Lack of White Balance Control

[bluesbro1982]

I do and dont agree. Yes, you need to get as much light in as possible.
But

1) you can get decent video with no lights
2) lights only really help for closeup part of the scene. Anything more than 8-10 feet away and they are not much use (unless you can stage HMI on a diver)

My point was not that you *need* lights. Sorry if I gave that impression. 90% of my shooting is with ambient light, and in general it turns out fine.

My point was that since CCD's and videotape are NOT film, you have much less wiggle room in terms of exposure. I'd rather color correct in software than have a red filter on the lens blocking out light that would otherwise help my shot.

YMMV

 

[stillhope]

getting as much light as possible is good, but better is to consider what kind of light you're getting as well.

If with no filter you have lots of green and blue, but the red signal level is down in the noise, it may be better to use a filter to reduce the green and blue, open the iris and/or slow the shutter speed to get a cleaner red signal.

 

[Grey_Wulff]

It sounds like a number of folks are color correcting in s/w. What post-processing s/w are you using and how long does color correction take? How do you set the color correction parameters? Does the s/w decide automatically in some way? Do you select a series of frames and process those?

Going back to one of my earlier questions, does anyone know of a housing that allows control of white balance on the GS500?

Thanks for all the continued input.

Grey_Wulff

 

[limeyx]

My point was not that you *need* lights. Sorry if I gave that impression. 90% of my shooting is with ambient light, and in general it turns out fine.

My point was that since CCD's and videotape are NOT film, you have much less wiggle room in terms of exposure. I'd rather color correct in software than have a red filter on the lens blocking out light that would otherwise help my shot.

YMMV

Then maybe my color-correcting skills suck! I have had a hard time 'adding back' red to stuff I have shot without the red filter on. However, most of my editing "pre HD" was with iMovie.

I have moved to Final Cut Express for HD but still a novice.

Maybe you can give us some tips on how to add some of the colors back in.
Say for fixing up footage something like this:

http://nickambrose.com/diving/movies/catalina-11-4-2006-ship-rock-cdrom.mov

 

[ronrosa]

I'm with you "limeyx", my experience with color correcting in post is more adjustment than correction. I get much better results with the filter.

As far as MWB, I shot in auto for many years (with a filter). I would sometimes adjust color in post if it made an improvement. Then I discovered MWB (with filter) and to my eyes, that produces the best color for wide and standard angle shots.

For closeup and macro, lights, no filter gives me the best color.

This is all just my humble opinion as an amateur hobbyist. All of my diving is generally in the clear blue Caribbean. Maybe the greener waters affects coloring differently.

I believe Ocean Images makes a housing that has access to MWB on the GS400/500.

 

[under water]

Red lens helps, EDIT:
Oh, and I think it's probably (from what I have read) easier to get rid of the red than try to add it ...

Is it even possible to add red. A filter, by definition, removes something. Is this true even for digital filters? I suppose you can boost the red signal but you aren't really adding red then, are you.:huh:

 

[limeyx]

Is it even possible to add red. A filter, by definition, removes something. Is this true even for digital filters? I suppose you can boost the red signal but you aren't really adding red then, are you.:huh:

Sorry, I am being sloppy in my terms.

I shot a bunch of footage recently that came out way too red (I messed up the MWB) and in FCE, it was relatively easy to make it look normal.

However, what I was trying to say was that I think it's hard to get good results trying to fixup the "washed out" video that I tend to get around here if I dive with no red filter/MWB.

no filter and MWB might also work -- I've only taken the new cam with MWB out 3 or 4 times, so I am definitely still playing with things.

 

[under water]

Sorry, I am being sloppy in my terms.

I shot a bunch of footage recently that came out way too red (I messed up the MWB) and in FCE, it was relatively easy to make it look normal.

However, what I was trying to say was that I think it's hard to get good results trying to fixup the "washed out" video that I tend to get around here if I dive with no red filter/MWB.

no filter and MWB might also work -- I've only taken the new cam with MWB out 3 or 4 times, so I am definitely still playing with things.

Thanks I'll need to get one of those red filters ASAP. So you just use auto WB with the red filter?
Thanks

 

[limeyx]

Thanks I'll need to get one of those red filters ASAP. So you just use auto WB with the red filter?
Thanks

With my new camera (Sony FX1) I am using MWB with and without the filter.

The danger with AWB and the filter is when you get shallow, the footage looks really red and then you need to try to either de-redify it in post, or not use the filter shallow.

Generally I think the advice is to not use the filter with AWB but my older camera cannot do MWB and I have had some decent results with red filter. Not below 80 feet (in So Cal murky waters) though. At 100 feet with the red filter here, I have actually had "black" tape -- not a hint of video on it.

also, apparently the "red" filter is best for blue waters -- something more mauvey/orangey? is better for green. I am not sure -- I just use the standard Light and motion supplied filter

 

[diversteve]

also, apparently the "red" filter is best for blue waters -- something more mauvey/orangey? is better for green. I am not sure -- I just use the standard Light and motion supplied filter

I just downloaded and looked at your Catalina video. It seems quite green shifted. Based on my recollection of SoCal water conditions (haven't dove there in a while) I think that the GR filter might be a better choice than the CY(red) filter in that area. I use the CY filter in sunny, blue Caribbean water like in the Bahamas. We recently were in San Carlos where the water was more green and murky and I had a similar green shift like your video. I probably should've shot w/o the filter.

You might contact H2OPhotopros and see what they recommend. They're in Dana Point and shoot locally.

UR/Pro says the CY filter is:

to correct colors in Caribbean or tropical blue-green (cyan) water.

The GR filter is:

to correct colors in green salt and fresh waters. With sunlight and the URPRO GR filter, you capture the natural colors of ocean corals, fish and aquatic life in lakes, streams and rivers.

All about it here: http://www.urprofilters.com/content.do?region=FilterInstructions