The sample pictures below are frame grabs from HD footage shot by a Canon 5DIII in an Aquatica housing. The purpose of this test was to get comparison material of various camera and light combinations. Later on, I’ll be summarizing comparison results.

The footage was shot at 3200 ISO with a 16-35mm L-series lense. The zoom setting was mainly in the range of 16 to 20 mm. This is a lot wider than the comparable focal length of 28mm on my Sony MC50E camera in an Aquatica HD Wave housing. Initially I noticed myself swimming much closer to the model in front and almost colliding in his fins.

The shorter focal length allows getting closer to subject matter. Consequently there is less water in between, i.e. less haze and particles. On the other hand, the wider angle made the mine tunnels appear less tunnel like. I’ll make a mental note of adjusting the zoom to slighly longer focal length for future shots.

The lamps are 80W LED video lamps manufactured by Northern Light Scuba, 8000 lumens each.  See our product pages for further information. During the shot the white balance was intentionally set to “Sun light” for comparison purposes. In post production I adjusted the tint towards purple or used auto adjust.

Thanks to Pekka Nousiainen for his assistance in this test!

This post is also available in: Finnish