barney

I was shooting in 1080 60fps mode, and approximately 45 minutes of footage is about 11GB.  So, yes, you will eat up some memory in a hurry, especially if you use any of the higher-resolution modes.

 

I am including a link to some footage from my first dive with the mounted GoPro to give you an idea of how it worked out.  It was on a ball mount on top of my camera housing connected to another ball mount threaded into a tripod mount on the GoPro to clear the sync cords and also allows me to lay it flat when I have the strobe arms folded and stowed.  The FOV of the GoPro is less than the FOV of the 15mm FE I was shooting with on this particular dive.  I just need to angle it down a few degrees, particularly when shooting things up close.  The constant moving as I check the LCD screen, adjust strobe arms, and strobe power settings while shooting stills is pretty obvious, not to mention all the strobes going off...but I think it definitely can come in handy on some dives...

 

 

Cheers,

Mike

I recently used my Hero3 Black mounted on my Aquatica housing on a cave dive and just let it run while I shot stills.  I got right around 55-58 minutes if I remember correctly (shooting 1080 wide at 60fps).  I was not generally shooting closeups, but did note on one series getting diver shots that I have to angle the gopro down a bit (versus shooting straight ahead) to avoid cutting off on closer in subjects.  I used twin SOLA 1200s (mostly on low just to help with autofocus in the cave) and it performed well, but obviously suffered in quality due to low light.  When I cranked them on high, the footage looked pretty nice.  Again, I did not have the lights optimized for the gopro but the housed camera, so the fall-off and lack of coverage in the middle was noticeable as I did not have things aligned for the gopro.

I think in openwater it would work reasonably well to get "filler shots".  If you shoot a lot of stills, the firing of the strobes obviously impacts the footage and is annoying, plus you can really hear the shutter tripping.  But as a "set it and forget it" type of camera, it works ok...

Cheers,

Mike

Hello Mike,

Nice video and always good to see you diving in the area. For a fish that is protected in the US I sure did see a lot of Goliath's on my Tuesday dive on the Castor that had been hooked by fishermen.

Phil Rudin

Hi Phil-
It is not uncommon to see hooked fish as they are large fish that have the ability to take a bait (depending on the size) like other fish.  Since they are the big boys on the block and opportunistic feeders, they commonly go after hooked fish as they are reeled to the surface, sometimes becoming hooked themselves.  And there is also ongoing research (permitted activities) where fish are hooked, brought onboard a vessel, and biological samples are taken, fish are tagged, etc.  The important point is that this shallow-water grouper species is robust enough to take it and either part a line on the wreck or bottom or unhooked or line cut at the surface by the angler, and have a very high survival rate.  The protection prevents hooked fish from being retained, fileted, sold, etc.  Obviously, given the population rebound, the protection has been very effective.
Cheers,
Mike

Beautiful videos !! Are the groupers protected as ours in the  French part of the Méditerranéan sea ??

Harvest and possession of goliath grouper has been prohibited since the early to mid 1990s over here, and they have made a remarkable comeback...
Cheers,
Mike

Average fish are probably 200 pounders, with some ranging up to 400 pounds.

Here is a link to video from yesterday's dive:

http://youtu.be/3XOEsegbFNg?hd=1

Cheers,
Mike