Philippines Video with many rare animals posted

[uzun]

I took a trip to the Philippines in late Feb / Early March. First time ever in the western pacific and it was fantastic! Saw a ton of rare "muck" type creatures (nudibranchs, wonderpuss, single blue ring octo, Flamboyant Cuttlefish and much much more) as well as a lot of colorful corals and reef fish.

Anyways I posted a video of the trip, one underwater and one of a short day hike we took into the rain forest on Bohol. Let me know what you think. It's best to hit play on the Vimeo page to get it to start loading, then hit pause and wait for it to fully load, then hit play again to start it playing. That way it won't pause during playback so much.

-Roger

UW Video - Adventure in Anilao on Vimeo

Surface Video - Voyage to the Philippines on Vimeo

 

[BDSC]

Roger that was awesome! I know people will come on here to say that to be nice and there's nothing wrong with doing that but if I didn't really mean it I wouldn't say it. Some of the shots were just incredible to me.

So what camera, housing, and lights do you use? Just curious.

Thanks again for posting it. It was a great way for me to spice up a rather boring day at work.

BDSC

 

[uzun]

Thanks for the kind words. I used a Light and Motion Bluefin housing, half the time with the 90 degree fathom lens and half the time with a normal lens and a backscatter flip macro adaptor. The camera was a Sony SR-12. I just sold them because I am trying to move to either a Sony FX-1000 or the newer Sony XR520v, depending on housing options. Right now it looks like the Bluefin Pro housing and the XR520v.

 

[BDSC]

Thanks for the kind words. I used a Light and Motion Bluefin housing, half the time with the 90 degree fathom lens and half the time with a normal lens and a backscatter flip macro adaptor. The camera was a Sony SR-12. I just sold them because I am trying to move to either a Sony FX-1000 or the newer Sony XR520v, depending on housing options. Right now it looks like the Bluefin Pro housing and the XR520v.

I just did a couple of e-mails with L&M. They are playing around with the XR520 and will probably have a Bluefin housing out for one soon. I was just on their webpage and they have their new 2009 products on there. I really like the new Stingray+. It pretty much has everything I would want in a housing but lacks MWB. But, it will house many current cameras like the XR520, HC9, etc. and will be able to house future Sony cameras.

Anyway, it was obvious you weren't a newbie to video like myself.

 

[Video rookie]

Roger-

Were you using lights, or all natural light? Wonderful color. Were you able to MWB, or did you need to do any color correction in post production. You did an outstanding job, and I really like your music selections. Care to share the name of any of those? I dread figuring out which music to use.

Looks like this camera and housing setup did a great job, what are you expecting to improve with the new camera? If it's going to be better, I can't wait.

 

[uzun]

I used lights in some scenes and not in others. Depends on depth and size of the scene I'm shooting. I always manual white balance natural light scenes, I use auto balance when I use lights. I do color correct many of the scenes in post, depending on what they look like. Probably do some correction on about half.

I am hoping to get a housing with built in flip-macro and a camcorder that's better in low light, either a Sony FX1000 or 520v. I have the 520v already but am thinking about whether to go bluefin pro on it, or get a FX1000 or similar larger camcorder and a different housing from gates or someone like that.

 

[rrweather]

That was great video. I could watch hours of it if available. I'd rather watch your dive video than my own home videos! I am going to use your video to help "sell" diving to my girlfriend. She is a little freaked out about breathing underwater; your video might convince her to try. Thanks for sharing such cool video.

 

[clgsamson]

I enjoy watching the video, most especially because I do most of my diving there in Anilao. Thank you for showcasing one of the most underrated dive destinations in the PI. Very popular among us manila based divers, though

 

[ronscuba]

Excellent video !

How does the 520 do in low light topside ? Been reading reviews that low light on that cam is fantastic and we all know that can help UW.

 

[uzun]

It's a world of difference vs the SR12/HC9, low light performance is a giant leap forward topside and I would imagine underwater. Ths SR12 had less noise in low light compared to the HC9 but it wasn't a huge difference, the leap forward with the 520 is amazing by comparison.