Dive Op Reviews
Photo and Video Articles
Photo & Video
Turks and Caicos Video
Well, the sharks sure were curious in Turks and Caicos (As you can see). There is a high definition version on the vimeo website located here:
Please also check out our Turks and Caicos Explorer Review.
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Photo & Video
Fisheye Fix Light HG20DX Review
While looking for a lighting solution for use with my Seatool video housing, I came across some people who had used the Fix Light HG20DX as video lighting, and they were pleased. For a purchase price of $419.00, it was quite expensive for a single "flashlight" style of light, but I went with it because it was less expensive then a full video lighting system. I also purchased the Fisheye rotary shoe base for $60 to connect it to my video camera.
The light shipped to me and was missing several parts. I was told by the distributor that this happened with several orders, and was shipped the missing battery, charger, rubber battery cap remover, etc. Once I got everything, I was able to crank this thing up.
The battery charger has a wierd quirk. I fully charged the battery. I had 4 green LED's that indicated it was fully charged. I left it on the charger for a couple more hours and came back to it and it only had 2 LED's lit - indicating a half charge. Strange. This also happened one other time when we were charging it on a trip. In addition, on 2 occassions, the battery claimed a full charge - but would not power up the light. Taking the battery out and placing it back on the charger for a couple of seconds, then back into the light made it work again.
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Photo & Video
Seatool SVH-HC7 - Topside Review and Pictures
I recently purchased a Sony HDR-HC7 to make the upgrade to High Definition video. After looking around, I really liked the Seatool SVH-HC7, at least from what I could see of it on the internet. Considering I don't live on the east or west coast, I bought it based on the small amount of reviews and pictures.
I am writing this to give a quick topside first impression and to provide more pictures then are available on the internet so far.
Some of the main things to note:
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Photo & Video
High Definition vs. Standard Definition, Side-by-Side
I recently upgraded from a standard definition to high-definition handicam. I had always wondered about just how much clearer a high definition camcorder really is.
My first camera was the Sony DCR-PC330. I had the Ocean Images housing, wide-angle lens and color filter. That setup really turned out some pretty impressive video. I used Sony Vegas and DVD architect to capture the video and make the DVD - which was super easy for the beginner, and advanced enough to allow me to get more technical as I wanted. I pretty much stayed at the easy-beginner level.
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Photo & Video
How to make a panoramic photo with Photoshop
I have been to lots of places where I felt a panoramic would be a great thing to have. Guess what? You don't need any special cameras to create a panoramic photo! For this tutorial, you will need Photoshop - so if anyone knows how to make them with other image programs, please write a tutorial!
What is needed:
Photoshop (confirmed working on version CS-CS3)
Any Digital Camera
How to make a panoramic photo.
1. The first step is to snap a few photos that you will want to connect together. IMPORTANT: Make sure that the photos you are taking will overlap at one edge (i.e. starting from the left photo, make sure that you identify a point on the right side of the shot. When taking your next shot, make sure that point is on the left side of the frame. Notice how my photos overlap below:
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