Scuba Diving in Hurghada Egypt with HD GoPro Hero

[621bigboy]

so honestly how is this camera for scuba diving when theres maby only 10ft maby 15ft viz. but i do have a very good light

[formgren]

sweet. bring back memorys.. im thinking of bying this camera and good to see that it worked well with diving:)  headmounted?

[southerntrails]

@formgren hi, brilliant camera, so durable, amazing above water but a real extra bonus that it's waterproof to 60m as well! Im just holding it for this footage, stays pretty stable as im sure you can imagine the resistance from water stops you being able to move too erratically (like my normal above water filmings) ;)

[formgren]

@southerntrails lol yea I have films here on youtube also from diving . but with the canon G9 camera,,, i saw you can get a better lins for the gopro for diving... and now the gopro hd2 is coming out sith better wideangel and 120fps and better pic in low light... its a by for me :)

[pelge50]

@southerntrails Hey I got the GoPro HD Hero2, I just wondered if there was any settings or tips u could give me about filming underwater.. :)

[doctoredeparis]

@southerntrails Hi there its amazing, is the only go pro that is water proof???

[brim5player]

totally awesome footage 

[mrTURTLEbeat]

YOUR LUCKY! when i went on holiday to cyprus, we went diving at about 26m max.and as we went down to this wreck,a massive shark swam above us, and all i saw was a shadow (like a glimer) so i thought it was a massive fish, and jolted my head towards it and guess what!? it was a grey nurse shark, and i shit myself! :Land it nudged my girlfriends arm and i thought shit,if this shark touches here again im gunna pull its eyes out threw its ass! :L ive never seen something with such scary teeth! :D

[southerntrails]

@mrTURTLEbeat dont think i would have gone in the water ever again if that was me ;-)

[DJTarga]

You bring an HD camera, and then you don't upload it in HD? O_O

[southerntrails]

@DJTarga yh true, but I found that when recording in 1080 it tends to error a lot which is fine if you can look, check, then restart it but I do a lot of motorbike racing and there is nothing worse then getting off to find it stopped recording 10mins into it, so now I only record on 480 and have had no issues at all...

[itstony45]

@southerntrails have you had any issues with the 720p @60fps? I recently bought one, and most of my recordings are going to involve some crazy slow downs. but once I deploy I'm using it in strictly r2 or r4.

[southerntrails]

Hi @itstony45, great camera all round but I do find using either of the HD settings that (720/1080) that it can error quite a lot (it may be due to the speed of the SD card I have).. So I tend to now mostly use it on WVGA as it will record all the way through the battery life with no issues...

[itstony45]

@southerntrails so far most of my test videos have come out pretty well even on r3 and r5. maybe it is the SD card, I broke the bank on mine lol. the only thing is the video appears glitchy in Windows Movie Maker, but once I save the video (using the "for high definition playback" settings) the glitches seem to disappear. of course, I havent been able to get Twixor for my slo motion yet, so there may be glitches that I can't see.

[TehFoxit]

@southerntrails Hey, so if you get errors with your gopro stopping after a while, or even a few seconds, it might be because your SD card is too slow (it has to be class 6 or above, if it isn't it might stop) But that should help you out :)

[11payner]

did you have to have a qualification to film underwater with this

[southerntrails]

@11payner hi, good point as I know this is part of the padi course.. but, not a part that ive done... I didnt ask but no one said anything??!?!

[DanyielMahal]

GREAT VIDEO. I look forward to buying one of these

[Sebiesaurus98]

How deep did you go?

[southerntrails]

@Sebiesaurus98 Hi, i'm only open water certified so max of 18m but think this dive in particular was only 12m maximum... The GoPro can supposedly go down to 60m!!!!

[11payner]

how did you mount the camera, using the headstrap?

[southerntrails]

@11payner Hi, no I was just holding it... pretty easy to keep it steady underwater (wouldn't want to try that on my bike though ;)

[catascouts]

Excellent footage! Thanks!

[LoveRise]

Thanks for the quick reply. The flat lens still has a fish eye view it just helps focus better yet I thought your video was perfectly in focus. Now if I only could take a trip to dive egypt I could test it for myself....laughing.

[LoveRise]

'Great video. Which model is this the 960 or the wide angel hd. Also are you using the lens that comes with the camera or the corrective flat lens that you buy seperately. If this is with the normal lens I see no need for the corrective one?

[southerntrails]

@LoveRise Hi, I don’t think it's wide angle simply the GoPro HD Hero... It's just the standard lens, ive heard of the flat lens but this is the fisheye style. I assume because the outer subject is continuous water it is not that obvious it is fish eyed. For my motor biking videos the fish eye curve is very obvious but maybe it doesn’t effect it too much underwater?

[NOKLifeguardsCorfu]

@southerntrails Hi, flat lences are for clearing the focus underwater not about curves or not. In this videos is obvius that some things are out of focus. When you approach the rocks just before 2:00 the but focus on left and right is quite obvius. But anywasy still a very nice video. Cheers

[pukki34]

@southerntrails I heard that the fish-eye lens went out of focus underwater, and you needed the flat lens housing to fix that. But this video seems fine! I'm yet to try my gopro underwater....

