Blackmagic Forum

I understand that this post may be more of niche interest, but some people here might find this either useful, or interesting.

I've been snorkelling, free-diving and scuba diving for over 60 years, and shooting stills and video underwater for several decades.

I've had the BMPCC 4K since it first came out and have always wanted to be able to shoot underwater with it because of the beautiful images that it can produce. Since the manufactured housings for this camera are very expensive, I finally decided to take the time to build my own custom built housing for the camera. Since I already had on hand many of the essential components necessary, such as an old UW housing that I had originally built many years ago, I was able to adapt this and other materials for the task. So the build was a task of research, design, innovation, building and testing.

The essential key elements to allow this build, beyond the main camera housing, were some key new pieces: an UW housing for an iPhone that allowed full use of the touch screen, an iPhone Bluetooth camera control app, and a signal transmission cable system that allowed the camera control app on the iPhone, and the main camera to "talk" to each other.

I'll add a couple of photos of the finished set up, and if people are interested, I can also add more images of the build process, and some later shots, as I do actual shooting UW. If anyone has specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

I’ll be a keen reader of whatever you have time to share on this subject.

Did you design a housing for the iPhone or get one off the shelf?

Hello Rob,

Thanks.

The housing for the iPhone is off the shelf. The phone I use is the 15 Pro Max. The housings are made by Divevolk. What sets these apart from others is the ability to use the touch screen rather than using buttons. Also, an important detail is that the faceplate material allows transmission of the Bluetooth signal, via the cable on which the whole design relies. The wide-angle dome adapter lens on the front of the housing, which can swing into place in front of the taking lens is also from Divevolk. The phone and the housing were the two items that were most expensive in this design. However, it also has the added bonus of having a totally viable secondary shooting camera, if need be, that can take pretty decent quality stills and video. Also, the wide-angle lens adapter works with the iPhone housing, for which it was actually designed. So, two cameras in one, you might say. For travelling, this provides some redundancy.

So, a few days ago, I shot some footage underwater using the BMPCC 4K, and here is a link to watch:

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/986898254

Following and I must say, love the footage even if it's just a test. Nice. Thanks!

Marshall Harrington wrote:Following and I must say, love the footage even if it's just a test. Nice. Thanks!

Thank you, Marshall,

At first I thought I had just shot unusable garbage, and wasn't even sure if key subjects were in focus, but I was very pleasantly surprised at the results. It was difficult shooting near the surface with the high light levels, and also, wave generated bubbles constantly sticking to the lens faceplate. But, the footage from this camera is a joy to edit and grade, there is so much latitude with what you can do with the footage. I've been shooting motion picture underwater for 35 years, since 1989, with about eleven different cameras, and this one ,by far, makes the nicest images. The lens for this was a Panasonic Vario 14mm-42mm f3.5-5.6, an economical but decent lens, shot at 14mm, with a .6 "wet" lens wide angle adapter.

I think for the next test, I'll try my Olympus M. Zuiko 8mm Pro f1.8 Fisheye lens. It will vignette a little since at the moment I just have a flat port and ideally I should use a fisheye domeport to get the best out of that lens.

The following are a few more shots about the build. Some people may find this information useful, even for other applications, unrelated to underwater shooting.


Routing out the O-ring grooves on the back plate of an older repurposed housing.

A detail view of the interior showing the placement of the Samsung T7 Shield SSD, and a 4,000 MaH 12V drone battery with the custom cable adapter to power the camera.

Dealing with the 12V power in and the USBC out in such a tight space was tricky, but doable.

The camera, power, and SSD installation check. Two O-rings on the faceplate and the backplate provide better protection than a single O-ring. The space is tight, but everything fits. This still allows space for the all important single control for camera power On/Off. The camera bed can slide forward and aft, allowing the use of various different lenses.

For those who might be interested, I have some further footage shot underwater with the BMPCC4K in this custom built housing.

This Vimeo link is of 6.5 minute film and also has a mix of footage from other different cameras; (Panasonic GH5S, GH5II, GH5, GH3, and GoProH12) that cover a time period of over ten years. The BMPCC4k footage is the most recent, and is from 0:00 to 00:46, from 00:52-00:58 and from 01:06-01:22.

Life Aquatic