GoPro Underwater Filming Tips
GoPro Underwater Settings That I Use
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. Currently i am using the Hero 10 Black.
Freeze Frame Of A Whale Video I Took With GoPro Hero 10 Black
Today i want to talk about the settings that i like to use when taking videos underwater with the GoPro and why i use each setting.
The GoPro is very convenient to take into the ocean due to its compactness, waterproof capabilities it has and the fantastic video quality it has for its size.
A Cinematic Video I Made With Just GoPro Clips
So here are the settings that i currently use for my gopro hero 10 black and gopro hero 9 black.
GoPro Hero 10 Black Underwater Video Settings
Resolution: 4k/60FPS (5k/30) - 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: Boost - 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: https://youtu.be/I62zndni420
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 very easily 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: 200- 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/Natural - This setting is very important and it depends on what you will do with your videos. Shooting in flat colours means that u have flexibility to colour grade in post production.
Recording in flat allows the camera to capture more detail especially the shadow. When you record flat, the video straight out of the camera will look terrible however once you start colour grading, it will look much better and gives you more room to customize the colours.
COLOUR GRADING
Clips shot underwater usually are lacking in reds and have a strong blue/green tint to it. Adding some reds bacin into the clip and adjusting the shadows can make a big difference to how your video looks. I recommend colour grading using a free program called davinci resolve. Here are some videos i made on colour grading gopro footage if you would like to learn more on the process!
Colour Grading Underwater Clips in Davinci Resolve
If your not planning to grade your videos in post, then i would recommend shooting in gopro colour mode as it looks better straight out of the camera.
A Frame Grab From A Video I Filmed Using Gopro 10
Filters
I personally dont use any filters when filming with the gopro as i am snorkelling when taking most of my videos.
On a sunny day, there is plenty of light (even reds) at the surface that it makes the footage look too red sometimes.
I find that adjusting the reds in davinci resolve gives me more flexibility, whereas footage shot with a filter has the colour mostly predecided already. If im diving down more than 10m then id definitely consider using a filter as there is much less red light deeper underwater.
Screen Grab From GoPro Hero 8 Video
This is gonna be it for this underwater gopro guide.
Hope it helped even a little and im happy to answer any questions that you might have about this post.
On my Youtube Channel i mainly post underwater photography/videography/editing tutorials and some other ocean related content, please consider subscribing if you enjoy or have interests in learning more. It would mean a lot to me :)
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
My Main Camera
[Sony A7III]: https://amzn.to/2YXTH8R
My Backup Camera
[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
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
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!