Photographers - some advice please

[Stevie_W]

Hi
This is a bit of a technical question.

How do camera filters work?
I have a Wingman with underwater casing. It's great for taking action shots and videos when i go paintballing. But when i try to use this underwater, a lot of the colours go and all the photos and videos come out almost all blue.
I was told that if i got a filter for this then that should fix some of the colour issues i'm getting. However, so far, I can't seem to find a filter for the Wingman on line and i've had no responses from them when i emailed them to see if they had such a thing.

So what i'm trying to do is try to find out how these filters work and see if i can produce a home made version........i mean would it be as easy as just putting a piece of transparent red paper over the lens? or somewhat much more complicated than that?

Cheers

[nakatago]

Hi
This is a bit of a technical question.

How do camera filters work?
I have a Wingman with underwater casing. It's great for taking action shots and videos when i go paintballing. But when i try to use this underwater, a lot of the colours go and all the photos and videos come out almost all blue.
I was told that if i got a filter for this then that should fix some of the colour issues i'm getting. However, so far, I can't seem to find a filter for the Wingman on line and i've had no responses from them when i emailed them to see if they had such a thing.

So what i'm trying to do is try to find out how these filters work and see if i can produce a home made version........i mean would it be as easy as just putting a piece of transparent red paper over the lens? or somewhat much more complicated than that?

Cheers

When you go underwater, the deeper you go, the more red and yellow you lose because those wavelengths are absorbed by water.

Ideally, you'd want to bring your own light source. You can make do with a jerry-rigged filter but you risk adding another layer where light is lost before it reaches the camera's sensor.

Your best bet would be to increase light entering the sensor, either via a larger aperture or higher ISO. Slower shutter speed would also do but you risk blurrier pictures.

You can then adjust the colors in post processing where you can play around with the image's color balance with software such as Photoshop or GIMP. Not sure with video though (I don't take as much video as I do stills).

If you want to adjust colors in situ, you can also fiddle with your camera's white balance and lean towards the 'hotter' temperatures (e.g. "cloudy" setting) before taking those underwater shots.

[Stevie_W]

I'll have a look to see if i can change some of these settings.

But this is a Wingman, very similar to a GoPro. It doesn't have a built in flash. And i'm not sure if these settings that you mentioned are available or not, will need to check.
About bringing my own light sourse, you mean like a torch?

[nakatago]

I'll have a look to see if i can change some of these settings.

But this is a Wingman, very similar to a GoPro. It doesn't have a built in flash. And i'm not sure if these settings that you mentioned are available or not, will need to check.
About bringing my own light sourse, you mean like a torch?

Ideally, one built for videography but I guess you can make do with a torch. Experiment a bit; your mileage may vary.

[Stevie_W]

Can you recommend any places to get such a light from?

So far i'm just used to using the point and shoot cameras with the auto flash and the built in video recorder.
Last week i went to Harvey Norman just to ask about filters and throughout he just wanted me to buy a GoPro. So preferably somewhere where they will actually listen to what you want. But then, if i'm in the mood for being patronising, then i can always go back to one of these places and have a bit of fun.

[nakatago]

Can you recommend any places to get such a light from?

So far i'm just used to using the point and shoot cameras with the auto flash and the built in video recorder.
Last week i went to Harvey Norman just to ask about filters and throughout he just wanted me to buy a GoPro. So preferably somewhere where they will actually listen to what you want. But then, if i'm in the mood for being patronising, then i can always go back to one of these places and have a bit of fun.

John 3:16 in Funan has excellent customer service. They will discuss with you to meet your needs even if it means you buying a cheaper product. They're not the least expensive in Singapore but the service more than makes up for it. The downside is, you'll have to wait if you happen to go there during a busy period.

That said, go dip into a pool first and play around which settings will give you the best results. You may or may not need a light or if you do, you'll want to think about the trouble of getting one if it's worth it.

I've taken some underwater photos with a dinky underwater camera and adjusting color balance sufficed. No flash, no external light, just post processing.