Backscatter 3.1 or other?

[timelinex]

My wife and I are amateur gopro users and scuba divers. I have a 3+ black and we dive once or twice a year. I've used my gopro on a few dices and its great having the footage as memory but as you might have guessed, the colors suck. I don't use protune and probably never will since I'm not interested in doing much editing (don't have the time for it). I did a little bit of research and it looks like the backscatter 3.1 for $130 (The 3 filter pack on amazon) is a good system.

Any other recommendations? The cheaper the better, however I don't mind spending the $130 if the quality and result is that much better. We are only 60ft certified and so far we have generally spent most our time in 30-60ft. So do I even need the 3 pack or will the $70 backscatter with only dive filter do most of everything I need. Or maybe there is a different system altogether you guys recommend?

Thanks in advance.

---------- Post added February 20th, 2015 at 04:47 PM ----------


I just wanted to add a couple other clarifications.

1. I will not be using a video light.
2. These will be videos for our memory, not for professional use. So I don't really care too much about color accuracy and more so just something to make the videos as impressive and vibrant as real life, rather than super bland.

 

[Shasta_man]

The short answer is the 3 filter set would be useful for different depths though I'm not sure about the difference in the bottom 2. The issue is whether you would and can actually use them. Further, while this will dramatically improve the color if shooting a nice sunlit reef down to about 40 feet, much below that and without sunlight or manmade light, you will inevitably fall back to, not blue blue blue, but a more muddy green and greys. There will be color there but without a light, it's not going to be vivid. That's why they charge big money for lights though you could get a pretty good light for a few hundred...but then you need two to eliminate shadows, and then we need to mount them, and carry all that stuff with you, etc, etc...and did you come to shoot for NatGeo or enjoy your vacation.

Having used the single filter version of the Backscatter filters, along with other experience shooting video underwater, I can say that the single filter alone, when shooting a sunlit reef down to 30-40 feet will result in pretty good, sometimes great color. It will be night and day from blue blue blue you have without it and actually be in color rather than one color. It would be good to have a less red filter for when being nearer to the surface where it can start having a red cast, yet without it you are back to blue blue blue. However, the red cast at that point is easier to edit since it is across the entire image. I am a bit more skeptical of the utility of the other two at depth as the full red one is probably what you would need mostly though a skilled person could utilize all three.

However, the point is also whether you as an amateur diver will really be keeping track of switching between multiple filters at different depths, and then whether you can tell on the little GoPro screen whether you need to or not. That is literally what it comes down to. And don't forget to take the filter off when topside otherwise you are editing out a big red cast. It happens.

So yes, 3 is better than one and if money is no problem would probably be a benefit, but if analyzing it critically you may find the ROI is low. Definitely worth it to get at least one.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I just bought it (Back Scatter 3.1) so unfortunately I can not tell you how well it works yet. But from those that have single filters and other recommendations - I bought the 3.1 with the 3 filters. We are going to Key West in April - figured it was time to buy it.

BTW - you know you are certified for 130 feet - just not trained if that is what is holding you back. OW Certifications are good to recreation depths of 130 feet. I am not suggesting you dive deep just letting you know.

 

[Scubanoobi]

At these depths I think any filter would probably be ok, if you want to save some $, try polarpro. The build quality is not great but results are decent.

 

[timelinex]

I just bought it (Back Scatter 3.1) so unfortunately I can not tell you how well it works yet. But from those that have single filters and other recommendations - I bought the 3.1 with the 3 filters. We are going to Key West in April - figured it was time to buy it.

BTW - you know you are certified for 130 feet - just not trained if that is what is holding you back. OW Certifications are good to recreation depths of 130 feet. I am not suggesting you dive deep just letting you know.

Are you sure about that? We are padi open water certified and everywhere I read, it says thats its up to 60ft and to do anything past that and up to 130ft you need to get deep diver certified. I obviously understand that when you rent the tank you can physically do whatever you want at that point, at your own risk, but I guess I'm referring to the actual 'rules'.

