Underwater Photography Tech

[nicklmg]

Dry bag

Amazon: http://geni.us/Dq6LEm

 

Disposable waterproof camera

Amazon: http://geni.us/hiKFu

 

Lifeproof Galaxy S7 Case

Amazon: http://geni.us/35YKuPK

 

Sony RX100 Waterproof Housing

Amazon: http://geni.us/ztJh

 

So you're going on a trip to somewhere hot, and you really want to get that awesome selfie with a fish that you've been looking forward to. But how should you capture it?

 

 

[Ichi]

Neat

 

[7850OC]

wow  awesome

[Freeman]

I´m really disappointed that GoPro is the one and only action cam featured. Their whole marketing is focused on making the costumer think that they are the only option on the market and it is crippling the whole sub-industry.
Especially in this scenario, a camera with no display and settings, that are night on impossible to access underwater, is a very poor choice.

[Hobnob11]

what was the phone case you used when you did the b roll for the gopro?

it looked really cool.

 

[nicklmg]

6 hours ago, Freeman said:

I´m really disappointed that GoPro is the one and only action cam featured. Their whole marketing is focused on making the costumer think that they are the only option on the market and it is crippling the whole sub-industry.
Especially in this scenario, a camera with no display and settings, that are night on impossible to access underwater, is a very poor choice.

We used the GoPro because it was the only action cam we had on hand at the time.

We recently received a Xiaomi Yi 2 Action Cam, which we'll be releasing a review of next week. So hopefully that helps with your disappointment...

[ALwin]

At 5:20 when you're posing for the video, I certainly hope your fins are NOT touching the bottom.  And at 5:59 mark why are you out of trim and using your hands?  A proper diver should be in trim position and NOT be using hands to maneuver underwater.  And what's with the snorkels, get rid of them when diving.  And finally, learn to frog kick.

 

This is proper diving:

 

 

This is bullshit:

 

 

As for the people who watch the LTT video to get an idea of what you need for underwater photography, while it can be thought of as a starter, please DO RESEARCH before you go and buy something to do underwater photography.

 

Water proof plastic sealed bags (dry bags) are best left for swimming pools and beach parties.  They will NOT withstand the pressures below a certain depth.

 

Learn how to properly maintain and care for your underwater housing, whether it is a GoPro housing or an expensive Nauticam housing.

 

Learn how to use underwater strobes, because with increasing depth you will lose color.  And underwater photography filters are only useful down to a certain depth, beyond which a strobe will do a better job.

 

 

Finally for all scuba diving NOOBS:

DO NOT take up underwater photography until you have mastered proper trim, buoyancy and position control underwater and have accumulated enough dives to be completely comfortable multitasking with your camera and open circuit or closed circuit gear.  I've dived with too many beginners or holiday divers who get in the way of things or end up all over the place and waste time for others.

 

 

[SirMonti]

What about phones that can be used under water on their own like the Xperia?

 

Edit: I know Sony now says not to, but could it still be viable in little amounts of water?

[0ld_Chicken]

I got my gf an Olympus TG-870 before we went on vacation this last week and it worked great for just over 200$ (I paid 170$+ an extended warranty).  The wifi features seem a bit buggy and I'm not 100% sure on picture quality yet but I'll upload some shots here once I get things unpacked

 

 

edit: don't judge me too hard, I don't claim to have even BASIC photography skills and these are a lake in Minnesota so water clarity isn't fantastic

Spoiler

 

[ALwin]

4 hours ago, SirMonti said:

What about phones that can be used under water on their own like the Xperia?

 

Edit: I know Sony now says not to, but could it still be viable in little amounts of water?

They are best left for shallow pools and beach parties.  I wouldn't risk them even for snorkeling.  Water pressure below a given depth will crush them.

 

Here's something you have to consider:

Say that Sony rates the Xperia phone in that video you linked to be able to withstand depths down to 5m or roughly 15 feet.  The thing is, as you are swimming about under water moving your hands, even if you are at just 4m or roughly 12 feet, that movement can cause the phone to feel slightly higher pressure than what the actual water pressure should be at 4m.  Additionally if the water sealing is not properly maintained, water can seep into any loose joints.

