Komodo (Underwater wide angle video shot with the Sony A7s, 16-35 FE & Atomos Shogun in Nauticam housings)

[Kay Burn]

 

1080p render of a 4k UHD clip showing a few dive highlights from Komodo

4K UHD version is available to watch here (You may have to set the video resolution before playback);

https://youtu.be/y33tYaoV5sk

 

A short clip from a week long trip from Komodo, Indonesia with the Komodo Dancer (Ombak Biru). I was testing the wide angle capabilities of the A7s/Shogun combo with the Sony FE 16-35 lens in a Nauticam housing and the 180mm dome.

 

Komodo offers some of the most amazing scuba diving found anywhere. The coral reefs are incredibly healthy and vibrant (the most healthy I have seen anywhere in a long time). The amount of fish life I witnessed was stunning. The dive sites vary offering both macro and wide angle opportunities. As this was a test of the wide angle setup, I have only included clips shot with the 16-35 lens.

 

Sadly, I was on a short one week trip and only had the opportunity to dive signature sites once each. I highly recommend going for much longer. Once isn't enough at many of these sites!

 

The Sony performed well. I was able to shoot at much higher ISOs than I normally would and had plenty of flexibility to use different shutter speeds and apertures. My only gripe was obtaining a custom white balance with the camera underwater. I would get errors often and the color space/tint would need to be further fine tuned (thankfully, there is an option to do that). However, in many cases, UW Auto White Balance was extremely usable! The only time I had problems with it was the occasional shift in color mid shoot when the UW Auto WB would attempt to compensate because of changing conditions. I will need more wide angle dives to test settings. 

 

The Sony FE 16-35 is absolutely superb! Combined with the Nauticam 180mm optical glass dome, I had a much more compact setup compared against most DSLR systems. This is definitely the go-to lens for wide angle video work.

 

Finally the Shogun. I can't tell you how awesome it is to shoot video using such a large monitor. I never felt that the setup was too bulky at any point. With the 180 dome, carbon fiber arms, Fisheye's Fix Aquavolt 7000 and the Nauticam tray and mounting system, the entire rig was a just little negative in the water. I would have preferred it if the monitor was a little further forward though. Perhaps Nauticam could make optional replacement handles that sat a little further back and tilts forward so that the record lever can still be reached. 

 

One thing to remember with external recording though. The camera can only output via the HDMI-out without any overlay in the MOVIE mode. In this mode with Sony lenses, continuous AF is always on, no matter what AF setting you use (with the exception of MF of course). Thankfully, the transitions are smooth.

 

Oh, did I mention, a 1tb SSD only holds 2.5hrs of UHD video in Prores HQ format?

[HenryThe8th]

Very nice!

[MikeTison]

awesome video and great job! what underwater housing are you using?

[Kay Burn]

awesome video and great job! what underwater housing are you using?

Thanks Mike

 

The Sony and the Shogun were in Nauticam housings.

http://nauticam.com/

[pilsburypie]

What an amazing video - worthy of any TV documentary. A few questions if I may:

 

What sort of iso were you shooting at?

Were you using any lighting?

How did you steady your shots? PP?

Were you shooting S-Log 2 and grading?

 

Cheers

[mdavis501]

I traveled half way around the world to shoot komodo stills. Got some good shots, but your water shots are simply fantastic.