BMPCC underwater filming setting

[thetrickster 328]

I've just (literary) come back from the pool with my and some precise scales

 

-1.1790kg negative (in fresh water) with no floats

[Davide DB 492]

hi Edmond

Could you post some photo of your diy plate with some detail?

[edmond320 26]

[edmond320 26]

lll

[edmond320 26]

Hi Davide,

Hope the pictures can self explain what I did for the BMPCC and GH-3 housing.

Those platform are made from POM material.

 

Cheers

Edmond

[Davide DB 492]

Thank you Edmon you gave me a nice idea

 

Only problem is finding a plate of delrin, I saw only tubes and it's very expensive. Maybe PVC works the same.

 

Until now I used cheap chinese tripods I have a small project in spring water filming the surface form the bottom. I find them for 15€ and in spring water they last a lot but I like your design.

 

Byeee

[edmond320 26]

Hi Davide,

Guess I am very lucky to have it ordered from China.

http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=16923107827&spm=a1z10.1.w5749449-4238833051.23.s4XosX

The delrin plate only cost me US$4 for each and delivered right to my home. You can even ask them to cut into specific dimension.

 

Cheers

Edmond

[SwiftFF5 134]

Davide DB, I don't know if they ship to Italy, or how expensive it would be, but Online Metals stocks Delrin plate. I've used them for lots of small projects, and their service is really good.

 

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=206&step=2&top_cat=181

Edited April 11, 2014 by SwiftFF5

[Davide DB 492]

Thank you all for your suggestion. Actually I saw that here in Italy on Ebay there are some deals: 40$ for a plate 500x500mm and 10mm thick.

I have to check in Germany, usually they have good prices on mechanical related things... of course 4$ it's a steal

 

What's the minimum thickness for this application? I guess 6mm or 8mm are enough...

[edmond320 26]

Hi,

For mine is 9mm. I think it will be better to have 10mm.

[Interceptor121 768]

I have made a tripod set up for my compact rig using few ultralight parts it is not difficult and works a treat

 

Looking at your set up you need to consider that shorter legs are actually better to avoid your rig to take off and also that whilst 3 points will always be in balance 4 won't and you may run into trouble setting it up on the bottom. A 3 legs table never wobbles a 4 legs does at the minimum misalignment

[edmond320 26]

Thank you for your comment in advance.

This is not my first time to use this kind of setup. I have been using this setup to shoot underwater video for 4 years.

I know very well how good it is, to use 4 legs better than 3 legs, and a longer legs than short legs.

To my understanding, more legs, more stable. Most of the chairs we are seating have 4 legs. The dentist chair that I am seating everyday to treat my patient have 5 legs. It just more legs you have to adjust to find the balance, but once you balance it, it is more stable.

To give you some idea how good it works, you can take a look at my video below.Those magnified shoot on Harlequin Shrimp (2:50)can be so stable by using 4 legs platform to film, and so as all the other shoot.

 

Cheers

Edmond

 

 

[Interceptor121 768]

Good video

 

That does not make any physical sense though

 

Chairs have four legs as you dont want to sit on a triangle as your bum is squared but usually have adjustable feet to compensate

 

Three point of contact always balance on the same plane four don't. Before mankind introduced levelled floors all chairs had 3 feet as they steady on an uneven floor

 

That is why manufacturers sell camera tripods and not quadripods

 

But if you are happy with the additional time to balance four legs good for you

Edited April 12, 2014 by Interceptor121

[edmond320 26]

For your information,edelkrone just release a pocket stand like this :

picture from edelkrone

[Stuart Keasley 42]

Quadpods are more stable and stronger but can take longer to set up.

 

Tripods are still stable, and are a lot quicker to work with.

 

You've got some stunning results Edmond, which us really all that matters

[Interceptor121 768]

That device is to work on a flat surface. If you go diving on rocks you won't have that. And if you go on sand you can have 4-5-7 20 legs but stability comes out of balance not planting the legs in the sand as if it was an anchor. Even sand contains living organisms and should make sure your impact on the environment is as little as possible. That's my perspective at least. Results matter but after am sure am not demanding more than needed out of the seabed

Edited April 13, 2014 by Interceptor121

[Stuart Keasley 42]

That device is to work on a flat surface. If you go diving on rocks you won't have that. And if you go on sand you can have 4-5-7 20 legs but stability comes out of balance not planting the legs in the sand as if it was an anchor. Even sand contains living organisms and should make sure your impact on the environment is as little as possible. That's my perspective at least. Results matter but after am sure am not demanding more than needed out of the seabed

From the Edelkrone web site:

 

"Works great on uneven surfaces, adapts to any surface"

https://www.edelkrone.com/eu/p/329/pocket-series

 

A quadpod has no issue with an uneven surface. It has adjustable legs.

