John Friday & Mark Thorpe

Photography by Nick Martorano, Ocean Wonders Productions

Disclaimer:
On a recent shoot to document the daily migration patterns of Mastigas Jellyfish in Palau’s World famous Jellyfish Lake, underwater camera operators John Friday and Mark Thorpe had the opportunity to appraise the field effectiveness of three independent underwater housing offerings for the RED One Digital Cinema Camera. Neither author of this paper were asked to provide the information in the following pages by any of the housing manufacturers. Neither author stands to gain in any way from the provision of the following information to those with a vested interest in underwater cinematography and the materials required to effect underwater imagery.
 
 
Intro:

Amongst others, one of the major banes of most camera operators is the fact that as technology races forward camera technology also forces us to continually update our equipment. To an extent where almost every year we would sweep out the old and welcome in the new. Well that is all about to change. The advent of one particular camera system in recent years, apart from leaving most of us salivating, has defied the major camera manufacturers with its sheer audacity, its amazing price point and its incredible appeal. We are talking about the RED One Digital Cinema Camera, a system delivering uncompressed high definition footage at a price point previously reserved for the mid range of semi professional camera systems. Developed by the 4K Digital Cinema Company who adopt the slogan ‘Obsolescence Obsolete’. The everdeveloping systems are certainly making their mark on the movie making industry. Without going into all the technological aspects of the camera, we are here to talk underwater housings not codecs and bayer mosaics, the first thing we thought about when we first heard about the development of this system way back in 2006 was – “this camera underwater is going to be sensational”. We have not been disappointed.

As part of a team recently contracted by an eminent north American production entity to shoot the daily trials of life in a lake populated with some fifteen million stingless Jellyfish in the Republic of Palau. We headed to the Western Pacific for the shoot where along with our fellow shooters we would get the chance to get to grips with three different underwater housing options.

The three units, as shown below, are built by the following manufacturers from left to right, AquaVideo, Gates, and an AquaVideo base housing refitted by Joe Ortega from SL Cine in LA and father of Hector Ortega, co founder of Element Technica.

Housing contenders: L to R, AquaVideo, Gates Underwater Housings, Element Technica

We opted to use differing lenses with the different rigs. The AquaVideo was normally fitted with the 18-50mm zoom lens from RED. The Gates, or ‘Deep Red’, was fitted with a Carl Zeiss 14mm standard prime lens as well as the RED 18-50 . The third system, the AquaVideo / Element Technica housing was fitted for the most part with the extraordinarily wide Zeiss Ultra Prime 8R, an incredible piece of glass, with an equally impressive price tag. We were also looking to see what kind of results we would get from using a selection of wide lenses behind one dome in the Gates housing. With differing construction parameters it would be interesting to see if the nodal point of the dome, developed around the RED 18-50mm, would create image degradation due to the physical characteristic differences of the lenses being placed behind the same dome port.

Each system was targeting specific tasks. The AquaVideo was primarily used for wide establishing shots and a variety of fill shots. Fitted with the 18-50mm zoom it could, and was, at times used for macro work by adding a 2 or a 4 diopter with pleasing results at the 50mm end.

‘Deep Red’ was our day-to-day workhorse, which we shot most of the underwater segments. Shots varied from wide establishing shots on the Zeiss 14mm T2.1 standard prime as well as a number of macro sequences using the RED 18-50mm at the 50mm end with a 2 or 4 diopter screwed onto the lens. John Ellerbrock of Gates knowledge of the sweet spot on the Zeiss14mm Primes gave back great results and allowed us to really work the system to the best of its ability. The third housing is the base element of a 1st generation AquaVideo system. With additional gearing and a lengthening of the body to accommodate two RED batteries the system slides into the elongated underwater housing that was re-engineered for gearing by Element Technica out of Los Angeles, California. This system due to its increased run time was to be used, in part for our planned underwater time-lapse sequences. This would also be a great test of the heating issue (due to its three hour run time) experienced on many underwater shoots with RED, a concern from the beginning of discussions on taking this system underwater. So how was the handling of all three housings?

