what's the deal with video housings ?

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FallenMatt

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I;ve got this itch that comes every so often to me.. you know, the "need to get a new toy" one...

I am thinking about getting Sony DCR-TRV38 MiniDV (digital) camcorder.. a very cute, tiny piece of electronics.

Of course the most cool use of it would be getting into underwater video stuff. After spending looong time on google trying to find info about housings for camcorderss i came to the following conclusions:

most of the cheap stuff is "sport" housing - ie. rated to 2 m (that's barelly 7 feet) or , at best, 10 m.. so basically useless.

then there are the fancy housings that fit particular camera that cost $2k or more (way beyond my budget)

then there are the "universal" ones. And here is my confusion.
in short, all those seem to be: a piece of pipe with two flat enclousures and some latches, some handles added to that. This stuff you can buy as cheap as $300. That is without any recording control : just hit record, put camera in and go diving hoping that you have enough tape for it all. This would be very hard to use with the MiniDV camcorder because Minidv tape records only 60 minutes of movie.

now you add electronic controls and suddenly the price skyrockets to close or above $1000.

does that mean that electronics that implement a very simple subset of LANC protocol and a piece of wire costs upwards of $600 ??? it is just hard to believe.

From the description that i've found it seems that LANC is a simple serial protocol communicating at 9600 baud so it should be a very easy (cheap, off the shelf parts) to implement it with some microcontroller or microprocessor. I wouldn't expect it to run into high hundreds of dollars. Put the electronics inside the housing, run a cable outside to mechanical controlls and you are done.

So why there is such a great price difference ?
with adding the controls ?

In other words: if i could get a functional housing for that sony minidv i would probably spring for it (there is just more interesting stuff to film underwater than on the dry land :)

..especially the example of oly 5050 with its rather affordable housing comes to mind...


.. so ok, this is more like a brain dump than a question.. just something that was nudging my mind for the past few days...
 
I don't do video and know very little about it so I have no answers just a question.

Have you contacted Ikelite? If they don't already have a housing for it, Ike will make you one! Ike is also one of the most affordable quality supplier of housings.

Anyway...just a thought!
 
Hello,

Video housings are known to be much more than the camcorder itself. Several times have I seen divers put $500 camcorders in $2,000 housings. B/H carries the ikelite housing for $680.

Ed
 
thanks, for answers

must_resist_buying_new_toys!

sony TRV-38 - $700 online
ikelite housing for it - $680 on B&H

$1380 total.... hmm
unfortunatelly b&h says "out of stocks" and 2-4 weeks wait time.. which probably means "will never happen"

now a few questions: people said before that digital still cameras have better low light performance underwater compared to standard film cameras.

on the other hand, all the reviews of the new digital camcorders that i've seen say that they perform poorly in low light conditions (dark room etc)

i doubt the sony night shooting mode would help underwater since infrared is easilly absorbed by water...

so... does using single chip digital camcorder underwater makes sense or would i need to pay another pile of money for a decent underwater video light ? (filming in places like florida springs and ocean divign in florida) ?

also, the ikelite housing is specific to only two models of sony camcorders (trv38/trv39) so if i ever change camera i need a new housing, if i flood it and need to change camera, i need new housing etc... that doesnt' sound too good to me...
 
from Light & Motion. The housing and lights were over twice the amount of the camera.

does using single chip digital camcorder underwater makes sense or would i need to pay another pile of money for a decent underwater video light

The PC-110 is a single-chip camera and I have been pleased. Generally, when I am diving during the day, I don't use lights. One reason is I am usually charging the batteries from the last night dive to use on the next night dive. The other is its easier to deal with just the housing on board the boat when we are making 2 dives during the day.

A buddy of mine has a 3 chip camera and its better, but not enough to make me want to go out and buy another camera/housing. I did like the fact that in some of his day shots, he took lights and it did enhance the overall quality. In retrospect, I would probably spring a few more $$ and by the HID lights vs. the standard halogen lamps. Maybe even the UK Light Cannons...since I can also use them as flashlights when not shooting.

Otter
 
do you have some sample video clips anywhere ?

i would like to take a look how the stuff look like in action :)
 
amen brother! I'm trying hard NOT to buy that $7,000 prism rebreather i'm looking at. hmmmmmm no bubbles.

Ed
 
because my buddy, who hosts them, needed some space. But you can check "Gallery" at http://www.oberlin.us

Otter
 
Have you looked at the Ocean Images Inc (link) housings? They have electronic controls and are less than $1000.
Also, the Top Dawg housing should be less than $1000 (seach google for it...)

A one-chip is enough until you start make a business out of your UW video... I have an old Sony digital8 camcorder and you can find a few videos I've shot on my website (Scuba -> Miscellaneous Videos - after the trip reports...)

/Mike
DiverGuy.com
 
yes, i looked at dop dawg - 799, divers direct sells them , just on the other side of orlando from me.

Is there a place where i can find used video housings (ebay seems to have only really old models or very basic stuff).

also, anybody knows about any place in Florida that does housing rentals ?

i would like to give it a try one weekend, do few dives, do some videos and see if the whole underwater picture taking is worth $1000 in equipment :)
 

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