 

I'm with you, in that I'd rather work with a tripod. But it's a preference thing, Edmond has gone a different route, he's happy with it and is getting good results.

Edited April 13, 2014 by Stuart Keasley

[Interceptor121 768]

We are aligned. The reason why a tripod is quicker is because a plan (geometrical meaning) is defined by 3 points. So as soon as you drop the tripod is immediately in balance provided the legs are short and spread enough so that the center of gravity is close to the floor. All you have to do is to tilt the camera to reach alignment. With 4 legs you need to adjust multiple times until they all touch plus if you have no tilting base you will need to revisit again. Who has ever levelled a washing machine on a supposed flat floor knows the feeling. In addition to the reduced impact for less legs I rather use my air to do something else

[edmond320 26]

Different people use different ways to achieve what they want. To my concern, what is good ,what is bad, it doesn't matter. What matters to me is the process to find my own resolution while I face problem and if I can get what I want at the end.

Your comments are loud and clear regarding using different system on supporting underwater camera. And I thank you your input to my topic.

I would also like to said that my topic is BMPCC filming setting. I post my pictures is in respond to a gentleman asking a more detail regarding the platform I made to support BMPCC housing.

Please accept my apology that I open this topic is to discuss the issue relating to BMPCC housing. Other than that, you are welcome to open your topic.

Happy diving to all of you.

 

Cheers

Edmond

[edmond320 26]

[edmond320 26]

Hi,

My recent trip to R4 gave me a chance to shot with my 2 set of gears, the BMPCC and GH-4, both attached with MFT lens, in Nauticam housing.

Only BMPCC connect with Ninja 2 for field recording in ProRes file, as GH-4 do not support Ninja 2 with 4K setting at GH-4.

My experience with BMPCC is minimal before the dive, and I found it is quite "user friendly" after a few dives with it.

That for every shot, you need to go through 3 buttons :

Start(on camera or Ninja), then focus button, then iris button (up and down as well sometime to find the right exposure).

During the shot, keep you thumb at focus button ready in case you lost the focus.

The Nauticam battery tray for BMPCC do provide an additional power that can last for 2 dives.

But do check the % at the begining of the dives and don't forget to power down the camera when not in use.

The BMPCC will use the power from the Nauticam battery tray first, so when it show 100% in the screen, it is the % at BMPCC battery compartment, not at the external battery tray.

The outter battery of the battery tray can be removed by just opening the housing, so I always change that battery in between the dive, and I don't need to remove the whole camera from the housing.

 

For post correction, both DNG and ProRes file give me an extensive range for adjustment while using DaVinci Resolve Lite.

And it is much extensive than that from GH-4 4k file.

 

I am still learning how to manipulate both the hardware and software, hope I can do better later.

 

Cheers

Edmond

[thetrickster 328]

Which one did you feel more inclined to pick up for video? If they are both in front of you and you had to pick just one...?

[dreifish 362]

I'm also curious to hear which you prefer, Edmond.

[Gujustud 3]

I hope you don't mind me chiming in here. I recently had the opportunity to use the first RECSEA BMPCC housing earlier this year in the Philippines. I just got around to releasing my video clip:

 

 

I have a fairly extensive write-up on the vimeo page about the housing if anyone is interested. I'd be happy to answer any questions here as well.

 

It was really the first time working with Prores/CinemaDNG files for me. I've primarily been a dSLR shooter (on land), but having the latitude that the BMPCC provides in such a small package was really the big selling point to getting the camera in the water.

 

In regards to support, I primarily used a Joby Focus with the Ballhead X. For me, this was a extremely versatile item. 3 points of contacted worked for me easily, and when I didn't need the support, I would invert two of the legs upwards, which would work as side grips, which would allow me to keep my rig smaller by not having to add additional grips.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Gujustud

[thetrickster 328]

Great video! How much work was involved in editing the DNG files?

 

My goby slr-zoom has broken this week. Only had it a few months. Alas did I keep the receipt. No. I think the salt got to it.