SimonSpear

Wonderful!  It's not often that I watch a vid on the internet and when it ends I wish that it had gone on for longer!  Congrats on your win - it looks well deserved

Cheers, Simon

Let's hope the FS700 is better suited for underwater shooting than the FS100, but from the evidence so far I sincerely doubt that it will be and I hope that potential buyers look at all the threads running here highlighting the issues and other examples of underwater footage before they fork out $xxxxx.

 

Specific to the Amphibico housing it looks like the handles are indentical to the ones on the FS100 and in a similar position.   When diving they really feel like they were set up to be used with an external monitor or a rear view LCD and they defintely do not allow for a comfortable diving position if you want to look down through the top LCD window as the handles really needed to be further forward and/or at a different angle for that.  After 40 odd dives with the FS100 Genesis I've actually found looking down into the LCD really uncomfortable and it competely removes any awareness of what is going on around you other than what you can see in the LCD which itself can be limited due to the positioning.  I've used the Phenom in the past but it didn't have this issue as the LCD screen was a lot closer to the port on the housing and it was pretty comfortable using it in that position.

 

Overall I found the FS100 Genesis a great design attempt but it does have flaws and it doesn't seem to be wearing very well either.  After 10 dives all the stickers fell off, after 15 the plastic locking mechanism cracked and chipped up against the metal locking point (long term there is only ever one winner plastic vs metal) and after 20 dives the circuit board blew up.  The coating on the housing has marked pretty badly and only one of those is from a shark bite (!) although the photos posted above look like they may have used a different coating so this may not be an issue on the new housings.  Add all this to the fact that I bought it thinking it had one touch control of the Gain from the pistol grips and the significant issues with the camera underwater and I'd say "Proceed with Caution"!  I'm really not trying to throw a spanner in the works here - after all I'm trying to sell my FS100 housing so I'd hardly be saying this unless I REALLY felt like it needed to be said.

 

Cheers, Simon

Interested to hear more about your PMW200 experience Simon. Did you use the SWP44? Flat port at all? Diopters?

 

I should be home tomorrow so I'll try to write up my thoughts and post them with some footage over the next couple of days.

 

I used the SP as I couldn't stretch to the Fathom, but I was delighted for WA shooting (maybe a little narrow, but I have been using a 10mm on the 7D so it is never going to be that wide in comparison!).  To do macro properly you really need the FP anyway, however I did manage to shoot some through the SP using flip Hoya diopters.  I was actually surprised at the results for emergency use, but needless to say it wasn't a go to option for Pigmy Pipehorses!!  (yes they have found some in Fiji).  The last time I shot super macro was with the V1 which had a x20 zoom (x30 with the excellent digital option) and a +3.5 century achromatic diopter.  I think with the x14 zoom and screw in diopters you could get great results.  Doesn't the Z1 have a x12 or x14 zoom?  That has been macro king for like ever...  !!

 

Cheers, Simon

Over the last couple of years I've gone from camcorder (V1) to HDSLR (7D) to S35 camcorder (FS100) and now back to traditional camcorder (PMW200).  One thing for certain is that they all have their own strengths and weakness, some of which have already been covered.

 

On a personal note I really enjoyed shooting on the 7D and it was such an upgrade over HDV despite all its recording flaws.  Some of the footage I've shot with it is simply gorgeous and I've regularly sold footage shot on a 7D for broadcast and never had my footage turned down because of the camera it was shot on (there are still allowances for sometimes up to 25% of footage shot on cameras like the 7D in most HD broadcast productions).  However HDSLR's are not ideal in all situations as you always need to shoot in full manual which is very difficult to do in any fast moving constanly changing enviroment where sometimes you may just need to turn on auto iris etc.   I did sometimes find that I missed shots while trying to fiddle with the settings.  On a plus side they are a dream to travel with as you can often get them in your hand luggage, where my new PMW-200 in a Peli case without its monitor weights 23kg on its own!  I certainly wont be selling my 7D as there is still a place for it in my filming, but there are probably better HDSLR/M43 options now than when I bought it in 2009!

Cheers, Simon

I finally got around to editing this:

Oliver Spear - 7 months old - Learning to Swim.

[youtubehd]Q_kqplOxytU[/youtubehd]


All filmed on a 7D @ 720p50 and then conformed to 25p.  I used Twixtor for the ultra slowmo and from memory I used 1/400 shutter speed to keep the images nice and clean so limiting the motion blur.  Twixtor is pretty good, but it does have its limitations and it really, really hates any object moving too fast.

Cheers, Simon

.....the eyes ain't what they used to be, so it's great to see all the details when I get back and upload it to a big screen.

LOL I think a few of us know that feeling Jo!

Great work and a really lovely portrait of underwater Ambon. It looks very interesting indeed!    

Cheers, Simon

Hi all

I've got a couple of tickets available for the Underwater Realm 'World Premier' on Thursday in central London.   Sadly the kids have come down with chickenpox and we don't have a regular sitter that we feel comfortable leaving them with.

I've also got an invite to the after show party for two which is being held in Leicester Square afterwards.  Dress code is "Black Tie".

I've posted this in the video section to give the video guys a better chance of seeing it, but please feel free to move to the Gallery or somewhere else if more appropriate.  If no one takes up the offer I'll send the tickets back as I believe they have a long waiting list.

Cheers, Simon

edit:  If anyone does not know about the Underwater Realm then here is the link:  http://theunderwaterrealm.com/

Hi Nick

Since I got it housed I've only been splahing around in muddy puddles (allegedly called lakes) but my first proper diving is in Jan so I'll definitely do a write up/review on it then.

I've had the camera a year now and used it extensively topside and I've never seen any evidence of banding or any other significant issue with image quality.  Although I was never a fan of AVCHD this flavour on the FS100 is pretty robust and once transcoded to ProRes I've been able to stretch, poke, push and pull it way more than I ever could HDV or HDSLR footage.  I think many of the problems we've seen with underwater screen shots and test footage have been due to incorrect wb and exposure rather than any inherient issue with the camera.  The dynamic range on it is pretty good so as long as the WB is sortable I don't see any major issues, but like I said I'll know a whole lot more come end of Jan.

If I was buying from scratch now I'd probably opt for the FS700, but although close the low light is not as good as the FS100 which is the main draw for me as I shoot almost exlcusively in ambient with no lights.

If I had no other requirements with the camera other than shooting underwater that I guess it would be hard to go wrong with the PMW200.  I'm sure it is going to become the workhorse replacement for the EX1/R and before that the Z1.  For an all round WA underwater system I think it will be hard to beat but for super macro there may be better options.

Cheers, Simon

Not on a single dive Nick(!), but yes I have filmed a sponge in the past before realising that it wasn't a Froggy....

Superb Davide and that lens is REALLY sharp, or at least it certainly looked it to me.  Add on the fact that you were down at 80m and a wonderful achievement.  I would have loved some narration about the wreck and the dive, but I found the images engrossing to the end nevertheless.

What lights were you using?

Cheers, Simon

I certainly agree that colour correction is subjective to some degree, but I've never really understood trying to match what your eyes see underwater.  After all it is only your brain's perception of colour that is letting you see anything but blue below a few meters.

Regardless of what ultimate effect we go for it certainly helps to get as close to that as possible while filming.  Perhaps as RAW (and/or higher bitrates) becomes more mainstream we won't need to worry so much, but I've seen lots of issues even with RAW footage underwater.  4:4:4 and 4:4:2 are certainly a big advantage over 4:2:0, but they don't solve all the problems.  The cameras we use are full of very cleaver electronics but they are really not designed to film in these kinds of environments, so we need to trick them into getting what we want.  Some cameras are easier to trick than others and it could be that the FS100 is one of the harder ones....

