OP
joe comproni
Registered
Any suggestions on the settings for a hero silver most of the dives are around 20-40 feet.
Go Pro 4 Silver
- Thread starter joe comproni
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outofofficebrb
HARRO HUNNAYYY
I used a 3+ black and didn’t have any settings to choose from outside of super widen or not, FPS when doing video....I know current models have ISO and other settings.
OP
joe comproni
Registered
Going to try 1080 60fps.
Ricardo V.
Contributor
Joe,
What are you after? Sounds like wide angle video, but are you shooting large critters, wrecks, Divers? Are you going to post and share your work online? Do you have computer power to cut high res video? How’s your memory card capacity? What type of video formats are you proficient in cutting and processing? What software do you have or plan on using?
Consider these things when deciding what settings to use.
Let me know and I can make some suggestions if it helps.
What are you after? Sounds like wide angle video, but are you shooting large critters, wrecks, Divers? Are you going to post and share your work online? Do you have computer power to cut high res video? How’s your memory card capacity? What type of video formats are you proficient in cutting and processing? What software do you have or plan on using?
Consider these things when deciding what settings to use.
Let me know and I can make some suggestions if it helps.
Red light starts filtering out in as little as 10 feet. I would highly recommend either use a video light to bring in the colors. Keep in mind your lights will only add full color for the first 10 feet of distance from you to subject. Filters are recommended if you don't take a photography/video light. But DO NOT USE BOTH. Do not use a filter AND a light as the same time. You will get a lot of very red pictures/videos if you do.
Tips:
1.) Light your subject, not the water between you and the subject. Accomplish this by aiming the lights away from the subject using the edge of the cone of light to illuminate the subject. Two lights allows you to use the intersection of the cone of light to illuminate the subject.
2.) Light placement is critical to avoid backscatter. Place the light slightly behind the camera and away from the camera. The further the subject is from the camera, the further away from the camera they should be.
3.) SLOW, MOVE THE CAMERA VERY VERY S-L-0-W. The camera does not have the wide angle field of view of the human eye so if you pan the camera do so with very exaggerated slowness. Video should be at least 20 seconds long or longer. IN editing you will want to change the angel of the video or subject every 7-10 seconds. Time movies or TV shows and you will see they change camera, or angle or subject matter every 5-10 seconds.
4.) Have a game plan for the video you want to get. Preplan what you want the outcome to be so you can get the shots you need.
5.) Get low and shoot slightly up towards the surface.
6.) Plan your shot before you are next to your subject, adjust the lights and then shoot your way in. Take the shot you got, not the one you want, and you move in very slowly to get the shot you want.
7.) Do not CHASE the animals. Most people do not want photos or videos of fish tales. Chasing the critters will only make them run away faster. Anticipate where they are going to be and be there in place waiting patiently for them to come to you. The marine animals are a curious lot and if you stay still and breath easy, no hard loud exhales, but a slow controlled easy exhale, and they will come to you.
8. Know your citers and where they live and how they act.
9. Big Critters or Small Critters. Either have a flip lens system so you can go from macro to micro in a flash.
10. Camera Settings. GoPro allows you to select Super Wide, Wide and Narrow. Go for Wide or Narrow. The wider the view angel the smaller the critters will appear to be.
11. Practice now before you go. Get a feel for the camera and what will be in the frame. The camera lens is in the upper left corner of the camera. So the left corner is a close approximation of where you are aimed.
12. View video an photos of others and study them. Take time to study videos or photos underwater that you think are good and study them. What is it about them you like? What do you not like? How could they have been better?
13. Don't forget to YOU ARE SCUBA DIVING! CHECK YOUR AIR, DEPTH, NDL AND DIVE BUDDY!. This is kind of obvious but you would be amazed at how distracted having a camera will make you. You will lose track of your dive buddy. The effort of holding still will consume more air than you usually use. You will also lose track of time as you take a photo. When you finish a photo/video shoot of a subject check your gages. I have had photographer dive buddies who when they finished taking a picture I asked them their air. They responded - I am OK. Repeat 3 times and then I hold their gauges up to their face without looking at them. The result - eyes the size of saucers. Gauge reads -0-PSI. Photography is something to take up only after you have gained sufficient experience and not recommended for the novice diver.
14. The diver with the camera is ALWAYS the dive leader and in front. To do otherwise is to guarantee a lost buddy scenario. The photographer will go "OOOO, look and view off to start taking photos. If they are in the lead, then the buddy knows and stops.
I hope this helps. Again, I am by no means a photographer or expert. Seek out others. Sign up for a dive trip or two with a photography oriented dive operations. Bluewater Photo & Travel for example does all kinds of trips that include professional photographers and nightly meetings to share photos and photography tips.
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outofofficebrb
HARRO HUNNAYYY
I have had instances where I’ve used both and it helped immensely because the light dropped off so much and there was not very much natural light due to viz and depth. There are also different filters that you can use (and intensities) if you explore a little at Backscatter.com. If you’re not sure, in the moment, take a few photos and videos with combinations of lights and filters. When you get topside and see that one doesn’t work, you’ll still have the other instead of cursing that you missed a great shot.
OP
joe comproni
Registered
Thanks, this is my first time recording my dives I'm very green I really don't know what settings to use. Most of our dives will be in the 25-60 range with 1 wreck The Eagle. My daughter bought a 128 memory card also I bought a filter set 3 for different depths and a cheap light. Any help would be most welcome.
Ricardo V.
