Anyone w/ experience using Gates FX7-V1 Housing?

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29Clyde

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Scuba Instructor
Messages
19
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Location
Falls Church, VA
# of dives
500 - 999
I just picked up a second hand Gates FX7-V1 housing and Sony HVR-V1U camera and am looking for advice/pointers specific to this combination from anyone that has experience with this setup. The housing, which has never been wet, has a WP44 Port, flip filter, flood alarm, and HD external monitor. I plan on spending several hours in the pool familiarizing myself with the controls before I hit open water. As for what I will be filming, my next couple of trips will be to wrecks off the coast of North Carolina where sharks (Sand Tigers) are pretty common. While vis in later summer can reach 100'+, it will be in the 40'-60' range in late winter/early spring. Depth of the offshore wrecks runs 80'-120'

Just for background - I have been shooting video w/ an older Gates housing and consumer level camera for around 10 years so I am am very familiar with the fundamentals of U/W video and general care & maintenance of Gates housings (not that I don't still have much more to learn). However, I have never worked with a camera/housing that exposes so many options to the user. My general inclination is to keep it simple and focus on framing the shot and keeping the camera steady. The questions is, what does simple look like?

Thanks in advance for your input.

2C
 
Great housing and camcorder.

Other than the obvious controls of zoom and flip filter, I used manual white balance and manual focus with the push-auto focus button, a lot. I don't like video noise, so I limited the auto gain on the camcorder. I don't remember the exact number setting I used. You can shoot some dark topside footage and set the limit to your liking. I kept camcorder shutter at 60.

The camcorder has a very powerful zoom which is great for macro. Works great if you have the flip diopter. If not, you can swap your filter for a diopter if you know in advance you will be shooting macro.

The external monitor is great for framing and it gives you a lot of flexibility with shooting positions.

Have fun.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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