Snorkeling, lens filters and a GoPro

[Ces1um]

Just wondering if anybody has snorkeled with their gopro and used a pink or red filter? I've heard that it's supposed to improve the underwater color rendition if you use a pink filter for snorkeling and a red one for scuba diving (in tropical blue water). I've also seen some footage online where everything looks far too pink. Anybody have any experience with snorkeling with a gopro and using a filter?

 

[NedL]

I'll try to remember to ask my dad about this. He's done it a lot and I think he uses some kind of color correction filters...

 

[jim10219]

With a digital camera, I'd avoid any filters. Using filters underwater presents a whole bunch of other problems you'll have to deal with, not the least of which is sucking precious light away from your sensor. You can get better results by applying the color correcting filter afterwards in the computer. The filters are pretty handy for underwater film cameras. But you kind of have to know what you're going to shoot and under what conditions you'll be shooting to know which ones to use.

 

[hol571]

I've used this filter on my older Hero2 while diving in blue water (https://www.backscatter.com/Flip2-Magic-Filter-for-GoPro-Dive-Housing-Hero-1-a). For video it makes a big difference especially in the 10-50ft range, and can be flipped out of the way if closer to the surface. For photos you can go either way since they can be more easily color corrected in photoshop, but it is nice not to have to correct every photo in post. For blue water you want a shade of red or red-orange, I'd avoid the pink (actually magenta) filter as that is designed for green water (ie coastal California)