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Dolphins are really hard to catch well on video. They move fast and unpredictable. I had many escape my lens

Probably still got a SeaLife hangover from the very first UW camera I ever owned many many years ago. That was a SeaLife and it was total cr@@p.. But times are changing…

With the Valstech housing probably not as that only supports the main iPhone camera and the macro mode afaik requires the ultrawide (weitwinkel) lens

Hi folks, with the iPhone 13 Pro /Max on the market and the first ProRes "overland" samples hitting Youtube et al, I thought I start a little discussion / opinion search on the above topic. Some background: At the end of 2016 or thereabout I first started looking around for options to "play" with the iPhone underwater alongside my main video gear. Most "smartphone housings" then where flimsy plasticky thingies that I would not want to entrust my trusted iPhone to. I then came across the housing from Valstech and actually bought it. While also plastic (at that time), I looked quite solid and played a little with it and my then iPhone 6s. Of course the camera / sensor of the 6s was a million miles away from today's iPhone 13 Pro, but the results where reasonably encouraging for things potentially to come. Here a link to that old clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9I32-msbnE When Valstech created an aluminum housing for the iPhone X, with an (optional) optical WA glass dome, I bought it. https://www.valstech.com/products/v-series-pro-package The results looked vastly improved over the 6s. But unfortunatly my external drive with the clips got lost somehow, so no samples to show.... For the next trip I wanted to take my iPhone 11 Pro for some dives - but Covid cancelled that attempt. I have now ordered the iPhone 13Pro which will fit the housing with some minor mods to the holding clips (according to Valstech). Having the possibility to shoot ProRes underwater with all its color grading potential certainly sounds really interesting. Just wondering what others thing and whether anyone has plans or the opportunity to try this out as my next drive trip will probably only be in Jan 2022. Cheers.

Wonderful! Brings back good memories of our trip there in 2018. Did you get a chance to do a night dive t Fakarava for the shark feeding frenzy?

Terrific stuff!

Very nice!

No, totally accurate at the time of writing. Quoting numbers from mid May on a post of early March is a bit off-track maybe? Anyway, still all in good shape here. At the end of the year all you might notice is a rounding difference in mortality statistic. Situation is of course different elsewhere. Interestingly enough the numbers are worst mostly in countries with bad / failing governments.

I have hot played with most of those cams, but if AF is important to you, forget about the Blackmagic 4k/6k and the Z Cam. All I hear is their AF is bad overland, so it certainly wont get better underwater. The concept of the Z2 as a kind of „Mini-Red“ is certainly quite interesting nonetheless. Housings for Camcorders are scarse. For Z90 you get a housing from Gates. Depending on the cam, have a look at Seacam housings. They are superb. Whatever you take, get a decent set of UW lights. Keldan is the gold standard. I use the Keldan 4X. Compact and powerful. Particulary for macro, you cant do without.

Sometimes I get the impression this virus has more impact on the brain than on the lungs. Getting bizarre. Here in Germany we had 25.000 peoples dying from the flue in 2018 alone. Zero so far on Corona. And people stack loopaper for the next 10 years... Lets have a Mexican beer, shall we?

95% of it, yes. The humpbacks even from a bumpy zodiac ;-) Only the timelapses and some of the close shots of the penguin chicks getting fed are on a little travel tripod. I was never able to achieve that type of free-hand stability on a GH5 (or any other classic photo cam), be it underwater or overland.

Have a browse thru some YT reviews, but basically the Z90 has a removable top handle with professional audio features, it has an SDI connection for monitoring in addition to HDMI and a slightly more robust codec. But all other specs are identical. Yep, it sure will be good for Safari and similar trips. Here a link of some stuff I filmed on the Z90 on a trip to Antarctica last January. I got a pile of underwater stuff (Maldives) we the Z90 in the vaults - one day l‘ll get that out as well....

Having used a GH5, a GH5s, a Sony AX100 and a Sony Z90 (the "pro" equivalent of the AX700) underwater and being a video guy only, the setup that works best for me is a dedicated video cam, currently the Z90. I am saying "for me" because what you choose wil depend on a lot of different factors. As you say, if you want to do phots as well as Video, you'd have ot go the hybrid route. Yes, the AX700 can shoot photos, but nothing to take really serious. If you are a video guy and - like me - hate fiddling with lots of different lenses, ports, extension rings, focus and zoom gears (just to find out when you arrive at the other end of the world that you left important bits at home...), then go for a Gates/AX700 setup. I just grab my housing before the dive and put it back on the deck after the dive and relax while my hybrid buddies are still spending another 30min+ configuring their rig for the next dive. Can be fun as well - but its just not for me. One battery takes you easily thru 3 dives. Whatever you choose, with both setups (GH5 or AX700) you cant go completely wrong as both are great systems. Just to mention: Yep, the specs in the GH5 look much more impressive. But you cant beat the super precise auto-focus on the AX700/Z90. The autofocus on the GH5 even after a quazillion of firmware updates remains to be a bit of a joke. And also just to mention: If you a are "big sensor" freak: Forget both both GH5 and AX700 and go for a RED Monstro :-)) Joking aside, its a topic somewhat blown out of proportion IMHO. The 1'' Sensor in the Sony does a great job! Good luck!

Done that one. Its very nice indeed. Have you been in Fakarava as well?

The housing is superb, particulary in conjunction with the Gates Wide Angle port. You get sharp pictures form edge to edge. It is completely neutrally buoyant if you use it by itself. Helps tremendously to achieve stable footage. Onthe right side, the manual white balance button is right next to the record trigger and the zoom trigger. You do your white balance and press shot. Takes just a second. There is a custom button that you can configure yourself. On the left you have buttons and a control wheel for your IRIS, ISO, Shutter, Focus. The autofocus is great, btw. What you cannot do is going deep into the camera menus to change settings. but I dont really need that. On land, you can use the sony remote to change settigns without openng the housing between dives. The battery gets you through 3 dives easily. Add a Saga flip adapter with a wet diopter and you are all set from pygmy seahores to whalesharks with one setup. No fiddling with lenses, ports, extension rings, gears and whatever else....