new go pro user

[bryant50]

I am going to Cozumel and want to take my new hero 4 i need to know what filter assembly and filter to use and is a tray better than a stick??

 

[shurite7]

The advantage of a tray is stability, plus you can add lighting to a tray. What I have noticed with stick is how often and fast people move it around.

When you film something film it for a while. When you think you filmed for a while continue to film. You'll be amazed what you think is a long time ends up being not enough time when watching your video, especially when it comes to editing.

Lighting really helps. It makes a world of difference in the video. Invest in good wide angle lights.

 

[bryant50]

what about filter bracket and what kind of red filter

 

[shurite7]

Since I use lights I don't use any type of filter.

 

[Hoag]

I did a trip to Grand Turk about a year ago, and shot my GoPro underwater on almost every dive. I had lights (a Big Blue on one side and an iTorch on the other) but I found that since the lights were only effective for about 3-5 feet, I relied more on a red filter. The filter that I picked up was from my local camera shop and was very similar to this. It did a good job, however if I were to do it again, I would use a Backscatter Flip 5 filter. If your budget won't allow for the 3 filter system, there is a single filter option available.

As a side note, that trip was my first one shooting video, so I had a huge learning curve. One of the things I found out is that while the filters worked great for subjects beyond the reach of the lights, as a subject got closer (say a friendly turtle for instance) and the lights became a factor, the filter would give everything a bizarre red hue to it that I couldn't remove in my film editing software (especially at my experience level). Lights by them selves gave true colour up close. Filters did what they needed to when used alone, but lights & red filters do not play nicely together.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Good gosh !

Why don't you attend photography classes at the local community college ?
First class Basic photography
Second class Composition
Third class Lighting
etc,etc
SDM

 

[bryant50]

wow Sam Miller, Scuba Legend... thanks for putting me in my place. I am a professional; photographer for over 30 years .. I know how to shoot , i know how to compose and how to capture an image. I have shot DSLR for many years ... i have not shot video or really used a goPro for any length of time. I am not trying to impress anyone with my still image knowledge, I'm just trying to be humble and ask others that have more experience with the hardware of underwater video. So Sorry that I wasted everyones time with my post.

mbryant

 

[bryant50]

I did a trip to Grand Turk about a year ago, and shot my GoPro underwater on almost every dive. I had lights (a Big Blue on one side and an iTorch on the other) but I found that since the lights were only effective for about 3-5 feet, I relied more on a red filter. The filter that I picked up was from my local camera shop and was very similar to this. It did a good job, however if I were to do it again, I would use a Backscatter Flip 5 filter. If your budget won't allow for the 3 filter system, there is a single filter option available.

As a side note, that trip was my first one shooting video, so I had a huge learning curve. One of the things I found out is that while the filters worked great for subjects beyond the reach of the lights, as a subject got closer (say a friendly turtle for instance) and the lights became a factor, the filter would give everything a bizarre red hue to it that I couldn't remove in my film editing software (especially at my experience level). Lights by them selves gave true colour up close. Filters did what they needed to when used alone, but lights & red filters do not play nicely together.

thank you

 

[fish80]

I used to have a gopro pole, for me being that few feet closer to the object I am filming made a world of difference, but I like filming large fish, sharks etc. I used the SNP filter, very very good imho. Here is a video at about 50ft green california waters..

 

[Fibonacci]

I found that a DGK waterproof colour chart was very useful for maintaining accurate colour balance when editing original GoPro footage shot under varying lighting conditions, depths or filters.
Just get into the habit of recording a few seconds of the colour chart at the beginning of each clip, can colour balance off the white, 18% grey or check overall colour casts easily.