[hoburt]

@LoveRise It comes with a 170 degree lens

[marinefish321]

ture OKJM40 but there are good dive stories and videos on the net also. Try the myscubastory site. Type myscubastory into google and its the first one

[SebbzN]

You got a HD camera, dude. Use the HD then.

[Hoontrakul]

Here is a focus fix with the replacement Oculus flat lens for the Gopro Hero HD.

Search for "Oculus Gopro"

[thecanadian7117]

does the go pro just come with the case to do this or what?

[southerntrails]

@thecanadian7117 Hi yes, it's a great piece of kit, it comes as standard with a waterproof casing (up to 60m) and various attachments to use with helmets, cars, surf boards, etc...

[thecanadian7117]

@southerntrails thanks on the other question and i live up in Canada and the waters darker and murkier will it still have good visibility and how does it preform in darker water?

[edelossi55]

Very nice, GoPro best camera

[aravec]

Great work. Nice editing. Just got back from Hurghada myself and used my new ATC9k HD helmet cam which is waterproof 20m. Not quite as good as the GoPro but cheaper and still excellent! I intend to wack a few clips on here too :)

[southerntrails]

@Ritelout 'cant recommend them enough' - in other words... they are brilliant!....

[christhegreatish]

is it water proof right out of the box?

[southerntrails]

@christhegreatish Hi yes it is to supposedly 60 metres.. it's an excellent bit of kit, cant recommend them enough!

[snowriderj]

Are you just holding the camera or are you using a mount that you found is compatible with dive gear??? Seems like the chest harness would interfere with the BCD and the head harness with the mask.

[southerntrails]

@snowriderj Hi, yes just holding it, as you say I dont think any mount/harness would be any good as would get in the way and having it in your hand gives the freedom to quickly point it at the action!

[driftaw]

You've got some nice shots there. Congrats on the dive.

[MrTom2219]

which lens is that?

the one that comes with it or the flat 1?

[southerntrails]

@MrTom2219 Hi, its the one that comes with it... the fish eye one..

[Beeshamm]

Hi, Now I have tried the camera, with flat lens and red filter that i got with the camera. The problem when I watch the video clip its all round like a fish eye, can you tell me why?

Which resolution did you use for this video, are you using the original lens on this video?

[southerntrails]

@Beeshamm Hi, is your camera definetly a GoPro HD? Mine was just totally standard and it came with the fish eye lens, I thought all of them did? The resolution was the lowest setting VGA as I find editing HD videos slow on my computer...

[ReDGamerZ]

im 13 and i LOVE scuba diving

[WeRideTonite]

you breathe like a steam train lol :D how many bars do you have left after a 45 min dive? and coming from how many bars?

[Beeshamm]

Nice Video, I will be going to Egypt and have some dive., I just got my go pro and have'nt use it yet. want to know how is it to hold the camera with the hand when diving?

[southerntrails]

@Beeshamm Hi, I just held the camera in my hand as its a lot easier to move around then... You dont have to be perfect with the direction you are pointing it in as it has the wide fish eye lens to take in as much as the surrounding as possible.. Hope that helps... Enjoy Egypt!

[bronsonkessing221]

hey i was just wondering what program you use to edit your video's,is it for window's?,thanks

[southerntrails]

@bronsonkessing221 hi, it's just windows movie maker that comes bundled with xp/vista, etc... Simple but effective program..

[yolovema]

HELLO!! What model do you use external microphone? I think this is not the micro of the camera go pro?? Your video is the best diving I've seen with this camera GoPro.Thanks.

[southerntrails]

@yolovema Hi, thanks for your comments, this is just a standard gopro with no external mic, etc... I cut a lot of the deeper footage out as it does get darker the deeper you go but on the whole this is a great camera, I also use it for motorbiking/car videos, it's a very durable camera and I really like the results with it...

[southerntrails]

@southerntrails Large cracks! Might be a bit more warey about taking it down from now ;-)

[billyray3761]

@southerntrails

Cracks in the housing?!

[yolovema]

@southerntrails, Oh surprising, usually with the waterproof case, sounds are greatly reduced. Many people complain about the microphone of the camera gopro, they have crackling noises and they are forced to put music editing... excuse for my bad english. :)



[pikesticker]

That guy at 6:45 should fix that gauge hose air leak. Losing dive time on the tank~! Always wanted to dive the Red Sea. Thanks for posting.

[519Guitar]

when i went scuba diving with my gopro it was so cold that i was shivering so much that the picture was too shaky to make out a good image.

[pikesticker]

@519Guitar You should get the head strap mount. That way your hands are free and the camera much steadier.

[Huddit]

Only researchers are allowed below 48 meters - and to even be able to go 48 (which you'll basically only have time to go down and then turn around and go up again) you'll have to be a divemaster.

