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Hydrus VR Records Cinema-Quality 8K Virtual Reality Videos Underwater

If you love oceanic videography or just want to experience deep sea diving without getting wet, you're going to love Hydrus VR, a submersible 8K virtual reality video system designed for professional filmmakers. The unit uses a total of 10 cameras — eight in a horizontal circle plus two vertical — to capture 8K, 4K, or stereoscopic 4K imagery, notably with impressive low light capabilities.

Developed by Marine Imaging Technology (MI Tech), the system looks like a large metal can ringed by lens bumps. Weighing 75 pounds with neutral salt water buoyancy, it's depth rated for 300 meter submersion, so it can be connected to a metal control arm or underwater robots, depending on the filmmaker's needs.

Inside the can are Sony ultra-high sensitivity UMC-S3CA cameras equipped with SLR Magic lenses, plus enough storage capacity and battery life to record continuously for two hours. A subsea control module enables the recording time to be expanded to eight hours. Users can remotely monitor nine of the cameras in real time during shooting.

Sony's camera sensors enable the system to capture video at a minimum illumination level of 0.004 lux (ISO 409,600), which is especially important when recording in places without their own lighting sources — a challenge that increases video noise and grain. While the sensors have a normal ISO range of 100–102,400, the four times lower "expandable" ISO gives filmmakers the option to accept additional noise where necessary to capture an underwater scene with particularly poor illumination.

James Cameron ponders reshooting Avatar 2 entirely underwater.

Film speed.

Also at Engadget.

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