 

There can also be floating particulates in the water that will get into any loose or open holes in the phone, if you take the phone into ocean salt water you will have to properly rinse it as soon as you get out of the water.

[avboden]

This is very wrong. I love ya LTT but this is clearly out of your expertise and you're giving bad advice because of it. A $300 cheapest of the cheap ikelite is not for "people getting serious" that's the entry basic stupid leave in automatic level for people who want slightly more control than a gopro. Complaining about not having full control on a $300 housing is insane. $300 won't even buy a high end underwater strobe (flash), a quality one of those is $1000 flat, a REAL housing with all controls minimum $500 for the cheaper point and shoots and upwards of 3-6thousand for DSLRs with various ports for different lenses, add to that two $1000 strobes to actually get a "serious" rig.

THIS is the actual ikelite housing with full control for the RX100 mk4, $550 http://www.ikelite.com/housings/sony/6116.14-sony-rx100-mark-iv.html

This video also totally neglects lights, and fails to even white balance his own footage due to lack of knowledge of underwater exposure and lack of lights. There are some cheap underwater video lights and strobes that make an exponential difference in your footage and stills. Fact is, attempting video or photography without lighting (unless you're under 20 feet full time), is a pretty much impossible task, there's simply no color to correct without it. Get yourself SOME sort of lighting, even if cheap and not that powerful, for closer shots it will make the world of difference.

[TheRandomness]

Anyone else read the title as pornography? No?

 

 

I'll go show myself out...

 

 

[ALwin]

3 hours ago, avboden said:

snip

Their video neglects a lot of things about being an underwater photographer.

 

The first thing anyone who wants to become an underwater photographer needs to know is: how to be a good diver, as I stated in a previous comment.  Unless by underwater photography they want to take photos in a swimming pool.

 

Underwater photography with scuba gear is NOT easy.  It takes several dozen dives at least, along with mastering a few essential skills, to become a diver good enough to work with an underwater camera (which doesn't include the time it takes to learn how to be a good photographer/videographer).

 

When underwater with scuba gear, whether it is open circuit or (even better) closed circuit (a.k.a. rebreathers) so not to scare the fish away with the bubbles, one has to multitask a lot.  A diver has to be aware of:

• depth and controlling depth level
• buoyancy control
• positioning in the water
• gas remaining in the tank
• make sure your fins (and any other part of your body) is not touching bottom or in danger of damaging reefs

All beginner divers will have a hard time keeping track of these things while at the same time holding the camera and trying to take photos.  One example is that they will be so focused on their cameras that they lose awareness of their depth (happened to me once a long time ago where I was focused on getting my camera to operate that I didn't realize I was surfacing at a fast rate, at least it was from a shallow depth of 20m and I had gotten into the water only five minutes earlier).

[Tech_Dreamer]

Actually liked the fact that a fresh voice for an LTT review , please do more like these , i prefer this instead of static behind the desk review

[avboden]

54 minutes ago, ALwin said:

 

Underwater photography with scuba gear is NOT easy. 

Totally agreed with everything you've said, and I've been doing it for 15+ years. It makes me absolutely furious that people are now allowed to take cameras and gopros down on their certification dives (i've seen it loads of times), i understand it helps them get more business as the person's resulting media helps their friends get interested, but fact is, diving is dangerous and people don't respect it. Luckily I can count the number of people I've personally known die diving on one hand, however I've seen quite a few pretty serious injuries as well. 

I can't even tell you how many times i've caught divers with gopros not controlling their boyancy and kicking stuff.....usually give them a nice word on the boat but not much sticks

[Freeman]

On 10/06/2016 at 7:59 PM, nicklmg said:

We used the GoPro because it was the only action cam we had on hand at the time.

We recently received a Xiaomi Yi 2 Action Cam, which we'll be releasing a review of next week. So hopefully that helps with your disappointment...

Just watched the Xiaomi video, great review!