Work on that breathing, sounds like your air will be gone in no time

[elspiclatino]

who can answer this: can the pressure of water cause more saturation turning it from a liquid to a solid like gel?

[RKouwenberg]

Nice vid! I also have the GoPro HD and for sharper images you should take a look at the eyeofmine website and search for the underwater fix.

I'm going to egypt in september to Sharm El Sheikh. I will post a video response with my footage. Keep on divin!

[aryannav]

how deep was this dive? can you really take it down to 60m as they claim on their website?

[southerntrails]

@aryannav We only went around 15-20m. From what ove read the claimed 60m is correct and has been taken a lot further and remained water tight but the deeper you go the less light there is so the picture becomes a lot worse. Most of the video is mine is probably around 8m, even at 10-15m the footage went very dark. I wouldnt recommend a gopro just for diving but with all its other uses (helmet cam, suction attachement for track days, surf boards, etc) it really is a durable camera...

[aztectemplar]

Hey mate, this comes a bit late, but if you dive again soon. Try getting an underwater filter and simply put it on the lens.

It looks amazing either way. But as far as I know the GPHD doesn't have an underwater setting (I dont own one, so I dont know, it looks amazing and I will for sure get one when I start diving soon.

The filter is pretty much just a red screen on top of the lens, I'm sure you can find one that you can just put on top for cheap :)

Awesome footage!

[dumbyutube]

How did you avoid fogging inside lens of the camera ? i dove but the lens fogged up after 3 mins !! Where did you attach the camera ? did you wear the head strap ? i found the head strap kinda loose and had to overlap the strap with the mask strap ...

Thanks. Other problem was lighting and as the video shows , colours are not brilliant under water .

[southerntrails]

@dumbyutube Hi, this will be because you got a bit of moisuture inside.. I once opended mine up biking when it was raining a drop got in there and due to the heat when it is recording this created condensation over the lens area so I now make sure its well dried out before using (put in airing cuboard) and dont open when any moisture about.

[67fastcamaro]

@southerntrails there are anti fod strips avail for the camera that you put inside to prevent fogging

[southerntrails]

@dumbyutube Also for this I was just holing the camera - I did think about putting the suction attachment onto the tank but thought it best to hold so can move it quick if there is something interesting.

[jonlin]

You know those little desiccant bags that come packaged with electronics, food, and other things? The ones that say "do not eat"? Find a small one and jam it inside the housing before you close it. That'll keep the moisture under control. You can also put a little anti-fog goggle cleaner on the inside of the housing window.

[waldasso]

strange...which preset ( 720? 1080?960? ) you used on that video??? this is the first time ever... then i sow a nearly good video quality from underwater GO PRO HD...hmm

[southerntrails]

@waldasso Hi Waldasso, this was on 720p; bear in mind this is the highlights from a whole day diving so there is a lot of grey stuff cut out but on the whole i found it pretty good - I also didnt change any settings but after getting back ive found that you can set colour intensity, how much light goes in, etc - I assume some pretty good results can be got once these are set right....

[AnotherAccount2Rembr]

That's awesome. I was looking at doing a diving trip to Hurghada in May with Emperor Divers and getting a Hero GoPro HD as well. Any recommendations or good advice on either?

[southerntrails]

@AnotherAccount2Rembr Hi, appologies I thought I replied to this comment before - would seem it didnt save... Diving trip to Hurghada = Excellent, I went for a relaxing week with my girlfirend and both being keen divers we decided to do an unplanned day. Cant vouch for any companies as used the hotel one and it was unbelievbaly cheap but well run, safe, etc.

[southerntrails]

As for the GoPro I think that for diving there are a lot better underwater cameras but the gopro has so many other uses that for me it is great - I mainly use the camera whilst out on my mototbike but it also comes with a suction fixing point so it can be attached to a car for track days etc and of course is also waterproof to 60m so for me it is an excellent bit of kit but if you are only going to use for diving it is worth looking at some others... Hope that helps, James

[chrisk3317]

What do you find to be the best settings for under water?

[southerntrails]

Hi Chris, I had only had the camera a few weeks and wasn't aware of the amount of settings it had so this was just standard 720p - im sure the quality could have been a lot better with proper settings..

[claytonaguiar1974]

You didn't mention the depth of this dive. 100 ft?

[southerntrails]

Hi Clayton, we got lumbered with some try dives so I think it was only around 10m max (30ft)..

[chrisk3317]

How did you mount the camera?

[southerntrails]

I thought of putting the suction mount on the tank but decided to just hold the GoPro as its easier to move around and point to anything of interest...

[southerntrails]

is that where the 'onelungwarrier' comes from?

[svengalie]

always wanted to do this. But I have a lung problem that doesn't like pressure else it will collapse :(

so jealous

[Schaaf]

don't worry, I'm also not allowed to go for a dive - my eardrums are completely busted and they cant stand any pressure - so you're not alone :D