This new underwater drone will take your Sony Alpha 1 (or A7SIII) to shoot some epic 8K footage into the deep sea (1,000 meters underwater). Meet the Boxfish Luna.
Boxfish Luna underwater drone
The Boxfish Luna drone allows cinematographers to capture up to 8K video and 50MP stills up to 1,000 meters underwater. Utilizing the full-frame imaging from the Sony A7SIII or Sony ⍺1 and a new 200mm precision optical dome, the drone has been completely redesigned to allow filmmakers to perfectly capture underwater environments with brilliant clarity and ease of use.
8K, 10bit, 1,000 meters deep
The Boxfish Luna records full-frame video up to 8K 10-bit 4:2:0 30p from the Sony ⍺1 and up to 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 120p from both the Sony ⍺1 and A7SIII. Also, there’re capabilities for full control of exposure, white balance, zoom, MF/AF available directly from the control station, which is a 4K UHD 17-inch Boxfish Console. This console can monitor the video and footage to communicate with DP and the operator on the surface.
Maneuverability and endurance
The Boxfish Luna is designed to provide fine control for precise movements to achieve steady shots. With eight 3D-vectored thrusters, the Boxfish Luna offers true six-degrees-of-freedom of movement for orienting itself in any direction. Furthermore, being battery-operated, the Luna can hover 15 hours per charge with actual run time dependent on operational conditions. Quick access, sealed ports mean it can be changed easily in the field using an optional power pack or from the boat socket.
Integrated sensors
- Depth
- 3D compass
- Internal humidity
- Battery and supply voltages
- Leak detection
- Precision gyroscope
- Precision accelerometer
- Internal temperature
- Internal pressure
Physical specifications
- Pressure vessel material: Hard anodised aluminium alloy
- Dome Material: Acrylic
- Dome size: 8″
- l/w/h: 714mm / 435mm / 351mm
- Weight (salt water ballast installed): 24kg
- Depth rating: 500m, optional 1000m
- Operating temperature: -10˚C to +55˚C
Price
Unfortunately, there’s no info about pricing. It’s not going to be cheap though.
Final insights
Underwater drones are utilized in order to allow deep-water image capturing which are implemented mostly in underwater research and investigations, rather than on cinematography applications. You can’t go very deep with scuba equipment and underwater housing that is capable of a maximum depth of 45 meters. In case you’d want to go deeper than that, an underwater drone will be your sole option. Note that the Boxfish Luna can carry only the Sony Alpha models above, which seems to be a limitation at first. However, the Sony Alpha is a very logical solution when filming into the deep dark ocean, and when exceptional low light capabilities are needed.
