Housing for the RED camera, so I hope to be a very active participant in the forums.

If you ever have any questions during the wait for an underwater housing, don't hesitate to email or call us at anytime.

See you all in the water!

Mike Luzansky
H2O Photo Pros
Underwater Photo & Video
www.h2ophotopros.com
 
Can anybody here give me some advice on how to begin to get involved with underwater shooting?

I certainly can't afford a RED, not to mention what a housing would cost for the thing. I DO have a little Canon A1, I DO dive. I'm just a young lad without much money and a lot of desire

(Also my first post, I've been dreaming about RED since I first heard about)
 
Welcome 'home' Mike.....

Welcome 'home' Mike.....

Hey Mike,
Glad to see you made it, welcome. We're all just about chomping at the bit here to get going with RED. All housing options are discussed here to find the best option. Things are very cool at the moment, we're on that big dipper and the coaches are just reaching the apex of the first drop. Pretty soon we'll have the rush of excitement as the ride starts, as we swoop and loop through this ride we're all lining up for. Gotta love it.

Todd - Checked out your web site. Saying you are "just a young lad without much money and a lot of desire" doesn't come across as so from your site. You may also wanna spell check "Portraits" on the Nav Bar of your site. www.wetpixel.com which is an online forum, amongst other features, is maybe a good place to start to learn more about underwater filming etc. The video sections have great moderators and a lot of knowledge from the other members is always forthcoming. You may even stumble across a few familiar names there too!!

Cheers,
Mark.
 
OK guys,
One last Image............

Decorator.jpg


Tell me what you see......this is gonna blow you away!

Cheers,
Mark.
 
Strange creepy crawlies.......

Strange creepy crawlies.......

Well Guys,
I'm outta here. Last minute stuff now and then I'll be wallowing in some of the most glorious 'Muck Diving' on the planet. Hoping to find some of the more obscure and weird life forms other than this little guy I rently found in Palau.

www.4koceanstock.com/VidClips/Decorator.mp4

This a decorator crab, so called because they use materials from their surroundings to drape over themselves to blend in. This guy lived close to a real trashy area so had used plastics, old string fibres, Betel nut and also discarded cigarette ends!! Amazing little guy.

Cheers,
Mark.
P.S I know this scene is a bit strange with lighting. This is a small part of the stock I have on this guy and will be placing the best stuff in a short film I'll be putting together for this trip.
 
Hi Honey, I'm Home!!

Hi Honey, I'm Home!!

Hey Guys,
Just got back in this morning, literally a few hours ago.....see, this RED thing has got me, trapped me, can't leave it alone....suffocating!!

Looking forward to catching up with everything.
Mark.

One of my trip buddies!
 
fish left the aquarium...let's start it up again.

fish left the aquarium...let's start it up again.

CamDiver said:
Wow,
All the fish have left the aquarium ............
Click to expand...

fish did leave the aquarium...

the whole board was pretty dead for quite awhile while you were gone, I think everybody got the wind out of their sails by the engineering delay - now that there is a schedule again things are pretty busy on the board again too. So we might as well get the bubble blowers started up on this thread again.

Mark: I did a reply to the post over on that other thread, and since I think it is a good refresher of the basic issues I am going to copy it over here. BTW thanks for the nice comments.
 
Underwater housing issues/answers

Underwater housing issues/answers

CamDiver said:
Could one of ther moderators take this to the Underwater Group location?
Click to expand...

Mark:

Copied from other thread:

TheWildman said:
I'm not impressed with the usability of it [the manual housing] where Amphibico and Light and Motion has more flexability, true its electronic so prone to more servicing and problems but i found gates to be a little to slow for my needs.

Also theres seems to be talk of Nikon ??? but as red has stated, Canon is going to be the lens they use.
Click to expand...

TheWildman said:
So let me ask a question everyone seems to think Gates housings are what Red are going to use, is this a definate ??? First of all, nothing is carved in stone.
Click to expand...

