Article: A Guide to Using the GoPro Hero3 / Hero3+ Underwater

[BackscatterUW]

You can view the page at http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/content.php?r=793-A-Guide-to-Using-the-GoPro-Hero3-Hero3-Underwater

 

[ChickenFried]

Great article! I see GoPro settings questions on the forums all of the time. From now on, I'm just redirecting them to this article.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Great stuff,thnx

 

[ShootingUnderwater.com]

What do you recommend for a tripod that works on various surfaces underwater?

 

[mainewaterguy]

What do you recommend for a tripod that works on various surfaces underwater?

Hi, I am a couple of months away from the first manufacturing run of a tripod for GoPro, Smart Phone & lightweight DSLR. (A prototype was completed very recently). Weighs less than 1lb, is ABS plastic & stainless steel, fully waterproof. It is extremely versatile and can be mounted dozens of ways on boats, vehicles, the body, or free-standing. Closed it is 12", and extends to 22" with legs free to be placed (individually) at any angle. And, it all locks in place with ONE twist. If you want to be notified when I have the manufacturing completed, let me know. I do a lot of filming in Maine rivers and lakes and have been designing this based on my desires for a light 'run and gun' tripod for above/below the surface.) Best, Steve U.

 

[MarkOfInsanity]

Thanks for the article. I'm not sure I understand the use of lights and filters together - could you please explain when it's appropriate to use them together, and when it's not? Thanks again.

 

[Helene0225]

I have a couple of questions. 1) What is the best way to mount a GoPro Hero 2 for handsfree diving? I used the head mount and the plate pushing against the back of my head gives me a huge headache. 2) What video editing software do you recommend.

thanks

 

[TheGauv]

Thanks for the article. I'm not sure I understand the use of lights and filters together - could you please explain when it's appropriate to use them together, and when it's not? Thanks again.

Hi MarkOfInstanity,
Filters help to balance the colour of light that hit your film or capture chip by filtering out certain colours. As you descend in depth, 2 things happen to the visible light that you are I are used to on the surface. The first thing that happens is that as you go deeper, you begin to loose certain spectrums of light. At around 30', you loose Red, and by the time you hit 100', the only colours left are blue and green. This is why things tend to look more blue as you go deeper. If you've ever had the chance to look at the colour red while at depth (30' or deeper)... to our eye (or the film/camera chip), it will appear brown until you shine an unfiltered light source on it such as your divelight. One way to help balance the colours which hit the film/camera sensor is to put either a red or orange filter infront of the lens. This doesn't have a really large effect on the intensity of light which hits the film/chip, but helps to restore some colour balance by filtering out some of the blue/green light which hits the film/sensor. Here's a Video for what a filter can do to your image (Backscatter Flip3.1 Underwater Color Correction Filter for GoPro Hero3 Housing on Vimeo). It's important to note though that they can only balance colours to a certain extent... You'll usually need to add additional light to get the correct the balance and instensity... see below...

Now that filters have been explained a little bit, you also need to consider the second thing that happens to light as your descend... The amount/intensity of visible light is reduced the deeper you go... ie: It gets darker the deeper you go. Since the film/camera sensor operates like our eye... It needs light to see objects which have been focused onto the lens... ie: It's more difficult to see objects in the dark, especially their finer details. In order to capture as many details as possible (and restore as many colours as possible), you'll need to add light to your scene.

If you use Filters on their own, you tend to capture darker images missing certain details you wish you had, while if you used just a light source (AKA Strobe), you tend to have colouring issues for objects a little further in the distance. Combined, they help to restore a true colour, and create a clean, crisp, and high quality image.

Hope this helps to clarify some things.

Regards,
Rob

 

[Larrylifelines]

If you don't have the filters, you can achieve much of the same color correction by using Photoshop. I've saved many otherwise blue/green photos over the years through aggressive color correction. Of course, having plenty of light helps a lot, too.

Hi MarkOfInstanity,
Filters help to balance the colour of light that hit your film or capture chip by filtering out certain colours.

 

[TheGauv]

I have a couple of questions. 1) What is the best way to mount a GoPro Hero 2 for handsfree diving? I used the head mount and the plate pushing against the back of my head gives me a huge headache. 2) What video editing software do you recommend.

Hi Helene,
If you're looking for a totally hands free approach, you can get yourself a dive mask which has a built in GoPro mount (Two google results I just found include Octomask and GoMask). Make sure they fit properly though. If you have a dive mask you're willing to sacrifice... there's some YouTube vids on DIY mask mounts. You look a bit like a unicorn, and there's probably going to be increase drag as your swim... but should alleviate your problem of the plate pushing against the back of your head. I've never personally used one before so I cannot say if there are other side effects of the extra mask weight or drag from camera positioning... Again, this is only speculation but I'd imagine that there would be a higher incidence of mask flooding... However, with that being said... In my opinion, I strongly recommend you consider why you want a completely hands free approach. Most head mounted systems tend to produce very chopping/shaky footage and you never know if something you want to record is in focus and or frame. Granted, this is also true if you don't have the LCD + Backpack addon. *chuckles*

2) For video editing software, it would depend on what you're trying to do, what system and specs you operate on (Mac or Windows, processing capabilities, memory, HD Space, etc), and how much time/energy you're willing to invest in learning it. If you're looking for basic software which lets you stitch clips together into a move and layer in a sound track... GoPro actually offers free software for that for both Mac and PC. It's pretty basic... but because of its simplicity, it's easier to use. Mac has iMovie which is similar to GoPro's software, but offers some more features such as transitions and themes...

Regards,
Rob