Good time to move up to HD?

[MN Lakeman]

What a great tip!! THANK YOU. What especially works with this transaction is not only getting a dedicated external (& VERY compact..) hard drive, but I can have them ship the camera directly to Ocean Images in FL, as they need the camera to precisely fit camera & controls. I have been BTW, very impressed with Keith @ Ocean Images. Very knowledgeable & professional to work with. Small family owned company, which I suspects delivers great service.

 

[travelersinparadise]

Your welcome!

 

[BDSC]

I studied the WB adjustment - Ashley, do you use the "one touch" WB & use a white board? I've watched many many photographers do this while diving. Also, do you just keep your vid on for the entire dive, or shut it down here & there. I've heard these HD cam's take a while to boot up. I didn't purchase it yet....gotta mull this over a day or so. I will also do as you suggested & hit some ad's for used housings. How did you transition from the older style video format to AVCHD for editing?

I do use one of those white boards. It's just a regular white board that you write on. I keep it clipped to my bc on one of those retractable lanyards so I just pull it out to do a WB and it slides right back in place. I have my camcorder to shut off after 5 minutes of non use so I just cut it on at the beginning of the dive and leave it that way. No big deal to just cut it back on if it goes off. I just don't bother to cut it on and off everytime I shoot something.

I have a pretty beefy computer so there was no problem there. I recently purchased the "Sony Movie Studio HD Platinum Production Suite" and I edit with that. It is designed for AVCHD camcorders.

 

[diversteve]

Just to further complicate your decision:

The Ocean Images housing with the add-on manual controls is $1545.

The new Amphibico Dive Buddy EVO HD Elite II is $1495 with the fixed port (glass) option.

It does MWB via an electronic control on the right handle. Has a back mounted 3.5" LCD monitor and the depth rating is 330' - almost twice as much as the O/I. It also has a moisture alarm and an u/w hydrophone.

Both have flat ports unless you pay $125 more for the Ocean Images W/I upgrade. But realistically how good a port can that be for $125 considering that most W/I lenses go from $100-2500.

I've had my EVO over 5 years. Absolutely no issues and it's built like a tank. The back door has a machined, tapered, double o-ring seal that's about as bulletproof as anything I've seen. It also fits in my carry-on roller bag.

Not panning O/I, I almost bought one before I bought my Amphibico.

 

[orm]

My 2 cents.

I've shot both HD and SD and now shoot SD (in caves and caverns).

I personally find that on a lot of HD footage the blacks are crushed, colours over saturated and the overall image too contrasty.

For my situation I find that it blows out the lights far far too much creating ugly hot-spots, where my SD camera handles without a problem. It's as if the light-enhancing model within the cam over-boosts the gain on thus blowing the highlights out?

I've seen it on other footage above say 30foot in bright sunlight in the ocean, the light ripples on the reef are seriously blown.

The processing of the HD images is still gonna be unwieldily long and the final output will be large, taking you hours to get them up into Vimeo/Youtube.

I find that the footage on the SD, the colours are not as saturated, but nice in a muted way, the contrast is even and the highlights have detail. Dealing with the output won't take you hours in rendering time and you have a format you are used to.

This is just my experience, others may differ.

PS... saying that I'm trying to get my Canon 5d2 in a housing at the moment, but the IW on that is a different animal.

 

[MN Lakeman]

Just to further complicate your decision:

The Ocean Images housing with the add-on manual controls is $1545.

The new Amphibico Dive Buddy EVO HD Elite II is $1495 with the fixed port (glass) option.

It does MWB via an electronic control on the right handle. Has a back mounted 3.5" LCD monitor and the depth rating is 330' - almost twice as much as the O/I. It also has a moisture alarm and an u/w hydrophone.

Both have flat ports unless you pay $125 more for the Ocean Images W/I upgrade. But realistically how good a port can that be for $125 considering that most W/I lenses go from $100-2500.

I've had my EVO over 5 years. Absolutely no issues and it's built like a tank. The back door has a machined, tapered, double o-ring seal that's about as bulletproof as anything I've seen. It also fits in my carry-on roller bag.

Not panning O/I, I almost bought one before I bought my Amphibico.

