camcorder and UW housing

[jorge.a.mahauad]

Hello there,

I need your help! I want to buy a video camera and housing. All under USD 2000,00. For internet HD video, maybe some clips for local TV. Could you provide advice, I'd rather buy something new, but if a reaaly good second hand opportunity comes I would evaluate... I have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER about filming UW, cameras and all that.....

Thank you!!

Jorge

 

[diversteve]

IMO the sweet spot in HD under $2000 currently is the Canon HFS-10 - with the Ikelite 6095 housing . Nice thing about the housing is you can open the camera LCD in the housing and view it from the back. And have access to the joystick to control camera functions. Ikelite housings are solid also. The camera gets good reviews and shoots 6MP video.

Abe's of Maine sells the camera for $869 currently, Adorama has the housing for $760. Both ship internationally.
Canon VIXIA HF-S10 Dual Flash Memory Camcorder
6095 Ikelite Underwater Video Housing for Canon HF-S10, HF-S11 and HF-S100 Video Cameras

That leaves a couple hundred $$ for a couple of 16-32GB SDHC cards and a bigger battery - which the Ikelite can accommodate. Any SDHC cards should be Class 4 rated or higher for HD.

You will need a fairly powerful core Duo PC or Apple computer to edit AVCHD also - but that's the case with any prosumer HD setup. Also the included Canon s/w is lacking so you'll want to buy a good Non-Linear Editor. For the PC, that could be Pinnacle Studio HD, Sony's Vegas Movie Studio Platinum or an Adobe product. $100-1000 approx. Mac users seem to like Final Cut Pro.

Most other full featured housings start at around $1500 and up.

 

[200 Bar]

Not to be flippant, but we have a Canon HV20 with the housing (purchased recently) and a FlipUltraHD with a housing...I prefer using the Flip Ultra HD !! Its 179 .00 at BestBuy and the Ikelite housing runs about 225.00..Use the rest of the money to buy decent tray to hold it steady and video lights and good dinner at Outback...

 

[diversteve]

maybe some clips for local TV.

I prefer the Flip Ultra

Fixed focus, 9MBPS h.264 video isn't really what I'd call broadcast quality though. Neither is AVCHD really but he only has $2K.

 

[ronscuba]

Not to be flippant, but we have a Canon HV20 with the housing (purchased recently) and a FlipUltraHD with a housing...I prefer using the Flip Ultra HD !! Its 179 .00 at BestBuy and the Ikelite housing runs about 225.00..Use the rest of the money to buy decent tray to hold it steady and video lights and good dinner at Outback...

Do you have any UW footage from the Flip Ultra you can show ?

The camera mfr's have being doing good things at the lower price ranges.

 

[sharksdelight]

Sorry, but Flip cams are just not suitable for much more than birthday parties and home movies.
Steve

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Here is an unedited clip we shot at Catalina Island with the Flip Ultra HD in Ikelite housing. Its definitely what I consider a "point and shoot" video system. As Steve said, nothing more than home movies. I would not use this as a business tool, or any sort of serious video.

The Canon HF S10 is definitely the best buy in my book for quality. If you are looking to shoot TV quality clips, then absolutely nothing less.

 

[sharksdelight]

No clip attached.

 

[200 Bar]

Sorry, but Flip cams are just not suitable for much more than birthday parties and home movies.
Steve

The same thing could be said of ole Ansel Adams crummy box camera... I think the adage of "Hey great pictures, what camera are you using..?? or Wow, what crappy pictures who is the photographer.." come to mind....

 

[diversteve]

no clip attached.

[vimeo]8007088[/vimeo]

Hey Mike, is that the Canon HFS housing at 1:15?