As far as Gates and Canon being what RED is going to use, I don't think there has been anything official from RED on any of that. I think there was some direct talks with Gates early on but I think that dropped off and everyone (i.e. the housing manufacturers) are on their own as to what, when, where, how, to develop a RED housing. Since I personally have been a RED reservation holder (#206) for over 15 months, I have made it known that making an underwater housing for it has been a priority since the beginning. Since we have a history of being able to get housings to market quickly, and since I have also been working with one of the very early reservation holders (lower than 10), I think you will find we will have housings available before almost anyone has a chance to get a camera.

With that said you sort of need to rethink a lot of what you may have been used to in the past. RED is nothing like most of the video cameras you have probably been using. It is more like an Arriflex film camera than say a Sony Z1. There are essentially no automatic functions, and since it shoots raw, there really isn't much in the way of adjustments you would make like white balance, picture profiles, etc. So the typical Light and Motion and Amphibico type control - which is all based on the Sony LAN-C protocol (and which is why you don't see them making housings for Panasonic, JVC, etc.) - doesn't have much relevance with RED. There will be some desire for camera adjustment for frame rates, shutter angle (which the vast majority of even pro underwater video shooters have never dealt with before) and possibly gain (although because it is raw you are probably better to leave that for post), and we will offer some control for that, probably through the USB control. However, since some of that won't even be implemented on earlier REDs, it may have to come later.

Since there is no camera control of the lens, LAN-C type control is irrelevant there as well.

RED uses interchangeable lenses like a broadcast video camera, so as with the broadcast and film systems from Pace, AquaVideo, Hydroflex, Gates?, etc.. you generally choose a lens that is appropriate for the job rather than using a wide converter, or a Fathom type port which is just an underwater corrected wide converter. Focus, iris, zoom are controlled either by gearing or the use of pots to control electric servos (that is the typical method for broadcast video lenses used in Pace and AquaVideo housings). Hydroflex film housings often use gears on cine lenses, but it is likely that housings for RED will more commonly use either something like the Canon still 10-22mm on the Birger electronic mount so will use pots to control the Birger mount; or if cine lenses are used servo follow focus type servo motor drives will be used. Again, these are pot controlled like the broadcast video lenses. (Birger will be supporting Nikon lenses in the future so Nikons will be a possibility but up to now their widest is 12mm - which is only borderline wide enough on the RED).

As far as lenses, everyone would like to have a Zeiss 8mm ultra prime plus a nice short zoom - but the Zeiss 8mm is $25000 and a RED zoom is $6500 but not really wide enough. For informational purposes: to get the field of view of a Nikonos 15mm (which is really a 20mm) one needs about a 12mm on the RED. Since most of us in the past 10 years have been shooting even wider than that with typical high quality underwater video systems you can see why we are pushing to get to 10mm, which on the RED is like a 16mm on a 35mm film SLR camera.

As you think about the above and analyze what the RED really is, you start to realize that the housing issues are fairly simple and straightforward. RED is essentially an extremely high resolution, raw motion picture capture device. You need a rugged, reliable, fairly compact housing that provides good quality dome ports, with interchangeability for different lenses or the use of flat ports for macro - plus a good way to view it (and the most likely way to do view it - no matter what housing configuration used - will be an externally housed RED LCD. The RED LCD is sized right, has the highest resolution, and interfaces perfectly.) Beyond that the needs are fairly simple. We can certainly make a more rectangular type housing like a L&M or Amphibico (we do it for the broadcast VARICAM and F900 style cameras) but the shape of the base RED camera itself works very well with the less expensive cylindrical housings that we make, so the initial housings will almost certainly be cylindrical - whether in aluminum or pvc. I have done a fair amount of calculations that show there is little to be gained with other shapes, so there is a good possibility that will be the final shape as well. More extensive camera setup control will be fairly easy to add in the future through an electronic interface like what we do for broadcast cameras, or through simple mechanical controls - since we don't even know yet what direct access buttons RED will give us. The programmable/instant updateable nature of the RED means that there will almost certainly be some user set buttons that could provide one touch access to other frame rates and shutter angles - a few presets would cover almost everyones needs (particularly since most underwater shooters have never had access to this since until the HVX200, the cameras didn't even have these controls.)

I've tried to summarize some of the key points, but you will find a tremendous amount of in depth discussion over in the underwater bubble blowers group.

