GoPro Dive Housing - To filter or not to filter - that is the question!

[Brules]

So I picked up a new GoPro dive housing, got it in the mail today. Looks like they did a great job on it!

I am leaving in 9 days for Cozumel (28th) - and I don't know what to do about putting a filter on or not!

I have seen vids of filters on pre-dive - and above water they look terrible. The benefit is below they really help out. I would like to be able to film above and below, so my question is: if I go filterless, just how much color correction can I do in post? Can I do enough to make it look normal?

Another issue I have with adding a filter, is the below is the ONLY filter I can get my hands on for the new housing before i leave:

GoPro Dive Housing Filter | GoPro Accessories, GoPro Filters and Lenses, GoPro Microphone

I actually got it in the mail today - and I am extremely nervous about taking out all 10 screws to place this under the glass and the releasing the unit........

The Oculus unit ships from Asia and takes 3-4 weeks to get here. The Backscatter flip up wont be out until July.

So it comes down to: Filter on all the time, or no filter and work it in post.

I am leaning towards the no filter and deal with it in post - but I am not sure just how much you can fix in post.

3rd option I have is: put red filter in dive housing - and use stock housing to film above water - but swapping camera housings on boat......is not real appealing to me.

Thoughts? Anyone have a filter suggestion that I have not found yet?

Can I pick up a piece of filter material at a supply house and cut my own removeable filter? Or have one cut for me?

Anyone know where I could get something like the Backscatter filter is made of? I could 2 hole drill it and bungie cord it on I think.

Thoughts? Thanks!

Oh and found this vid on Youtube of the new housing - shallow water dive with no filter - can this be fixed in post or would a filter be much easier?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Wu06U-IXA

 

[gabeee]

Hi Brules! I am in the same position as u. i just bought my gopro with the new dive housing. however im going to dive in 2 days time! And in Singapore, the dive housing has not been released yet, and theres no filters available? So i did a few youtube research, and i suggest looking at this!

[video=youtube_share;UGthOhEMSYs]http://youtu.be/UGthOhEMSYs[/video]

 

[Brules]

Not bad, I could almost live with that.

Do know that the Oculus filter is being sold out of Bankok Thailand.....and I think was engineered by the Asia GoPro distributor, so maybe you will louck out over there and find a store selling them???

Oculus Red Filter for the Gopro Hero HD Dive Housing | eBay

If you have the chance to look around, see if you can find a GoPro store and you might luck out! I would get one but it is 4 weeks ship time. I wish GoPro had made a filter like the lens cap (HINT HINT TO SOME ENTERPRISING GOPRO ACCESORY MAKER ). A snap on filter like the lens cap would be SUPREME!!!!!

 

[TXreefer]

Filter vs No Filter

You have to go with the filter. The only time my vids were too red was in <10 ft water. Here is a comparison pic between filter and no filter. No Lights w/ GoPro Dive Housing. I used the backscatter magic filter. There is a description in another recent thread i started.

 

[Marty Cerven]

The above video will show about as good a job as possible without a filter, his max depth was 8m and Ive experimented with his technique and it can do pretty well in the shallows. Ive still had better results using either a regular URPro cyan or swcy at 5m or less then I could get without a filter using software on its own but most can live with the results he achieved.

Its still far away from what you can get combining filters and software at deeper depths but at 5m or less software can do ok, I still prefer filters for shallower stuff giving me much more scope to work with because much more colour data is recorded. 5-20m filters can do a great job and software on its own has big limitations due to a nearly empty red channel, 20-25m in good light a filter will still give some benefit and 25-30m is about as far as you want a filter because there is not much red left beyond this point and all the filter will be doing is darkening the image.

I still use software combined with filters for most of my videos, mainly to fix the auto wb of the gopro which doesn't always do a great job. I don't have too much diver footage yet but this thailand trip shows the colours you can get with a URPro cyan filter with a HD1 on for all shots from 0-30m, great vis and light everywhere except the wreck which at 30m had only 5m vis so it struggled there. Most of the footage also has some software wb adjustment especially the snorkel footage which a regular cyan will make too red and need correcting.

There were no lights used so this is all just natural light and filters, the monkeys are a clear lens at the end. Sorry for the shakey footage too as I had no tray or monopod with most shots just cam in hand here.

[video=youtube;SxheCWXc5jA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxheCWXc5jA[/video]

The best premium filters I think are by URPro and their nearest competition are Magic filters, URPro is the ones used with the Blurfix and you may find some acrylic ones large enough that they will work with the GoPro dive housing. Backscatter use the magic filters and you can buy this in gel sheets from Magic filter, both brands may be available in other places if you have a look around.

Not sure what filter that oculus one uses, but I will be trying out a few filters for the GoPro dive once they all get released posting my tests for anyone interested. This looks a fair way away still as only oculus has made anything worth looking at so far, Im not sure how the filter will perform compared to URPro and Magic filters or if it uses one of these but I doubt it.

 

[Brules]

Does anyone think something like this might work as a stop gap fix?

Or this with an extra hole drilled and a bungee setup holding it on:

I can't find any dimensions on any of these though.......

---------- Post added ----------

Both of those appeal to me as I don't have to take off the Dive Housing front to insert some cheap filter......

 

[ronscuba]

You definitely want the filter for UW shooting and no filter for topside shooting.

Here is a very easy affordable solution. Get a cheap $2 drop in filter from Mako or Pursuit. Filter sits inside the housing in the port. For topside shooting, take the GoPro out of the housing.

 

[Brules]

Yeah I have a cheap drop in filter - I am just extremely nervous about cracking open the new dive housing to stick it in.........plus, if I want to video Snorkeling - it ruins it for that.......I soooo need something like the oculus lol! If I only had more time!

---------- Post added ----------

What about adding a light? I found a place that rents a Sola 1200 light.....would need to come up with a way to mount it though......that would solve problems wouldn't it?

 

[ronscuba]

Yeah I have a cheap drop in filter - I am just extremely nervous about cracking open the new dive housing to stick it in.........plus, if I want to video Snorkeling - it ruins it for that.......I soooo need something like the oculus lol! If I only had more time!

---------- Post added ----------

What about adding a light? I found a place that rents a Sola 1200 light.....would need to come up with a way to mount it though......that would solve problems wouldn't it?

A flip up filter is definitely the most versatile and for many a permanent solution. But putting in & taking out a drop in filter is pretty easy. Wouldn't be that hard to do when switching diving/snorkeling and is my suggestion given your time frame.




A Sola 1200 light will not be powerful enough to replace the filter except for very close up shots and night dives.

 

[Brules]

Yeah on the new dive housing - you must take a T6 driver and take out ALL 10 screws of the lens and place the filter under it........makes me nervous to think of.

I actually think I have a solution to this......think I found a backscatter case and filter to buy! Crossing my fingers!