St. James video

[jasondbaker]

Here's some video I shot at St. James this past weekend.  It looks pretty good in HD.    This is the first time I've shot underwater video on my new 7D camera rig so I'm still getting used to it. 

[Indigo Blues]

Great video! Nice viz too - so where is this place located?

[freedivernd]

that's one big fish in that vid!  looked like good technique.  nice visibility.  Pretty steady on the camera there too Jason.

[LKunze]

St. James Pit is located in Aurora, MN. 

[ScubaAl]

Was a nice day diving at St. James this past Saturday. Little warm gearing up, but just something you have to deal with.
One interesting fact, there were 7 rebreather divers on site, all Inspirations.

Al

[Qix]

Hey Jason,

Thanks for posting this. The video looks great. I have a bunch of questions for you regarding the setup as I've been thinking of taking a DSLR underwater.

1.) What housing for  the 7D?
2.) What lens & focal length (maybe 35 or 50)?
3.) What ISO for this clip?
4.) What aperture?
5.) Did you whitebalance in camera first or in post?
6.) Did you have a magenta filter in place?

Finally a comment / question. Before the clip started I expected it to have lots of focusing issues as I've heard DSLR + video = manual focus hassle. But your clip looked great especially in this regard. As if you shot higher iso, stopped down quite a bit and just fixed the focus to about 15' or so. If you were using a autofocus it would be very interesting to know?

You might have me sold on DSLR underwater with this sample clip. I have a 35L and 100macro begging to tag along on a likely trip to Bonaire this winter I'm leaning toward enclosing a T2i unless your research gave you reasons in favor of 7D for underwater? Actually, like every Canon shooter out there I'd really like to take a 5Dmk2 but that's a lot of camera to flood, be damaged lost in a travel  fiasco or stolen.

[jasondbaker]

Hey Jason,

Thanks for posting this. The video looks great. I have a bunch of questions for you regarding the setup as I've been thinking of taking a DSLR underwater.

1.) What housing for  the 7D?

I picked up the new Nauticam housing with 8" dome and 60mm macro ports.  I really think it's the best housing for the 7D.  I looked closely at an aquatica as well. 

2.) What lens & focal length (maybe 35 or 50)?

I was using a tokina 10-17mm fisheye near the 10mm focal length.  Actually this is the only lens I have used so far in our murky local lakes.  It helps you remove all that water between you and the subject.  I was only a few feet away from Lonnie when I captured this video.  Sometimes when I take pics of Lonnie he has to back kick away from me because I can be inches away from him and still get his whole body in the frame.  Amazing lens.

3.) What ISO for this clip?

I believe it was set at 320.  I really have little experience shooting video on the 7D. But I read somewhere that you should manually set the ISO so that the video was consistent throughout the shot. And someone had mentioned that 320 was a great starting ISO for video on the 7D. This video was shot within 20ft of the surface so I just used natural light. 

4.) What aperture?

Pretty sure it was around F8.  My understanding is the tokina is sharpest around this aperture.  I wasn't too concerned about depth of field so I picked a general setting.

5.) Did you whitebalance in camera first or in post?

I usually leave the camera white balance set to cloudy.  Frankly I shoot all my pics in raw and then whitebalance later in lightroom.  I don't have any video editing software so what you see is unedited video directly from the camera.

6.) Did you have a magenta filter in place?

No. I don't own any filters. 

Finally a comment / question. Before the clip started I expected it to have lots of focusing issues as I've heard DSLR + video = manual focus hassle. But your clip looked great especially in this regard. As if you shot higher iso, stopped down quite a bit and just fixed the focus to about 15' or so. If you were using a autofocus it would be very interesting to know?

Yeah, I really didn't know what to expect in this regard.  This video is literally the first underwater video I've shot with this camera and I was very pleased with the result.  I set the camera to AI servo autofocus to track Lonnie in the water.  I used a general aperature setting of f8. Low ISO --the sensor on this camera is stellar.  I think the key was the tokina fisheye lens.  This lens has such a huge depth of field that the camera doesn't have to adjust focus that much. 

You might have me sold on DSLR underwater with this sample clip. I have a 35L and 100macro begging to tag along on a likely trip to Bonaire this winter I'm leaning toward enclosing a T2i unless your research gave you reasons in favor of 7D for underwater? Actually, like every Canon shooter out there I'd really like to take a 5Dmk2 but that's a lot of camera to flood, be damaged lost in a travel  fiasco or stolen.

I did a bunch of research on my own but also received a ton of help from Steve at Aquaventure.  He knows these dslr underwater camera rigs inside and out.  And it's not just the camera. It's the housings, ports, lenses, strobes, arms, focus lights, etc.  I considered either the T2i or the 7D.  Nauticam's housings for both are outstanding (and Aquatica's are good too).  Steve convinced me the 7D was a better camera. And he flew down to Florida to play with the new nauticam housing.  His recommendation was spot on. The cost of the camera body wasn't a big concern for me.  It's not that significant when you add up the cost of everything else.

At the end of the day if I can't get the shot I want with this camera then it ain't the camera's fault.

[Qix]

Thanks for answering all those questions. I have to say that wide angle threw me, both myself and another photographer had first guesses of 35mm. As you can guess I did a lot of looking last night regarding the Nauticam series and they look like a very nice solution. I currently dive a L&M housing for a HD camcorder and was surprised to see they no longer make DSLR housings

I think I'll have to drop in and chat with Steve, sounds like a great reference.

I've shot quite a bit with the 40D and 450D. If I could find a used enclosure for either I'd maybe go that route but neither does video and I just like u/w video too much to give it up. I really like the xxD and xD series bodies for my hands, more rugged, better viewfinders, dial on back, etc but I always grabbed the 450D for travel. So (unless you guys sway me away!) I'm still leaning towards a T2i and put the difference + 40D resale funds towards a strobe and extra port or towards a 5DII for everything else. I think what I'd miss most with a T2i in a housing (vs 5D, 7D, upcoming 60D) is the viewfinder, faster focusing, easier flash control and the rear dial.

No matter what, I might rethink lenses and bring something which can get close to a EFL of 16mm.

Thanks again and I'd love to see more video as you master it!

[Terry]

2.) What lens & focal length (maybe 35 or 50)?

I was using a tokina 10-17mm fisheye near the 10mm focal length.  Actually this is the only lens I have used so far in our murky local lakes.  It helps you remove all that water between you and the subject.  I was only a few feet away from Lonnie when I captured this video.  Sometimes when I take pics of Lonnie he has to back kick away from me because I can be inches away from him and still get his whole body in the frame.  Amazing lens.

                        I have to agree with Jason, I run a Tokina 10-17mm on my Nikon D300 and have been real happy with it. Especially up here where cloudy water cancels a lot of good pics.    Terry