Contributor
Hi Joe,
Thank you for letting us know. A 128gb card is more than plenty to start with... it’s the biggest memory card a GoPro 4Silver can handle. Hopefully it’s a class 10 or better. GoPro has some specific memory requirements to perform as designed.
Take a look at this link and confirm if your card is compatible. https://gopro.com/help/articles/Block/microSD-Card-Considerations
You can determine if it’s a class 10 by looking for a logo that has a large letter “C” with a number 10 inside of it. If you have that. You are good. If not, you will have performance issues that surface later like unresponsive system, gaps in video recordings, total freeze... not powering down or powering up. and many other unwanted issues. There is a better or faster card than the class 10, that would be he one listed on the link, but most should sport the c10 logo.
Next is your settings. You can always downgrade any recording, but you can’t upgrade it above what you originally captured. This means that if you record video at 1080p and 60 frames per second.... you can with software process it and save a copy down to 720p and 30 frames. No problem, you can make it even smaller and lower resolution to post online if you want, what can’t be done is process it with a computer and upgrade the original recording to 4K and 120 frames per second. You can only keep or downgrade from what you’ve originally recorded in the first place.
If you are just starting, use a red filter and forego the light just now. Use ambient light. I’m assuming your diving the Eagle in Key Largo during a day dive... right? If so, try setting your camera to 1080p 60fps and last but not least, set it to WIDE... and roll some video. Concentrate on your dive, be safe and don’t let the camera distract you from keeping an eye on your buddy, your computer, your surrounding, your time, psi and buoyancy. People first, then your environment and surroundings, camera last.
Check to see that your filter does not have any trapped bubbles as those will ruin your shots.
Follow the suggestions that @pasley shared above, those are all excellent recommendations.
Hold your camera steady and enjoy your dive. It’s probably best to just set it, start recording and then let it run. As you get better and better, you will be able to Start, Stop, pan, hold it steady, figure it out and then introduce your light.
Give it a try, enjoy your dive and have fun. The camera is a great little hobby and can make your diving even more interesting and fun; however, it can be a deterrent and an unwanted distraction. Lots of people say that those of us that practice underwater photography are lousy dive buddies.... I’m not trying to generalize but just to encourage you to keep expectations in check, specially during your first incursions with camera in tow.
Cheers,
Ricardo
Thank you for letting us know. A 128gb card is more than plenty to start with... it’s the biggest memory card a GoPro 4Silver can handle. Hopefully it’s a class 10 or better. GoPro has some specific memory requirements to perform as designed.
Take a look at this link and confirm if your card is compatible. https://gopro.com/help/articles/Block/microSD-Card-Considerations
You can determine if it’s a class 10 by looking for a logo that has a large letter “C” with a number 10 inside of it. If you have that. You are good. If not, you will have performance issues that surface later like unresponsive system, gaps in video recordings, total freeze... not powering down or powering up. and many other unwanted issues. There is a better or faster card than the class 10, that would be he one listed on the link, but most should sport the c10 logo.
Next is your settings. You can always downgrade any recording, but you can’t upgrade it above what you originally captured. This means that if you record video at 1080p and 60 frames per second.... you can with software process it and save a copy down to 720p and 30 frames. No problem, you can make it even smaller and lower resolution to post online if you want, what can’t be done is process it with a computer and upgrade the original recording to 4K and 120 frames per second. You can only keep or downgrade from what you’ve originally recorded in the first place.
If you are just starting, use a red filter and forego the light just now. Use ambient light. I’m assuming your diving the Eagle in Key Largo during a day dive... right? If so, try setting your camera to 1080p 60fps and last but not least, set it to WIDE... and roll some video. Concentrate on your dive, be safe and don’t let the camera distract you from keeping an eye on your buddy, your computer, your surrounding, your time, psi and buoyancy. People first, then your environment and surroundings, camera last.
Check to see that your filter does not have any trapped bubbles as those will ruin your shots.
Follow the suggestions that @pasley shared above, those are all excellent recommendations.
Hold your camera steady and enjoy your dive. It’s probably best to just set it, start recording and then let it run. As you get better and better, you will be able to Start, Stop, pan, hold it steady, figure it out and then introduce your light.
Give it a try, enjoy your dive and have fun. The camera is a great little hobby and can make your diving even more interesting and fun; however, it can be a deterrent and an unwanted distraction. Lots of people say that those of us that practice underwater photography are lousy dive buddies.... I’m not trying to generalize but just to encourage you to keep expectations in check, specially during your first incursions with camera in tow.
Cheers,
Ricardo
Ricardo V.
Contributor
One more suggestion. This ebook available from Amazon is an affordable resource that I consult once in a while. I hope you find it as useful as it’s been for me.
Amazon.com: How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck: Advice to Make Any Amateur Look Like a Pro (9780761163237): Steve Stockman: Books
Cheers,
Ricardo
Amazon.com: How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck: Advice to Make Any Amateur Look Like a Pro (9780761163237): Steve Stockman: Books
Cheers,
Ricardo
spoolin01
Contributor
Curious about the WIDE recommendation. Was that just because of the wreck subject? I just switched from a 1st Gen to Hero4 Silver, and have been using the NARROW setting, thinking it would provide the least fish eye distortion. The FOV is already so wide that I don't mind the slight narrowing in NARROW mode.
I second the 60fps recommendations. I find 30fps to be too jerky for many scenes. As far as resolution, I thought 720p was fine for PC monitor or TV viewing, but shoot now in 1080p. I don't do any post processing or image capture so don't find resolution to be a significant issue. I do vastly prefer the warming effect of a red filter.
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