Amazing shots, Sean! Glad to see you back. Sorry to hear about polarpro stuff, especially when I got one myselft after watching your vids xD. Didn't have a chance to try it due to borders lockdown tho...
Hi mate. Don't stress I was probably being a bit harsh. I got some great pics with the Polarpro and since its specific to the camera you will need to update it if you get a new camera anyway. Strength wise it sort of fits in between the 2 macro lenses that backscatter do but then again the backscatter one is also twice the price! Just the macromate lens is worth as much as the whole polarpro. There is 3 things to watch with the polarpro which only became evident with use. 1. As the macro lens sticks out it is very easy to scratch. As I do nearly all of my diving off private boats or climbing over rocks and solo diving its hard to look after. I can knock the backscatter one as well but its more protected. 2. Although I rinsed it the magnet rusted and the screws etc rusted so just make sure you wash it VERY well and DRY it after every dive. 3. because they rusted it became a little harder to flip and eventually the light aluminum section that the lens is held onto snapped. It was the rusting that annoyed me the most as it seems crazy you would make an underwater lens that way. In fairness I have had the backscatter only a few weeks so it may also prove to not last. The other consideration is that by luck the backscatter also fits the Gopro 9 and the polarpro didn't and I will likely get a new hero 9. The macromate is actually 2 strong sometimes so you need the +10macro as well. I very rarely want a red filter so this works well for me. However if you use lots of red filter shots thats also a down side of backscatter as 1. You really want to take both macro lenses and 2. Unlike the polapro you cant use the red filter with the macro lens. So enjoy it, get some great shots and just do everything to keep it free of any salt.
Stunning shots man! This video and the polar pro one are both super helpful as I'm looking into getting a macro lens for my gopro now. Do you mind if I ask what kind of light are you using now?
Hi, Im using a couple of ebay chinese lights. The companies change so often I cant even find the company I got it from. Its always a hit or miss with the chinese lights but given it would cost at least 7 times per light to get something better I don't see the point. This pair have done 150 dives now withour issue and cost me like $80 each. These ones were advertised as 20000 lumen. They would be about 5000. I'd guess a CRI around 75. As for macro lenses the Macromate is far stronger than the polapro. Glad you liked them
Hi. Thanks. It depends more on what I want to take a shot of. As a general rule I would use the +10 for say golf ball or bigger objects or an object that I want to get a little blur behind around 6 inches or more from lens. As for macromate I use that for anything I'm going to want to be able to get within a couple of inches of or smaller than golf ball. As for FOV I use all of them at different times. Again as a general rule I tend to use wide or narrow. I don't use superview or linear very often as they both distort anything near edges. Macromate works best with narrow but that means two issues. 1. As 90% of shots are in wide I need the time and patience to change it under water. 2. As I use the Hero 8 I need to drop back to 2.7k to get narrow at 60 frames. As such I can be lazy and leave at 4k60 wide a lot.
Thanks a lot for your answer. Is there a way to change profiles underwater shown on the back screen instead of the front screen? If the GoPro is mounted on a tray it is quite tedious tonlose camera around to see which profile to select on front screen
Hi. No not that I am aware of. This has been the case with every gopro. From instructions it even appears that the Hero 9 is the same. It seems to be a hangover from the old days when there was no rear screen. It would be nice if they just showed on the back. Thats the main reason I tend to either start the dive in 2.7k60 narrow and shoot macro or 4k60 wide and shoot wide. Its a real hassle with lights plus the flip system trying to change the settings on front screen and also memorising the names you set.
Hi. Glad you liked it. No you can only use one or the other depending on how macro you are shooting. They dont stack. So generally speaking if I wanted to take a macro shot I would use macromate in a narrow FOV if I want say a wide angle shot but get close to the main subject then use the +10 in wide. I dont ever really bother with red filters so I can always have these 2 on my flip system
@@seanpe80 Thanks so much. I will be receiving my Flip System from Backscatter next week in preparation for a trip to the Maldives in January. I can't wait.
I have used the flip system on the Hero 8 and now Hero 10. Before that I used the Polarpro on the hero 4, 6 and 8. I prefer the backscatter for macro and its better quality. The polarpro was a better red filter but I don't use colour filters anymore. The hardest thing with the macromate is learning how far to be from your subject. It is very hard to tell from the lcd if you are in focus. They give you a little measuring tool and you will end up just knowing what the right distance is. At first you might want to take 3 shots one at the distance you think and then one a but closer and one a bit further away. That way if you were wrong hopefully one of the other 2 are right. Enjoy your trip. Im in Australia so sadly all my international holidays have been banned since March 2020 due to Covid rules but hopefully by Jan we might be able to travel again also.
@@seanpe80 I hope you do get to travel soon. So, one more question: Why don't you use red filters and since not, do you then just correct color after the fact? Thanks again!
I use lights instead. Only time I use red filters is in very clear shallow water. Main reasons are 1. Lights are far better as they give you the real colours and give you maximum light which means minimum iso and shutter speeds. 2. Red filter lowers the amount of light getting to camera which means higher iso's and slower shutter speeds. Of course if you don't have lights then you will have no choice but to use a red filter under a few meters. It isn't possible to colour correct much without lights or a filter. There is no red light under 6m so no amount of colour correction will bring back what isn't there. Also the gopro footage is very compressed so any colour manipulation quickly destroys it.
awesome, those Starfish and sea slugs are amazing
Thanks!
Amazing shots, Sean! Glad to see you back.
