THE VIDEO ZONE: Top 5 Filming Gadgets!

Ok, so you have some spare cash and you can’t decide how to increase your own imaging kit. Here’s a short but informative ‘Top 5’ best gadgets for underwater filmmaking to help you spend your hard-earned wonga appropriately…

No. 5 - The Gorillapod Tripod from Joby (available from approx £16.95)
The Gorillpod is the original wraparound flexible tripod mounting system. Constructed of high quality ABS plastic with TPE grip rings it is corrosion proof and very durable. The flexible wrappable legs allow you to mount the tripod virtually anywhere from wrecks to rocks and even upon a sandy seabed. This system is ideal for small cameras such as the Sony NEX5 mounted in the Aquatica housing or similar.
http://joby.com/store

No.4 - Velbon DF-40 Tripod (available from approx £18.00)
This compact standard tripod is ideal for medium sized underwater camera systems such as the Bonica Snapper system. It can take a maximum load of 2kg and can extend to 1.45m high. It is constructed of ABS plastic so is pretty much corrosion resistant. however there are a few metal parts incorporated so it still needs to be washed thoroughly and dried after use. It weighs a mere 1.09kg so will not overly affect your trim when diving. http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/77483/show.html

No.3 - Easy Shot Clip HD Camera (available from approx £149.95)
This compact little critter is an ultra-small video cam that produces HD AVI files. The waterproof housing is a mere 35mm x 45mm x 76mm and is ideal for first person point-of-view filming. The Easy Shot Clip HD Diving Kit includes everything you need to capture your activities in water and also snowy conditions for those winter sports lovers. The mini digital video camera is only two inches tall. It takes high definition video for up to 40 minutes with its included 4GB Micro SD Card. The kit comes with a waterpoof housing up to 100ft/ 30m. Put the camera into the housing and clip it to your diving mask or goggles with the included 360-degree rotating mounting clip for hands free video recording underwater. It is perfect for use in scuba diving, kayaking, skiing and swimming. http://www.miflexhoseshop.co.uk/acatalog/Easy_Shot_Clip_Video_Cameras.html

No.2 - Snake River Blurfix for GoPro (available from approx £75.00)
This is a fantastic little edition to any GoPro housing for use underwater. This filter attachment resolves the issue of soft blurred images when using a GoPro Hero underwater and ensures that images are crisp and sharp - the way GoPro intended. It’s made of machined aluminium and comes with very informative fitting instructions. The great points about this flat filter port over others that are available for GoPro cameras is that should the Snake River leak it will not allow water ingress into the housing itself and it also allows the user to fit coloured filters.
http://www.snakeriverprototyping.com/BlurFix.html

No.1 - GoPro Hero HD (available from approx £249)
The GoPro cameras have been around for a few years now and they are great compact units that produce fantastic footage. Now there is the GoPro HERO 2 HD! It’s an outstanding bit of filming kit and is waterproof to 197ft (60m), capable of capturing professional full 170-degree wide-angle 1080p video and 11 megapixel photos at a rate of 10 photos per second.
http://gopro.com/cameras/hd-hero2-surf-edition/
 

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