I am VERY impressed with this housing....& a personal endorsement to boot!! I'm looking closely @ the webpage image of the controls: the buttons seem pretty close in proximity to each other - have you had issues with this? The Ocean Image housing has separate distinct buttons as oppossed to a toggle type. Since I'll be wearing 2mm gloves on my Galapagos trip, I'll have to carefully consider the control configuration. I think the real seller here is having an electronic connection to WB. I really appreciate your feedback - there are several very nice benefits with this rig over O/I - I'll do my homework today.

 

[didekeer]

Hi guys, I also want to mention the Patima Smart housing for this camcorder. I have the Smart 2 for the Sony XR500 and have been very pleased with it. Build like a tank, with electronic controls. Although no one push white balance, you can do manual white balance via the menu (menu is fully accessible via extra buttons than control the remote control). It has no internal flip filter, but you can screw on wet wide angle lenses.
Aside from the internal flip filter and one push white balance, this housing is very similar to Light&Motion, but with a fraction of the cost (even cheaper than the Ocean Images).
I would rate it much better then the Ocean Images. I used to have an Ocean Images housing and had it flood on me twice. The mechanism to close and open the Patima housing is way more reliable than with the Ocean Images, simular to the L&M housings.
Patima Smart III Housing for Sony HDR-XR550 Camcorders #PHC-Smart3
I bought it with the Inon wide angle lens.

The housing is heavy though, but I solved this with Inon float arms for the light.

 

[diversteve]

I am VERY impressed with this housing....& a personal endorsement to boot!! I'm looking closely @ the webpage image of the controls: the buttons seem pretty close in proximity to each other - have you had issues with this? The Ocean Image housing has separate distinct buttons as oppossed to a toggle type.

It's really no problem at all. It's not apparent from the website but each button is 1/2" wide. There's also a "trigger" on the front of the handle to start/stop the camera.

I mostly shoot one-handed with my finger on the trigger and my thumb floating above the buttons. One nice feature is that the zoom/wide angle buttons are progressive - the longer you hold them down, the faster they zoom. That's been handy a couple of times when I'm "chasing" quick moving things like sharks.

The housing is just slightly negative with an oversize battery - I removed the trim weights completely - so it settles into your hand nicely.

They're not toggle type buttons if you were referring to the EVO. Each is separate, just shaped into a round pattern.

I've never held an Ocean Images housing but I had an old Quest Poly housing and I've handled an Ikelite. Amphibico is a much better product. The same housing with a removable port is $2500.

One other thing I'd point out - afaik ronscuba shoots with a flat port on his Gates housing. And we've seen the high quality of his work. I've actually considered buying a flat port for macro work.

 

[ronscuba]

Actually, I have 3 ports. Flat, dome and super-wide.

Flat port is definitely the way to go for macro. You can fully zoom. Macro video is tough, can be frustrating and I needed to change my how I went about shooting.

Super-wide is just that. It also is fully zoom through, but also super expensive

Dome is your best bet for affordable WA, but you can't zoom.

Galapagos videos were all with the super-wide.

Belize videos were all with the flat-port.

Indonesia and Roatan were a combination flat port and dome.

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Going to a quality camera set up before a dream trip requires some practice, but if its your dream trip, dont go without being well equipped. TOdays HD cameras are much better than previous cameras. Smaller systems are more powerful and offer far more features. Going tapeless makes life easy, especially when you return! MWB is a feature that is often underestimated on the importance list...I cant live without it, nor do I suggest going with it!

You should take a serious look at the Canon HF S20, and Also either the Sony XR550 or CX550. All fantastic cameras, with a variety of housings available for it. We also have a couple of demo models of HD cameras and housings available if you are looking to save some $$. Just remember, optics are extremely important no matter which way you go. And of course, being compact, RELIABLE, and easy to use are very important. Its your dream trip, make sure you have the memories.

Budget of course is the ultimate factor. The new Amphibico housing Steve mentioned above is excellent for the price, and really puts a quality, durable machined aluminum housing in the hands of the consumer. The step above that would be the Light and Motion Stingray, and the just released Gates CX550.