Sorry to hear about polarpro stuff, especially when I got one myselft after watching your vids xD. Didn't have a chance to try it due to borders lockdown tho...
Hi mate. Don't stress I was probably being a bit harsh. I got some great pics with the Polarpro and since its specific to the camera you will need to update it if you get a new camera anyway. Strength wise it sort of fits in between the 2 macro lenses that backscatter do but then again the backscatter one is also twice the price! Just the macromate lens is worth as much as the whole polarpro. There is 3 things to watch with the polarpro which only became evident with use. 1. As the macro lens sticks out it is very easy to scratch. As I do nearly all of my diving off private boats or climbing over rocks and solo diving its hard to look after. I can knock the backscatter one as well but its more protected. 2. Although I rinsed it the magnet rusted and the screws etc rusted so just make sure you wash it VERY well and DRY it after every dive. 3. because they rusted it became a little harder to flip and eventually the light aluminum section that the lens is held onto snapped. It was the rusting that annoyed me the most as it seems crazy you would make an underwater lens that way. In fairness I have had the backscatter only a few weeks so it may also prove to not last. The other consideration is that by luck the backscatter also fits the Gopro 9 and the polarpro didn't and I will likely get a new hero 9. The macromate is actually 2 strong sometimes so you need the +10macro as well. I very rarely want a red filter so this works well for me. However if you use lots of red filter shots thats also a down side of backscatter as 1. You really want to take both macro lenses and 2. Unlike the polapro you cant use the red filter with the macro lens. So enjoy it, get some great shots and just do everything to keep it free of any salt.
Beautiful
Thank you! Cheers!
Stunning shots man! This video and the polar pro one are both super helpful as I'm looking into getting a macro lens for my gopro now. Do you mind if I ask what kind of light are you using now?
Hi, Im using a couple of ebay chinese lights. The companies change so often I cant even find the company I got it from. Its always a hit or miss with the chinese lights but given it would cost at least 7 times per light to get something better I don't see the point. This pair have done 150 dives now withour issue and cost me like $80 each. These ones were advertised as 20000 lumen. They would be about 5000. I'd guess a CRI around 75. As for macro lenses the Macromate is far stronger than the polapro. Glad you liked them
Hi great video - for which size of the objects do you use the +10 and when the +15 close up lens? Do you use field of view = wide?
Hi. Thanks. It depends more on what I want to take a shot of. As a general rule I would use the +10 for say golf ball or bigger objects or an object that I want to get a little blur behind around 6 inches or more from lens. As for macromate I use that for anything I'm going to want to be able to get within a couple of inches of or smaller than golf ball. As for FOV I use all of them at different times. Again as a general rule I tend to use wide or narrow. I don't use superview or linear very often as they both distort anything near edges. Macromate works best with narrow but that means two issues. 1. As 90% of shots are in wide I need the time and patience to change it under water. 2. As I use the Hero 8 I need to drop back to 2.7k to get narrow at 60 frames. As such I can be lazy and leave at 4k60 wide a lot.
Thanks a lot for your answer. Is there a way to change profiles underwater shown on the back screen instead of the front screen? If the GoPro is mounted on a tray it is quite tedious tonlose camera around to see which profile to select on front screen
Hi. No not that I am aware of. This has been the case with every gopro. From instructions it even appears that the Hero 9 is the same. It seems to be a hangover from the old days when there was no rear screen. It would be nice if they just showed on the back. Thats the main reason I tend to either start the dive in 2.7k60 narrow and shoot macro or 4k60 wide and shoot wide. Its a real hassle with lights plus the flip system trying to change the settings on front screen and also memorising the names you set.
Sean, thanks for the video. If I understand correctly, are you using the Macromate Mini AND the 10+ at the same time? Does that then give +25? Thanks.
Hi. Glad you liked it. No you can only use one or the other depending on how macro you are shooting. They dont stack. So generally speaking if I wanted to take a macro shot I would use macromate in a narrow FOV if I want say a wide angle shot but get close to the main subject then use the +10 in wide. I dont ever really bother with red filters so I can always have these 2 on my flip system
@@seanpe80 Thanks so much. I will be receiving my Flip System from Backscatter next week in preparation for a trip to the Maldives in January. I can't wait.
I have used the flip system on the Hero 8 and now Hero 10. Before that I used the Polarpro on the hero 4, 6 and 8. I prefer the backscatter for macro and its better quality. The polarpro was a better red filter but I don't use colour filters anymore. The hardest thing with the macromate is learning how far to be from your subject. It is very hard to tell from the lcd if you are in focus. They give you a little measuring tool and you will end up just knowing what the right distance is. At first you might want to take 3 shots one at the distance you think and then one a but closer and one a bit further away. That way if you were wrong hopefully one of the other 2 are right. Enjoy your trip. Im in Australia so sadly all my international holidays have been banned since March 2020 due to Covid rules but hopefully by Jan we might be able to travel again also.
@@seanpe80 I hope you do get to travel soon. So, one more question: Why don't you use red filters and since not, do you then just correct color after the fact? Thanks again!
I use lights instead. Only time I use red filters is in very clear shallow water. Main reasons are 1. Lights are far better as they give you the real colours and give you maximum light which means minimum iso and shutter speeds. 2. Red filter lowers the amount of light getting to camera which means higher iso's and slower shutter speeds. Of course if you don't have lights then you will have no choice but to use a red filter under a few meters. It isn't possible to colour correct much without lights or a filter. There is no red light under 6m so no amount of colour correction will bring back what isn't there. Also the gopro footage is very compressed so any colour manipulation quickly destroys it.