experience shooting surfing?

S

strike_anywhere

Member
the production company i work for is shooting a new surfing show - anybody out there have experience in that area? just wanted to exchange some views on underwater housings, shooting in the water, etc.

i'm also looking for a good way of mounting the camera in a housing to the front of the board.

-justin
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

You first may want to buy a century optics ultra fisheye! This is a good way to start. I've never shot any surf videos but I have many at home and watch them very often. I shoot snowbaord, skateboard and wakeboard videos.
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

i've rented one in the past, however my underwater housing can't fit the camera with that attached.

also, the shoot is in costa rica this february - how worried should i be about the humidity affecting my equipment?

-justin
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

Pay me the trip and I'll come with you :P. If you use good underwater equiment, you shouldn't have any problem. Do you shoot with a dvx?
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

yeah, if only we had a budget like that.

we use two dvx's and are renting an fx1 - mainly just so i can test drive it.
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

i've never shot water footage before but for sure get a century death lens with a housing.  for land, definately a tele lense.  get a sturdy tripod too.  for housings, try SPL Waterhousings http://www.splwaterhousings.com if your in so cal.  he makes the best custom housings.
i don't have experience with him, but two of my friends use his housings.  i've heard nothing but good things about his stuff.  he makes anything!  oh yeah, lick or spit on the dome port to avoid water drops in your footage.
i shoot with a vx2100 with shutter around 1/4000-6000.  no ND's.  try to have the iris down around f/8 or so at max telephoto.  that's how i shoot surf.  i shoot it all the time.  
be careful with onshore winds, because they can put some mist on the lens.  make sure to throw a t-shirt or something over your camera to protect from direct sunlight/heat.  i just use a plain white t-shirt.  

i got a severe sunburn shooting land for five hours straight on thursday.  
i wanna see some bodyboarding in HD!
have fun.
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

Those are good points. Additionaly (regarding a tele) any shots onshore I would look into getting/building a mini35/adapter and using a legitimate tele lens. (NO, I dont mean taking thr adapter into the water :P )
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

i'm not sure about the dvx's zoom with a century 1.6x tele, but my sony's 12x with a century 2x tele works well for most beach/reef breaks.
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

We need to know if you'll be far from the beach (big waves and pulled by a seadoo) because if so, you'll be at 100 - 150km from the beach.
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

not really sure yet, haven't scouted the area. we'll have a wave runner, a camera in the water and on the beach. probably a good idea to bring the tele just in case they break way out there.
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

Yes it's a good idea! I'm interessed to be on the crew for a next project!
Any website of to crew or something? What is it really?
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

[quote author=strike_anywhere link=board=news;num=1106391179;start=0#2 date=01/22/05 at 12:58:02]the shoot is in costa rica this february[/quote]

Ah... Jaco. The Santa Cruz of Costa Rica.

Btw - Some great beaches (not for surf) are just south in Manuel Antonio.
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

Most of the surf beaches I saw in Costa Rica, the surf area was not to far away from the shore. You will need at least the equivalent of a 600/800 mm of 35 mm photo lense and a wide lense (fisheye) for good water shots.

Playa Negra and Playa Grande had pretty good surf when i went there and be carefull there is a Californian guy who live just on the beach, it's his beach. :D (at the end he was a good guy, he just don't want the place to become popular)
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

feburary is in the middle of costa ricas dry season, that being said it can still be pretty humid. i shoot surf footage there in the middle of the wet season [april thru october] which also the west coasts bigger surf season quite a few times with no problems.as far as humidity goes, dont bring your camera into your nice air conditioned room at the end of the day, get a pelican case and find some place not air conditoned to keep it to avoid condensation, i had a camera fog up there so bad it took a full day to start working again [first trip].as far as water housings go ,dont try to cut corners get the best housing you can. $1000+. if your not in great shape already start training.swimming with a 5 or 6 pound rock for an hour or so every day is a good one. also wear swim fins while training so your feet can build up a tolerance . nothing worse than blisters on your feet in a tropical enviorment. dont forget the anti fog fluid for the housing lens, a couple of tampons shoved in the housing helps out also. 1.6 extender much needed .watch out for the crocs at the river mouth breaks hehe
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

just noticed your looking to mount a camera to a board pm me i know someone that can do this for you
 
Re: experience shooting surfing?

For humidity, there is only one thing you can really do to combat and defeat that DEW indicator. Let the camera acclimate to the ambient humidity, then find a way to keep the unit stable.

We had our worst trouble in Brownsville, Texas just before crossing into Mexico last summer. The DVX was housed in waterproof cases overnight, but we made the mistake of running the hotel air conditioner at full tilt.

The moment we fired up the camera outside the next morning, we experienced a one and a half hour dew shutdown while we were trying to frame shots of us crossing the border.

The camera itself had become cold in the air-conditioned room, though little moisture was actually within the case and onto the camera itself. Once it hit the warm, moist air outside, it became like a glass of ice cold beer sweating on a hot summer day!

Anyway, we had zero shutdowns from dew once we lodged throughout Central America where air conditioned accommodations were rarely on offer. After having just one condensation shut down, you'll never be more happy to see only ceiling fans available for cooling your room!

Have fun!

e
 
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