GoPro Hero 11 Black and MacromateMini +15 Lens
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Johncn
Contributor
We got the MacroMate +15 lens before our recent trip to the Philippines. Overall, very happy with it. However, we had the same question!
The Macromate +15 kit comes with a slip of plastic marked as a "mini-focus stick". This is designed to act as Hero 3 & 4 focus guide, but no mention of more recent models. They recommend practicing in a tub / pool with sample objects before your trip. We, of course, did not notice that piece of paper until we were already on the trip diving, and noticed large differences in our very first batch of images.
Luckily, the slip of plastic (which have since lost!) was still in the ziplock bag we had the parts in. The focus range is pretty specific, and really only say 1 inch or 1.5 inches ( 2.54 cm - 3.81 cm) in width. The camera is "fixed focus", so you have to move the camera in and out to get the right lock on the “focus zone”. There were a couple challenges with this in our case:
As you can see from the highlighted area and arrows I added, the focus range is going to be that narrow, 1 - 1.5 inch band. Your target object should be a total of roughly 3.0 inches - 4.5 inches ( 7.62 cm - 11.43 cm) from the Macromate lens front. I have included our pointer sticks with a tape measure for reference. Take extra duct tape, as the little strips will wear thin or slide around after poking your pointer in the sand to hold position in current and so on! ;-)
What Worked Best for Us
After some trial and error with our pointers marked with the focus point range, we would shoot mostly in high frame rate video format using the same basic settings as recommended in the "Cheat Sheet" below. Some minor differences in settings, but not much. This is the process that seemed to give us the best results:
Hero 11 Settings for Macro (Updated)
Also, the instructions for Hero 11 needed updating. The official instructions and everything else we found online while on our trip said to use the “Narrow” or "Medium" FOV setting on the GoPro…which does not exist with the Hero 11. We experimented, and went with 1.4 Zoom setting as the closest we could figure out.
Turns out that on our way HOME last week, we found that Backscatter had posted on May 9, 2023 an updated "Cheat Sheet" to the Macromate +15 settings for underwater wide angle, Macro video & stills here on the Scubaboard "Articles" section. We noted that the 1.4 Zoom setting is confirmed by this guide as accurate for Macro on Hero 11 now that the other FOV settings have changed.
Not sure why Backscatter did not post this here, but I've included the link below for easy reference:
Backscatter Hero 11 Settings Tutorial
scubaboard.com
Cheatsheet Download:
Hope this helps.
The Macromate +15 kit comes with a slip of plastic marked as a "mini-focus stick". This is designed to act as Hero 3 & 4 focus guide, but no mention of more recent models. They recommend practicing in a tub / pool with sample objects before your trip. We, of course, did not notice that piece of paper until we were already on the trip diving, and noticed large differences in our very first batch of images.
Luckily, the slip of plastic (which have since lost!) was still in the ziplock bag we had the parts in. The focus range is pretty specific, and really only say 1 inch or 1.5 inches ( 2.54 cm - 3.81 cm) in width. The camera is "fixed focus", so you have to move the camera in and out to get the right lock on the “focus zone”. There were a couple challenges with this in our case:
- We are both very nearsighted and have trifocals...but have single vision prescription masks. This means gauging the sharpness using the GoPro camera back underwater in the housing is a real challenge for us! We needed a workaround of some kind.
- We noticed that the only Owner's Manual we could find online showed a GoPro on a tray attached to one of those bendy tripods on the first page. Holding steady is a key to focus. We did not have one of these, but it just meant we had more throw away shots in the pile. No biggie, but maybe others here have used a tripod arrangement like this with success.
Owner's Manual (2015 Version):
- Many of the "Super Macro" (very tiny) targets like pygmy seahorses, and very small shrimps, were just beyond our accurate focus size. The manual says to practice with objects the size of a golf ball. We were able to get sharp images much smaller than that...but it got kind of iffy, and involved trial and error. We might get a shot with focused edges, or we might not when things got smaller than maybe half an inch. Some of our targets were only the size of a few grains of sand, and we failed at those. Just could not get them. Might be operator error, but not sure. To clarify, we did get lots of very tiny shrimp and things in good focus, just not the very tiniest of critters.
As you can see from the highlighted area and arrows I added, the focus range is going to be that narrow, 1 - 1.5 inch band. Your target object should be a total of roughly 3.0 inches - 4.5 inches ( 7.62 cm - 11.43 cm) from the Macromate lens front. I have included our pointer sticks with a tape measure for reference. Take extra duct tape, as the little strips will wear thin or slide around after poking your pointer in the sand to hold position in current and so on! ;-)
What Worked Best for Us
After some trial and error with our pointers marked with the focus point range, we would shoot mostly in high frame rate video format using the same basic settings as recommended in the "Cheat Sheet" below. Some minor differences in settings, but not much. This is the process that seemed to give us the best results:
- Start with a 30-second clip at furthest point
- Then shoot a 30-second clip at middle distance
- Followed by another 30-seconds at closest point...sometimes a bit longer on this one
Hero 11 Settings for Macro (Updated)
Also, the instructions for Hero 11 needed updating. The official instructions and everything else we found online while on our trip said to use the “Narrow” or "Medium" FOV setting on the GoPro…which does not exist with the Hero 11. We experimented, and went with 1.4 Zoom setting as the closest we could figure out.
Turns out that on our way HOME last week, we found that Backscatter had posted on May 9, 2023 an updated "Cheat Sheet" to the Macromate +15 settings for underwater wide angle, Macro video & stills here on the Scubaboard "Articles" section. We noted that the 1.4 Zoom setting is confirmed by this guide as accurate for Macro on Hero 11 now that the other FOV settings have changed.
Not sure why Backscatter did not post this here, but I've included the link below for easy reference:
Backscatter Hero 11 Settings Tutorial
Info - Complete Guide for GoPro HERO 11 Best Underwater Video & Photo Settings
COMPLETE GUIDE FOR GOPRO HERO 11 BEST UNDERWATER VIDEO & PHOTO SETTINGS The GoPro HERO 11 is one of our favorite action cameras yet because of the impressive built-in video stabilization, how easy it makes it to start capturing great looking 4K Ultra High Definition video clips underwater, and...
Cheatsheet Download:
Hope this helps.
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Wow, what a response, I was just expecting the answer to say "about 3 inches"! Sadly, I too am succumbing to old age and long sightedness is becoming an issue. I'll definitely be putting together some kind of measuring stick. Cheers.
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