Underwater Bubble Blowers User Group Thread NEW

[Will Keir]

This is actually good, I have finally been convinced to stay away from this thread and Reduser for while...

Rudi, if a shark bit you would you stop diving? Stick around man, we love ya.

[davidtorres]

Hola I have this beutiful toy in México ready to Fly any were.


www.cinemared.com/sub-acuatico.html

[John J Ellerbrock]

Hola I have this beutiful toy in México ready to Fly any were.


www.cinemared.com/sub-acuatico.html

Love the artwork , especially across the dome!

Best of success David.

[Johnny Friday]

Rudi, if a shark bit you would you stop diving? Stick around man, we love ya.

If it bit Rudi's head off i think he'd have to...but if it bit his ass off.....he'd just give the shark his ass.....Hey, Rudi's a pretty smart guy---i wouldn't discount anything he has to say...

[Michael Hastings]

Hola I have this beutiful toy in México ready to Fly any were.


www.cinemared.com/sub-acuatico.html

Love the artwork , especially across the dome!

Best of success David.

Seems a little soft on the edges ;-)






Sorry, couldn't resist ...you know who I'm teasing.

[Pawel Achtel]

Tom,

When I was shooting with antiquated dome ports I used to do a precise conversion table for particular dome/lens combination so that I could dial in the exact focus on the virtual image. It is not flat, it has depth: a very compressed one so that the DOF is actually thinner. It is also non-linear. But, it is also curved, and the curvature changes with distance, which complicates things a fair bit. If you have some basic arthmetic skills, you can make one to suit your system. I have one in Excel. I would expect it should be in the housing manual for the particular dome that your manufacturer provided, have you checked? LOL

If focusing by eye doesn't work, I find focusing with focus marks pretty good most of the time...particularily Nikonos 15mm on DeepX is spot on

[Pawel Achtel]

I hope this is of interest - I just received it back from Bob Cranston with his blessing :)


PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release: 21 June 2012


World-renowned American cinematographer gives Aussie invention the thumbs up


Something of a revolution is about to happen in the world of underwater films. In an arena pioneered by the French diver and film-maker Jacques Cousteau, who played a key role in inventing modern diving gear as well as introducing millions to the world’s oceans and their conservation, it’s never been possible to get pictures anywhere near as sharp as on land. Until now.

Aussie inventor and film-maker, Pawel Achtel, has just produced his first batch of a new type of underwater housing, the “DeepX”, that does away with most of the usual paraphernalia associated with filming underwater.

“The design is wonderfully simple,” said world-renowned underwater cinematographer Bob Cranston when trying out the first ever DeepX off the coast of Catalina earlier this month. “It is very small and easy to travel with … and uses great Nikon optics. And it offers the best close-up capabilities I’ve seen so far.”

High praise from a cameraman who’s tried out most of the gear previously on the market and worked on some of the biggest underwater films ever made, from the IMAX films “Deep Sea 3D” and “Island of the Sharks” to the BBC’s hugely popular “Blue Planet”.

What makes the DeepX different to anything previously available is that whereas previous systems have an image quality that deteriorates rapidly away from the very centre, this new underwater housing system uses Nikonos lenses designed expressly for underwater use, with no extra plastic or glass in front of them. As a result it’s the first camera system that produces underwater images truly sharp enough for the biggest cinema screens in the world.

Even on a screen the size of an iPad, the images are so much crisper than anything shot with conventional underwater gear, that the underwater world truly comes to life in your hands.

DeepX makes use of “Red” cameras, made by the US company that has itself led a revolution in the world of film-making over the past decade and adopted by such film-makers as “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson for his upcoming “Hobbit” movie.

In the underwater world, there’s nothing quite like it. “For my next feature,” said Bob Cranston, “it’s at the top of my shopping list!”

[Michael Hastings]

Tom,
snip:

I would expect it should be in the housing manual for the particular dome that your manufacturer provided, have you checked? LOL

Actually, he was given a very precise (to the hundredths of an inch) and easy to use chart relating the actual distance to the virtual image. As you say, the conversion scale is logarithmic and this was taken from the original Gomer T. McNeil graphs and verified empirically. It makes it very easy to find focus presets for whatever hyper focal setting you prefer.


BTW I notice your Cranston PR doesn't mention wide angle performance - which in the original material he said was not wide enough for his liking.



Looking back, I wasn't able to find my original post about using Nikonos on Red (there were several threads going at a time) but I found this reference in the original bubble blowers thread from 2/21/2007 - post number 60 about 10 days after the thread was started and 7 or 8 months before any Red cameras were delivered.

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthr...s-Group/page33

02-21-2007, 10:18 AM

Just a couple of comments:

snip: (you can read the full post about wide lenses, ivanoff and fathom correctors as well as domes, wide converters, etc.)

...

I also mentioned in an earlier post the possibility of actually making the front of the housing the front plate of the RED and incorporating a Nikonos mount which would allow use of the Nikonos 15 and also other Nikons with an adapter.
...

So, I will make this offer: For anyone that buys an AquaVideo housing for Epic, I will make a front plate to allow mounting of the Epic or Scarlet and use of the Nikonos lenses - for $9,995 - delivery within 60 days or less ARO - which combined with our housing is still several thousand dollars cheaper than the DeepX and has the advantage of allowing use of regular SLR and cinema lenses, multiple port options, battery options, etc. I did drawings and prep work for this idea long ago, so it wouldn't take that much to update it for epic.

No guarantees on warranty effect with RED (which we still have not heard about regarding DeepX), and if there is any question about violating patents (as has been brought up to me in some PMs - what's the patent number?) I will be happy to defend it in a US court as I believe copying the Nikonos mount and bolting the camera body to the inside of the plate with four sealed screws, is easily defensible as being both obvious and covered by multiple examples of prior art. Having been in the business for over 25 years I have been involved in a few lawsuits in both directions, and like Jim Jannard, I've never lost either.

[Frazier Nivens]

Installed the new Antenna upgrade yesterday and it worked beautifully to control my Epuc outside, through the wall, start stop, etc.

I put my camera in the housing and then tried to control the camera simple record stop start with the backplate off and it wouldnt work. Has anyone else tried the new Antenna upgrade in their housing with Redmote? The old antenna shot right thru the backplate but the new one at least on mine wouldn't.

[Tom Hamilton]

Am testing it in the next couple of days Frazier, will let you know. Although, I'm guessing I'll get the same results. How to proceed from there?