TyphoonHD4: HD slo-mo camera in totally tubular BBC doc
The TyphoonHD4 is a gobsmackingly fast -- and expensive -- HD camera that's been gently packed into an underwater housing and dispatched to the South Pacific for some jaw-dropping surf footage
A top surfer, an underwater camerman and a slo-mo video expert have come together -- like an aquatic A-Team -- to capture some gobsmacking slo-mo, high-definition footage of the ocean. As impressive as the swell is the piece of kit used, the $100,000 TyphoonHD4.
Australian underwater cameraman Bali Strickland teamed up with top Aussie surfer dude Dylan Longbottom and German camera expert Dr Rudolph Diesel to capture amazing slo-mo surf footage for the BBC's South Pacific documentary. Diesel built a unique housing for the TyphoonHD4, allowing the high-speed camera to capture the swirling vortices of the waves, and capture a stunning shot of Longbottom hanging out in 'the green room', the tube formed by the enormous wave.
The TyphoonHD4 packs an advanced CMOS sensor with ultra-high light sensitivity of 1,000 ASA to cope with the darker conditions under the water. It shoots jaw-dropping 1,280x1,024-pixel footage at up to 1,000 frames per second.
The amazing footage was filmed in the surf hitting Micronesia's tiny Caroline Islands. The underwater housing includes a live view monitor and allows for 14mm and 17mm Nikon wide-angle lenses with the 200mm wide-angle dome port.
Sadly, you won't be able to buy the TyphoonHD4 for your next jaunt to Cornwall, but it can be hired for telly work. Radical.