Nick I've generally found that you need exposure to be pretty close to retain detail in highlights.  Parts of the sand in the original image were blown out and with the green colour cast that is possibly why the green channel is clipped?  You are a lot better at the 'Science bit' than I am so I'll defer to you on that!

Cheers, Simon

Hi all

After receiving a couple of PM's I thought I should explain this issue in a little more detail than I have done in the FS100 MWB thread running at the moment.  Here goes:

I received a Amphibico Genesis housing for my FS100 last month and with one exception I have been completely over the moon with it.  Upon initial (dry) test I found that I was not able to access the Gain controls through the pistol grips.  The housing uses lanc controls to gain access to the inner workings of the camera and all controls should have been accessible.  I actually thought I had received a housing with defective electronics and immediately emailed Amphibico regarding the problem.   The response I got was surprising to say the least.  To paraphrase the FS100 has two versions of firmware.  In v1.0 full access to all the controls via lanc is possible, however in v2.0 it is not possible to access the Gain controls as this was removed by Sony in the firmware update.  As I had just literally updated the firmware in anticipation of receiving the housing it is fair to say that the air around me turned a very deep shade of blue.

Not to be deterred I contacted Sony Europe about a solution and over the last few weeks we have been going backwards and forwards between Sony Europe and Sony Japan for some answers.  Again I will paraphrase the answer I received.  The v2.0 firmware contains lots of additional goodies and there apparently just wasn't the space in the system to keep all the old control options with the new controls.  Someone, somewhere in Sony Japan decided that the Gain control would have to go and hence it was axed from the v2.0 firmware.  No notification of this was given by Sony, but apparently they have a get out of jail free card here because accessing these controls via lanc is not 'officially' supported.   Fairly thin ice in my book, but I'm not about to go legal with Sony over it!

Solutions?  Well it is unfortunately impossible to roll back the firmware.  You can however have some components within the camera replaced and get back to the v1.0 firmware via that route.  The cost of the parts are not astronomical (around £30), but as yet I have no firm commitment for labour costs.  Sony have refused to foot the bill as it is not a function 'officially' supported so when they removed it they removed something that 'officially' should not have been there anyway.

The turnaround quoted for the 'repair' of my camera is optimistically 6 weeks and as I am using the FS100 constantly I just have not had a window where I can spare the camera for that long.  I may have one coming up over the Christmas break so in theory I should be able to get it done then, however that is also when everyone else is off work so no idea how this will affect the 6 week turnaround.

My current work around is to use the housing with auto Gain ON but limited to ISO 3200 and to then adjust the iris to get the best compromise.  As the FS100 is incredibly good in low light and will give super clean images at ISO 3200 (and useable beyond ISO 6400) this has worked surprisingly well.  However I've been used to shooting in full manual for years and it takes a bit of getting used to going back to auto controls.  I'm just waiting for that really big screw up at a critical moment so in my opinion this is not a permanent solution.

Cheers, Simon

P.S.  FYI this issue should affect all housings that access the FS100 controls via lanc so it is not just a problem with the Amphibico Genesis housing.  It was however a known issue when I bought the housing and I most sincerely wish that someone had let me know before I purchased it.....

Maybe you could impliment a system so we the collective forum can warn/praise the mods?  It could be a great way to keep Wetpixel all "shipshape and Bristol fashion"!

Cheers, Simon

Wouldn't it be amazing to dive in an another planet's ocean?  Wow sets the imagination off for sure!

Cheers, Simon

Hi all

Here's my latest labour of love.  It's a short film with a conservation theme not necessarily directed at divers, but at the wider world out there.  Hopefully you'll enjoy watching it!

(you will have to click through onto Vimeo to watch in HD).



On a technical note there is a lot of banding on the Vimeo version that is not present in the source ProRes file.  I'm trying to upload a higher bitrate version, but I'm on a really slow connection right now so it is proving challenging!!