The main thing is you really have to get your head around two things: the most important being that RED shoots RAW and that changes everything as far as worrying about camera settings, filters and the like.

The second thing is that it uses interchangeable lenses. This has been dealt with for many years with broadcast cameras, 35mm movie cameras, IMAX cameras, etc. (and for people with very large budgets), yet we virtually always come back to dome ports with extreme wide angle lenses with flat port interchangeability for macro. It doesn't mean that FATHOM-type lenses are impossible, but they aren't as necessary (since you are not trying to fix a zoom lens that is an integral part of the camera) and from an economic/engineering standpoint it generally doesn't add up for the larger cine/broadcast type lenses.
 
Good to be back.

Good to be back.

Hi Guys,
I was looking through periodically during my trip but with such slow connections out there was difficult at times. Glad to hear all are busy. Mike, I know how you feel. BIG problems with the lumbar region from years with tanks etc Had chiropractors working overtime in Bali.

Nice summary for the housing options etc.

The trip to Lembeh was a blast, an absolute dream for any macro nut like me. In fact I'm actually thinking of concentrating more on macro for the future. Don't get me wrong, I love all aspects of the mega fauna but the world of macro is so much more diverse. It's true that its the big stuff that sells but for the long haul I think stock of macro critters is equally important, especially in a new format that will be so wild to see the textures of all the little bugs 'n slugs.

Basically spent 4 weeks in Lembeh Straits filming all and sundry, see attachments.

I could only stay there for up to 4 weeks due to the 'Visa On Arrival' procedure currently in force in Indonesia. By applying out of the country I will be able to get up to a 2 month visa. Once I get set with #954 to a level of competence and work flow understanding I'll be heading back to get all the macro critters from Lembeh in 4K. Thats gonna be a 2 month gig of macro magic!!

'Magic Moments' from this last trip included:
Heavily pregnant Pygmy Sea Horses
Hunting and Eating Hairy Frogfish
Flamboyant Cuttlefish Embryo in their egg sacks
Flamboyant Cuttlefish Hunting
Common Sea Horses Mating
Bobtail Squid Mating
(everything was going shag happy!!)
Ornate Ghost Pipe Fish with eggs
Jawfish building a new 'nest'
Conex Shell eating a Sea Cucumber

.......and a lot more besides.

Mind you, there is also another development in the process at the moment which may see me coming to live 'Stateside' by the end of next year. Its all good but can't divulge too much more. Early days at the mo.

Well, here's to continued discussions.

Cheers all,
Mark.
 
Mark you lucky sod - I'm stuck doing budgets, meetings and development while you're out living the dream.

Nice share...
 
yeah well, thats all looking to change if all goes as planned.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. I've had a blast having been 'on the road' for 15 years!! Time for some stability, and time to learn all of the other aspects of this business.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
Birger mount is looking pretty good.

Birger mount is looking pretty good.

CamDiver said:
Hi Guys,

Well, here's to continued discussions.

Cheers all,
Mark.
Click to expand...

Thought I'd bump the bubble blowers back onto the board.

The birger mount looks pretty good. At $950 it is even cheaper than I thought it would be. I guessed around $1500.) I think he is offering a 20% discount if we preorder in August. I don't think you can go wrong having it.
 
Sorry mate,
Busy editing two pieces for festival entries later this year. Hoping to have one showing in San Diego if all goes well in October.

Waaaaayyyyy behind with everything. Time to play catch up.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
24p or 60p--underwater users

24p or 60p--underwater users

Ken and company,
what are your thoughts on shooting 24p vs. 60p. I've been bouncing between both the past three months and my personal preferance is 60p. I also had a discussion with some folks on a recent bbc shoot with giant humboldt squid for the new series called "Life" and when they arrived to the boat that was our first discussion. They chose 30p for the sequences we shot, but after talking with the DP he said most of his library is 60p and it seems most versatile.

Anyway, each has it's own benefits, but for a stock library it seems 60p allows you more motion control (slow down images) and a larger percentage of u/w footage that ends up being kept--at least in my case. I think i blow 50% or more of what I shoot underwater when shooting 24p and can never get the fish to take 2.

Thoughts?.....
 
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