GoPro Hero 8 Black Underwater Video Settings

Hey and Welcome!

My name is Ryuta and i have been an avid user of the GoPro series for the past couple of years.

I started out using the gopro when the hero 4 was released and i’ve owned most of the models released up till now.

[ Updated GoPro 10 Black Settings: HERE ]

The GoPro is very convenient to take into the ocean due to its compactness, water proof capabilities it has and the fantastic video quality it has for its size.

Underwater cameras and housings are usually very expensive, take up a large space and require lots of maintenance.

Of course these housings and cameras can take amazing photos which the gopros cannot, however it comes at a large cost.　

I personally own a mirrorless camera and housing but even then i prefer to take just the gopro out at times due to the ease and video quality.

Currently i am using the Hero 8 Black.

So lets start off with showing you the main point of this post, the underwater video settings that i use.

GoPro Hero 8 Black Best Underwater Video Settings — Hero 8 Settings i use for Underwater Filming

Why i use these settings

Resolution 4k/60FPS - Ideally you want to set the resolution to the highest that your pc/mobile can handle.

60FPS is good in most situation as it allows you to get decent slow motion in post production if you want.

For example if a fast dolphin passes by your gopro and it only appears for a few seconds, you can slow it down in post to get a longer clip.

If your planning on filming in slow motion from the start then you can go for higher frame rates like 120 or 240FPS.

Hypersmooth On - Pretty much always want to have this turned on whether your shooting on land or underwater.

The stabilization it provides to your footage is amazing, almost like a built in gimbal.

Here is some test footage that i shot using the hypersmooth 2.0 underwater:

Bitrate High - Keep the bitrate on high whenever you can, especially for the better resolutions such as 4k.

Bitrate is kind of like the amount of data stored in your video. A 4k video in low bitrate is not going to look as good as a 4k video in high bitrate.

Shutter Auto - When your underwater you cannot change the settings of your gopro so i leave the shutter on auto as the conditions (lighting, clarity, water colour etc) in the water can constantly change.

EV comp -0.5 - On sunny days i like to put ev comp down to -0.5 so the highlights arent too blown out.

White Balance 4.5k/5k - Try to move away from using auto white balance.

When underwater the blues are strong and some red light is cut out, therefore i like to go to the slightly warmer 4.5/5k for the white balance.

Iso Min 100, Max 100 - Keeping the ISO low is important in any situation to keep the noise and grain of your footage down.

On sunny days 100/100 is fine but on overcast days or if your going a little deeper underwater, i would move the max iso to 200 or maybe 400.

Sharpness Medium - The default setting is usually on high and its too sharp for my liking.

You can always increase the sharpness in post production, however its more difficult to reduce the sharpness in post so try to shoot your videos in low or medium when possible.

Colour Flat - This setting is very important and it depends on what you will do with your videos.

I would recommend shooting in flat if you plan to colour grade/colour correct your footage in post. Here is a before and after of colour graded underwater gopro footage:

Here is one of my recent underwater gopro videos that i created using footage taken with these settings in mind:

Thanks for reading all the way through, if you have any thoughts or questions please let me know in the comments below! Hearts on the post and comments are much appreciated :)

[Click Here]

Using the settings in this post and the tips from my new post, you should be able to get better looking underwater footage with the gopro!

Socials

Instagram: @ryuta_og

My Gallery: Photo Gallery

Buy Me A Coffee: Thank you for the support :) Ko-Fi

Youtube: Ryuta

Camera Tutorials: Link

Other GoPro Settings and Tutorials can be found here:

GoPro Tutorials

Software I Use

[Video Editing]

Davinci Resolve

Premiere pro

[Photo Editing]

Adobe Lightroom

[Learning More About Photography and other new skills]

Skillshare

Thinkific

[Social Media Post Designs/Thumbnails]

Canva

This is a list of the gear that i use!!

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or need recommendations :)

My Main GoPro’s

[Hero 10Black]: https://amzn.to/3pbiEIn

[Hero 9 Black]: https://amzn.to/2YZVwS2

My Backup GoPro

[Hero 8 Black]: https://amzn.to/3DRrKOz

[Hero 5 Black]: https://amzn.to/3DSUqa1

Micro SD card for GoPro [128gb-fast]: https://amzn.to/2Z62fuf

SD card for Sony Camera [128gb]: https://amzn.to/3ANFpEw

External Hard Drive [2tb]: https://amzn.to/3jgNXh8

My GoPro Mounts:

[3 Way Mount]: https://amzn.to/3n9XjN7

[Bite Mount]: https://amzn.to/3FYcd1y

[Neck Mount - for pov]: https://amzn.to/3ANEGTO

My Main Camera

[Sony A7III]: https://amzn.to/2YXTH8R

[Sony A6000]: https://amzn.to/3psXS7x

My Lenses

[Sigma 100-400mm sony e mount]: https://amzn.to/3aMIRoj

[Tamron 17-28mm sony e mount]: https://amzn.to/3jh0YHB

Links used in the description may or may not be an affiliate link. By using the affiliate link I earn a small fee of your purchase, however it does not cost anything extra for you to use them. Thank you for the support!