I thought it was GoPro but i went scuba diving and the instructor made our video using that but the video seems so pixelated. It's not as clear as i had expected. I want to buy the best underwater camera (costing no more than $800). Any suggestions?
Six answers:
?
2015-03-28 14:57:21 UTC
If you are looking for a full rig for around $800 stick with the GoPro Hero 4. And get a setup with it that has mounts for a light if you are doing deeper diving. I would recommend taking an underwater video class, preferably taught by someone who does underwater photography for a living. If the video your instructor shot was having problems with pixelation it could simply be that it is a much older model or he bought the low end GoPro Hero. As far as the suggestion to buy a camera and a housing for it separately I will tell you what the professional dive photographer at my dive shop told me, a housing should cost 2x what the camera does. This isn't a suggestion designed to make you spend extra money, it is due to the extreme pressures on the housings which causes a lot of failures on lower quality housings.
FYI with respect to the other answers, pixilation is not caused by poor lighting. Pixilation is caused because the resolution of the video that was shot was lower than the resolution of whatever you were watching it on. Poor lighting causes discoloration at depth.
Herr Josef K
2015-03-26 14:58:00 UTC
Canon G16 $449
Canon - WP-DC52 Waterproof Case $258
Canon WW-DC1 Waterproof Case Weight $23
Fantasea Line Silica Gel Packs (10-Pack) $5
Total $735
The Nikon 1 AW1 with AW 11-27.5mm Lens for $747 might be capable of a little bit better image quality. However, with a depth rating of 15 meters, that might best be limited to snorkeling rather than SCUBA.
Sumi
2015-03-26 20:48:47 UTC
Eight hundred is fairly low-end when it comes to underwater photography. But then again, it depends on whether you want it for snorkeling or for diving which is far more expensive. This one will get you down to 49 feet: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1006601-REG/nikon_27665_1_aw1_mirrorless_digital.html
At that depth, you'll need to use a set of video lights ($800 - $1,200) or strobes from photos.
A probable cause to the pixelated look of the video was a poor lighting setup which will cost more than your budget of $800.
?
2015-03-26 16:43:33 UTC
You didn't tell us where you went diving or how deep you went.
I've been 15 - 50 feet deep in kelp beds at Catalina Island off the coast of California and there is no way there was enough light for any camera to get decent video - unless external lighting is used.
I've been 15 feet deep on coral reefs in Hawaii that had plenty of light so no external lighting was needed for decent video capture.
My guess is the GoPro will probably be just fine - but you need to add light... Example:
Sounds like your instructor didn't know what he was doing with a GoPro. Go to YouTube and look at any of the hundreds of underwater GoPro videos and you'll see. If it was a s bad as you say, nobody would buy it.