Camcorders, Housings and Lights.

[dawhale]

Light & Motion Stingray II with the Halogen Elite lights. Sony TRV-900. I had a Bluefin but found I did not see well enough underwater to use the white balance. Yes I have a prescription mask. Found I shot all the time on auto so I sold it. Did not like the remote monitor. I wish L & M would just put electronic controls , Smartgrips , on the the Stingray II. I like the monitor back. This is my fourth L & M package , Hi-8 , Single chip DV then the Bluefin and now the Stingray II. I think they produce some of the best Halogen lights . dawhale

 

[reefsurveyor]

Please post details about your video equipment and housing here. Also please describe what does and doesn't work well so others may learn what to use.

I use a Sony TRV 900 w/ an Amphibico Navigator housing. I liked the combination so much that I got a SONY F-717 and a matching Amphibico housing for still photos. Filters, light mounts, and some parts are interchangeable on the housings and the cameras use the same battery chargers and memory chips. Pretty cool.

 

[Gryphon3]

Why do you carry two cameras? As insurance if one fails?

Rick

HI RICK,

Having a backup is a secondary reason. The main reason is that to put the PD-170 in the housing you have to remove the eyepeice, remove a few things like the microphone.... Over the years, I have noticed that the less you play with the camera in the housing, the least problems occurs. I rarely "play the the camera in the housing except to change the DVCAM cassette. So the second PD-170 is for the topside shots.

 

[RickSp]

HI RICK,

Having a backup is a secondary reason. The main reason is that to put the PD-170 in the housing you have to remove the eyepeice, remove a few things like the microphone.... Over the years, I have noticed that the less you play with the camera in the housing, the least problems occurs. I rarely "play the the camera in the housing except to change the DVCAM cassette. So the second PD-170 is for the topside shots.

One of the things I love about Sony "prosumer" cameras is that they are very rugged. I have skied and fallen with my PD150 as well as knocking it around probably more than I should. If I am shooting for work I carry two cameras, with one as a back-up. When traveling for pleasure I only carry one which I usually keep with me, which also means that I don't have to worry about it being stolen from the hotel room.

To return to the topic, so far after only five dives I am very happy with the Ikelite housing. My only real complaint is that I have a hard time using the black and white view finder on my PD150, so will be investing in a small mirror so I can see the LCD when folded back against the camera as well as getting bifocals for my mask.

 

[PeaceDog]

Sony TRV-950
Light & Motion Stingray II
L&M SunRay lighting setup

Love, love, love the L&M housing except for the fact that I can't access white balance. It's driving me a little bonkers. My trip to Bonaire in about three days will be my first trip to the Caribbean with it, so we'll see how depressed or elated I am after I return.

The housings are rugged, and you can take them into extreme temps without having to worry about real problems.

I also like how lightweight the unit is. Having gone from a rediculously heavy Ikelite JVC setup, I'm happy to use something that feels weightless.

 

[bubblevision]

Sony VX2000 in a Gates housing with external monitor. I have 2 x Light and Motion Sunray halogen lights custom-fitted to the housing and I have 2 floats to neutralise these. It's a nice rig. The only problem is vignetting on full wide. I have customised the white balance arrangement to make it much quicker and easier to use.

I'll probably be upgrading to a Z1 at some point when things settle down and when finances permit.

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Sony Z1, Gates housing, 4" LCD, Green Force 25w HID lights, SWP44 port (when it comes in)

SOny TRV-950 in L&M Bluefin housing, Remote Monitor, HID lights

Sony PC1000, L&M Mako housing (on its way), monitor back

Editing is done in Final Cut Pro on a powerbook G4 and soon a powermac G5

 

[wags]

2 x Amphibico Navigator 900's. One blue and one silver housing with a electronic handle on the silver one. The blue housing is a legend in the amount and type of work it has done since 2000.

Home made twin 50 watts halogen lights with twin battery backs. 50 min burn time
Aquasea twin 10 watts HID's with twin Nicad battery packs. 3 hours plus burn time. I have done like two 90 mins dives in one day without recharging with the lights on.

Nikon D70 with the 18-70mm lens in a Sea& Sea housing and strobe. Put the HID's on this to for dark or night dives.

One FX1 and waiting on Amphibico's Phenom housing to arrive. Mid June.

Edit on my good old home made Windows XP, 3 gig, 1.5 gig ram with twin screens and Premire Pro / Cineform with a heap of hard drives. Does not mis a beat. Twin DVD burners. Editing HDV is not a problem and mixing mini dv with the new HDV is like a huge difference. Here is a screen shot.
www.ningalooreefteach.com/images/sample.jpg
Bottom left is mini DV then HDV then Nikon D70.

Wags

 

[MRooney]

I have a SONY MiniDV camera and use it with the Ikelite housing made for that and several other cameras. I love the clear housing because if there is a problem, you will see it! I used to use my PC5 for shooting training tapes for firefighting, but since the camera model changes year to year, I only use it for underwater shots now.
The digital format is broadcast quality (601 serial digital) and will download via IEEE firewire. I use a Mac to compile all the footage and burn everything to dvd when finished. The iLife software by Apple are awesome and increadibly easy to use.
I used a red filter that came with the Ikelite housing and was pleased with the results. I was surprised how much of a change that made. Any inexpensive tips would be helpful as far as getting good color...
Thanks and good luck!
Mike

 

[MRooney]

Dude, that looks like a pipe bomb!
As long as it works, great!

Sony VX2000 in a Gates housing with external monitor.