Nice! Would like some day to dive in myself, if I dare...

It seems that the HC7 autofocus had a hard time underwater (some focus hunting). I wonder if a fixed (manual) focus setting to about 3 meters would have produced good enough overall focus. Migh be a problem if the light is low, though.. Hard to bring there some extra light ;)

One small comment concerning your cuts and crossfades. It would look even more professional if you do the cut/crossfade - before something dramatical happens in the fading-out clip. Like a big fish entering the field of view just before the crossfade is over...

Cheers, Christian

Thanks for the great comments. I agree with all of them. My wife works there, that is how I got to go in the tank.

Losing focus was an issue and is something I need to work on. I need to try shooting earlier in the day, maybe the light will be stronger or a fixed or manual focus.

I also agree that "barracuda" needs to go. I put it in as a joke, because after we got out f the tank my wife told me that it was dangerous to be so close to the barracuda w/ my wedding ring because the barracuda is attracted to shiny things. And there I was worried about the tiger shark.

Very good camerawork with a small camera in a small case, my one nit is the correction filter near the surface of the barracuda in particular. I know, you put it on and you are stuck with it. Did you try using color correction?

Good friend of mine who worked at Sea World, Steinhart, and Monterey among others, worked very hard at building proper habitats for shark display, they bump into the walls. I wonder if electro-reception provided the answer?

Ralph Nelson
Old UW Cameraman

Nice video. I volunteer at the local aquarium in Denver and took some UW footage in our tanks (though mine is all SD). Focus is alway an issue. Seems the deeper you get (i.e. the bluer it gets) that harder the camera has to hunt to focus. I spend most of my dives in manual focus (especially in the ocean).

Regarding barracuda. I always just assumed out barracuda were harmless. Yes, the teeth look nasty, but they seem to be pretty benign. Until one our aquarists was cleaning a tank from the outside, and was scrubbing a wall, and got nailed by one of the barracudas. He said it happened so fast he didn't even see it. A very nasty cut that severed some tendons in his hand. Gotta tell you, I have new found respect for the barracudas! I routinely dive with sharks, and have never heard of anyone getting hurt from a shark. Eels and those damn rays are a different story.......

Again... nice stuff. I need to find a good HD camera and housing.