underwater shooting advice needed

[pinakbeth]

Can anyone here help me with some scene file / camera settings for shooting underwater?

I will be shooting exclusively in hawaii at 10 to 30 feet, and I've got a filter fyi.

Any advice on the ideal shutter speed?

Framerate for a smooth look?

Sun position will be around 10 am to 3 pm, if it matters.

Looking for good advice on shooting, focus and iris controls.

I have a flat port , is auto focus useful underwater during the stated sun position?

I have a widelense , is it neccessary?

Greatly appreciate any tips to save me from alot of trial and error.

Thanks

[SurJones]

No one has ever really posted any REAL footage of underwater action. I am talking NationalGeographics stuff. A little splash here and there, but I am defiantly interested in seeing some and also seeing some scene files.

[THoff]

I'd talk to the folks at Wet Pixel (http://www.wetpixel.com/) -- they are all about underwater digital photography and video.

[Sumfun]

There's a guy here named CamDiver (Mark) who does a lot of underwater shooting. You might want to PM him.

[limeyx]

I would say go to wetpixel.com and do a search there too.

here is a link to a short 60 sec trailer I put together for a DVD I am trying to make.
(40M download)

http://nickambrose.com/diving/movies/DVD00001-TrailerAll.mov

The important things are:

1) Best to avoid autofocus if you can as there isnt too much contrast, and the focus can end up 'seeking' continually. If you zoom all the way out, and then lock the focus on something about 3 feet away (say you fin/buddy) I think you can get good results.

2) The red filter will help keep the colors, BUT if you use it shallower than about 20 feet, you will get really red footage. If you use it too deep, you will lose a lot of light

If you have access to manual white balance on your housing, then enable the red filter at depths of say 80-90 feet and shallower, and white balance on something white (with the red filter enabled)

3) If you have manual control over gain settings, might want to enable it. I have the Sony FX1 camera and if I enable the red filter and leave gain on auto, it sometimes (admittedly in darker water) dials the gain way up and I get cruddy footage. If I hardcode it to zero db, it is generally fine. Depending on your camera you may be able to use more gain

4) try to shoot "upward" toward the surface rather than down toward the reef if you can, to get more light in the frame.

Good luck, and have fun.

I have some HI footage but a lot of it is very washed out as it was my first time with the camera and I had no idea what I was doing (I still am pretty much a novice at this)

Would definitely be interested in the results.

EDIT
This eBook was recommended to me on wetpixel

http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/141360-ebook.htm

the DRM is a pain, and I dont think it lets you print it, but it has helped me a lot.
The first third is mostly useless if you already have a housing and camera, but then it gets into some more useful stuff. I am still making my way through it.