The tubular design of the AquaVideo housing makes handling simple, once one gets used to the control mechanics. With a red colored and ergonomic record lever on the right hand side (an Element Technica addition) and then Iris and Focus knobs located at the top and front end of the housing and finally White Balance control at left fingertip the user has basic control over the camera. Control over these features is basic in design and requires little getting used to. . That is not to say that it can be at times frustrating trying to manipulate the rudimentary Focus and Iris controls. To manipulate Focus and Iris with the AquaVideo system one must line up a control rod with the lens gears that has a bend at the end of each rod and then gently underwater changed, to attempt to reset Focus and Iris and having to juggle to get to the control, then check the image, then juggle the control again as to see if the setting was correct as we aimed to nail the setting. This is fine if you are in a stable position filming a controlled situation or scene and have adequate time to adjust settings. In the event of a Whaleshark giving birth, I kinda think one would be weeping at the thought of missing that million dollar shot, unless of course you were set up to film birthing Whalesharks!!

The housing as featured is really setup for a shooter to set a hyper-focal setting on the focus ring and then manipulate Iris only when necessary. Sounds good, but in reality we found ourselves needing to change Focus and Iris settings more often than we had originally planned. To clarify in defense of the housing though, the two used on this trip were the two first ever RED housing options from AquaVideo and the first two RED housings ever built. Since these prototypes hit the streets, AquaVideo may have made changes to their control features. Heat was never really an issue with this system. We did get a temperature warning on one occasion but that was during a Jellyfish snorkel filming session in 88 degree waters and after a solid hour of use. The system is made from aluminum with a plexi-glass back plate to allow for viewing of the RED LCD.

Mark Thorpe lines up a shot on an out of frame Green Sea Turtle. An external monitor would certainly round this system off nicely. Yes, that’s the Titanium D9 too!!

Mark’s Verdict:
I found the layout with having the RED LCD located behind plexi-glass at the rear plate of the housing caused me some concerns, and muted profanities underwater. The reason being I have, of late, and at 43 years of age, started experiencing the need for an arms length to focus on an LCD that when positioned in it’s correct position within this housing as it rests a matter of inches away from ones eyes. The simple solution of course would be to have an external monitor placed at the top and front end of the housing.

• A nicely balanced and thought out system that allows users to take their RED cameras underwater at a relatively economic price point.
• The main issue for me was the shuffling back and forth between controls for Iris and Focus if need be and the monitor. The other main issue for me was the very real issue with dome ports. Using the Acrylic ports we suffered three ‘dings’ in the field rendering all but one dome useless. Aquatica no longer constructs these ports meaning that one-day replacement ports, or lack thereof, will become an issue.

What would make it better?
A bulkhead connection so as to be able to use an external monitor. Gearing toward the work end of the housing with a geared ‘shaft’ along the inside of the housing to operate the lens gears at the business end.



John’s Verdict:
• A quick and easy system to get you working in the field right now.
• All and all what most impressed me with the system was how well balanced it was and neutrally balanced with the RED 18-50mm lens. This was not just luck.
• I lost a great many of shots while shooting fast moving/changing wildlife scenes underwater because of the difficulty in manipulating the lens controls.
• Basically a very simple system that can be used out of the box and upgraded as you find the time and funds to do so.
• User should consider upgrading the push/pull lens controls to gears. It takes a tremendous amount of patience to change Focus and Iris on the current system.

What would make it better?
This system is a good starter and basic workhorse out of the box. However the user will find themselves slightly frustrated over the current lens controls and want to upgrade those as quickly as possible. Also as Mark mentioned, a bulkhead connector for an external LCD would greatly improve the ease of use and basic handling of the housing and allow for three point contact by positioning the back end of the housing on the user’s shoulder – where the current LCD is located. An externally mounted LCD on a sliding rail or cheese plate so as to move the LCD to the user’s desired location based on each user’s eyesight or lack thereof would see a massive improvement of this ready to use system.