---------- Post added February 20th, 2015 at 06:24 PM ----------

The short answer is the 3 filter set would be useful for different depths though I'm not sure about the difference in the bottom 2. The issue is whether you would and can actually use them. Further, while this will dramatically improve the color if shooting a nice sunlit reef down to about 40 feet, much below that and without sunlight or manmade light, you will inevitably fall back to, not blue blue blue, but a more muddy green and greys. There will be color there but without a light, it's not going to be vivid. That's why they charge big money for lights though you could get a pretty good light for a few hundred...but then you need two to eliminate shadows, and then we need to mount them, and carry all that stuff with you, etc, etc...and did you come to shoot for NatGeo or enjoy your vacation.

Having used the single filter version of the Backscatter filters, along with other experience shooting video underwater, I can say that the single filter alone, when shooting a sunlit reef down to 30-40 feet will result in pretty good, sometimes great color. It will be night and day from blue blue blue you have without it and actually be in color rather than one color. It would be good to have a less red filter for when being nearer to the surface where it can start having a red cast, yet without it you are back to blue blue blue. However, the red cast at that point is easier to edit since it is across the entire image. I am a bit more skeptical of the utility of the other two at depth as the full red one is probably what you would need mostly though a skilled person could utilize all three.

However, the point is also whether you as an amateur diver will really be keeping track of switching between multiple filters at different depths, and then whether you can tell on the little GoPro screen whether you need to or not. That is literally what it comes down to. And don't forget to take the filter off when topside otherwise you are editing out a big red cast. It happens.

So yes, 3 is better than one and if money is no problem would probably be a benefit, but if analyzing it critically you may find the ROI is low. Definitely worth it to get at least one.

So are you saying that if I was to get only 1, the most useful one would be the deep diver filter? Or the dive filter?

 

[toozler]

At these depths I think any filter would probably be ok, if you want to save some $, try polarpro. The build quality is not great but results are decent.

Is this decent? It's red and that's about it.

 

[Scubanoobi]

That looks horrible - how deep. I've had mostly good shots with my polarpro, but some clips are bad, depends on where the sun is. Here is mine: https://vimeo.com/111948884

 

[toozler]

That's a capture from an Youtube video, not mine, I don't have a Polar filter. It does not "color correct", just adds red and a lot of it.

Here's my footage with a $10 filter instead:

[video=youtube;Dev7ldxcBoI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dev7ldxcBoI[/video]

 

[peterbucknell]

Hey TimelineX,
As far as depth goes, stick to shallower depths for a while until you gain more experience, using your own computer and knowing what all the numbers mean.
There's plenty to see in many destinations shallower than 60 feet, and without a light, you're going to get your best footage where the sun is shining strongly.

The Flip filter is beautifully made, and you can add the macro lens to it. Polar Pro does the same but is less robust. The GoPro red filter is a simple 'push-on' filter which has no opportunity to add macro lens. Since you are not into editing, maybe the flip is your best bet so you can control the amount of red while you are diving.

Hope that helps.
Pete

 

[sea_ledford]

Copy and pasted from another post I made the other day, but it addresses the deep filter:



I've spent a significant amount of time testing the backscatter filters and what I would was the Deep filter is not very good.
The colors are not even remotely natural, and it affects the sharpness to a significant degree.

Here is a shot at the same location, about 3 seconds later without the filter:

I don't know if the diver or shallow filter would be the same with regards to sharpness, but it is mostly irrelevant because...


The +10 filter is awesome! It doesn't do much for close focusing, maybe makes it an inch or so closer, but it significantly increases sharpness at all focal ranges. It does cut down of field of view though. If you can get more than one, and one of them is the older, thicker type that you can stack, you can focus on things that are about 1/4" in front of the camera. So close it would be hard to illuminate the subject. I haven't tried it yet underwater, but it would definitely be macro- capable.

With filter:


without filter:


You might have to view full size to see the difference, I'm not sure what type of compression SB puts on images.

-Chris