Digital video camera

[Maggie]

I am considering buying a digital video camera. Has anyone got any recommendations as to which one I should buy and which housing? I am particularly interested in macro.

 

[SubMariner]

Mggie, believe it or not the first thing you should be looking at is housings, because not all cameras have housings available for them. It makes the whole process of elimination much easier.

Also, don't be surprised by the pricing. Generally housings cost as much as, if not MORE than the camera itself.

We have a Canon Optura digital still/video camera in an Amphibico housing with a 30 watt light. It's a great set up. Only glitch is even though the camera is only a couple of years old, they are no longer in production. We saw the housing AND the camera going for about $1,300 at DEMA, which is about what we paid for the camera itself. A very sweet deal!

~SubMariner~

 

[John Reinertson]

I picked a Sony digital8 camera for just the reason Submariner said.
There are a million of these camcorders out there, so replacement won't be a whopping problem if (when) the housing floods or the camera crashes.
Housings last longer than camcorders in most cases, and you will spend as much or more for the housing as you do for the camera.

Pick the housing first, then get a popular camera that's likely to be available when replacement is needed. (of course, make sure it has the features you need, but almost all of the newer camcorders take great video.)

Dive happy and make movies!
John Reinertson

 

[Maggie]

Thank you for your advice. (Was the Warhammer Manoever captured on still or video!!!!!!)

 

[Jim S.]

Hi Maggie,

I have a Top Dog housing made by Light & Motion, designed and sold by Backscatter in Monterey, California. Can be reached on the web at http://www.backscatter.com.

I purchased the kit in a Pelican case with custom cut foam, it has two 20 watt, 7.2 volt NiCad lights. I purchased the 2.5 inch Color Monitorback which gives much steadier balance & composure underwater (as opposed to looking through my mask into a pinhole of a viewfinder). Depth rating on the housing to 150 fsw. Total travel weight is about 21 lbs with a spare pair of NoCads (excluding the camera). Same batteries used in 7.2 volt Makita cordless drills. There are magnetic slide switches that control on/off/record/standby, zoom, manual focus & manual white balance. Price when I last checked without monitor back was about $1600. Aluminum cylindar with plexiglass front and back w/o monitorback. Fits & controls most Sony & Cannon Camcorders.

I use a Sony TRV9 Mini-DV camcorder with a .5x Kenko wide angle lense. The housing has a LanC cable that plugs into the camera for controls. This camera is about 2.5 years old and is not made any longer. The replacement camcorders are the Sony DCR TRV10,11 or 20. Price when I purchased the TRV9 was $1600, price for the replacements are about $900-$1500 mail order without accessories and they have Carl Zeiss lenses and the top two have still shot capabilities on a memory stick.

I took the route of purchase the housing then find a camera I like that fit it. I fit the camera at Good Guys and mail ordered it and a list of accessories through http://www.CameraWorld.com (probably not cool for Good Guys but it worked for me). Don't forget a wide angle lense, additional batteries & MiniDV tapes (cheaper by the 10). The fortunate thing about this housing is it will fit all three of the replacement cameras that I mentioned above. I'm just waiting for a 3 CCD camera small enough to fit by housing with a wide angle lense before I think about upgrading. I'll be keeping the housing for many, many years.

I'm planning to purchase a new PC to do Digital Editing in the next couple of months. So far I've put together 3 dive trip videos each getting progressively better but all through two thumb editing from Camcorder to S-VHS VCR. Then audio dubbing music on the underwater shots.

I love the housing and camera setup. I'll be taking it to Cozumel beginning of April for a week. Just got back from Beqa, Fiji over last Thankgiving Week and shot the video for the dive shop I signed up with. Post trip party was last Sunday, everyone really enjoyed the video and wanted to purchase copies of it.

Anyone else have good setups they are willing to share?

 

[Mick]

I have a Sony DCRPC1 which, when I get my cert, will hopefully be put into a housing and taken to the deep. I personally believe that mini DV or digital 8 is the way to go, anything else is going backwards.

Jim S, have you looked at the Sony PC's?
Most of them are installed with editing sovtware which really combines well with the video,still and memory stick.

And yes I do work for Sony !!!!
Only until the end of this month, then it is golden handshake time, I have had enough of customer dealing to last me a lifetime

 

[Jim S.]

Hi Mick,

I actually looked at some of the Sony PC's. From what I've found out the Sony PC's are not as compatable with 3rd party software systems and are hard to upgrade with generic periferals.

If you know differently please correct me. I'm currently planning to purchase a Dell Dual Processing 933mhz P3 desktop system. I will be putting DV500 on it running Adobe Premier 6.0 with dual 60mb hard drives.

I don't know of Sony having a dual processing PC yet? Do they have one?

Thanks for your help,
Jim

 

[Nathan]

If you are going to be doing a lot of DV I would suggest using SCSI drives for the actual work process and then the large cheap IDE for massive storage. You will definatly see the diffrence in rendering times. Also if you choose to put in a 1394 card ( If the box doesn't come with one) Or you have a choice about the card make sure that the card is powered. A fair ammount of the cards that are out there are not powered on the 6 pin connector.. this makes it hard to use with certain devices.

Nathan
Premiere/Photoshop/AfterEffects
And 3DS Max

 

[Jim S.]

Hello Nathan,

What companies make a "powered" 1394 Interface card?

I am planning to purchase Pinnicle Systems DV500. Would you happen to know if this package have a powered 1394 card?

Thank you for your input on a DV Editing PC.

Any further input would be most appreciated.

Jim

 

[Nathan]

Okay I personally use a adaptec 4300 series card it has 3 powered 6 pin ports and comes with a 6pin to 4 pin cable.. All of the DV camera's that I am aware of use the 4 pin cable. I know that some of the pinacle cards are not powered even though they have the 6 pin connector. Because they were intended for DV usage and camera's don't require the powered ports. As to that perticular model I am not sure. The only ones that I can confirm are powered through personal experience are the adaptec and the western digital cards. I like the adaptec card because it has 3 ports instead of 2. Both cards retail in the 50-70 dollar range.
The other recomendation is lots of RAM and I mean a Lot 512Megs or better.

Well thats all for this addition of Nathan's Digital video studio... :all: