Canon WP-V1 Housing!

[ronscuba]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand what the big deal is with a little vignette. Zoom in a little or crop in editing and it's gone.

Yeah it be nice if there was no vignette, but these lenses are not specifically made for one camera or housing. They get used on a variety of systems and a little vignette is the result. The wider the adapter, the greater the chances for distortion and vignette.

If the FOV is 100 degrees with the vignette, it's 97 degrees after zoom/crop.

You have the right idea about trying out a lens 1st. Be careful though. Many times you can't see the vignette on the camcorder LCD, only to find it shows up when displayed on a computer monitor. For me, distortion, FOV and corner sharpness are more important than a little vignette. Play your clip at full resolution on a big HDTV or monitor to see the real picture.

 

[nwflyboy]

Some pix of the new rig...

What is the light/tray/handle gear pictured here?

I have the Canon HF200 with the WP-V1 case, and no light as of yet.

I do already have the Ikelite W20 WA lens. Yes, it is surprisingly heavy. I guess I'll live with that.

Now I'm looking for a reasonably inexpensive lighting system/tray/handle - I'm considering the Ikelite Pro-V8, but not sure what alternatives exist. I wonder how effective it is. My hope is to minimize the complexity, and keep things simple/inexpensive/easy to transport half-way around the world (which is why I started with the HF200 and WP-V1 in the first place).

Suggestions for a reasonable light/bracket system? Thanks.

 

[mrivken]

I have WP-V1 with Inon UWL-100 (625g !!!). Tripod mount of WP-V1 looks very weak and could easily break under load of heavy lens. I spoke with sales representatives in Backscatter and ReefPhoto and they recommended INON VideoBase, so I bought it and used it in "cold" dives - Monterey, CA and "warm" - Fiji. It has survived my rough handling and camera feels much more stable.

 

[nwflyboy]

Got into the pool tonight and had to hand over my kit to a former student who shot some video of my class for me. But before I did, I had a brief chance to pick it up and take a twirl with it - MAN IS IT SWEET NOW!

The Fisheye Fix UWL-04 lens really is the #H*% for this camera/housing combo (and thereby the same ought to be true for the WP-V2 and HF30/300 as well). Great optics, much wider FOV given the very sweet .42X lens with a native FOV of 131 degrees diagonal, when combined with the rather narrow Canon lens, the net FOV is a nice true U/W 17mm (about 95 degrees). But just as big a treat (if not more) is the change in the balance and bouyancy. Slightly negative (no numbers yet), and a significant shift from being extremely nose heavy.

I'm watching the video now and I'll try to post some samples on VImeo tomorrow (if I can find the time)....


Anyway... I really have a big recommendation for this set up (and I'll post some pix tomorrow of it too). I also added a Fisheye FIX LED1000DX (again - thanks to Jack at Optical Oceans dot com) and it is also a killer video light. I do beieve I'll need to add another so I can really have seperate light sources to minimize shadow and gain additional coverage (now that I have a lens that can really take this out to TRUE WIDE ANGLE!) - otherwise the LED1000Dx is extremely bright (thank God it has a variable output knob to trim it down on closeups) and wide - but not quite wide enough for the FIX UWL-04!


All the best,

Jim


PS- Thanks again to OpticalOceans and H2O for getting me this product out so quickly!

Interesting. I have the HF200 & WPV1 and have not used it underwater yet (trip coming up soon, though). I have just gone back and read all the posts in this thread (whew!) looking for tips. I have a Fsiheye LED1000DX on order from Reef Photo - should be here in a few days. I'm mounting it on the ULCS TRV Tray, attached with loc-line (I'm trying to keep the costs, complexity the bulk down, for travel purposes). Glad to hear you like the LED1000DX a lot, as I'm planning to use that as my only light.

I have the Ikelite W20 wide angle lens - I figure I'll generally shoot with that on, unless I want to get up close to a small critter, then I'll remove it.

I would welcome any other pointers on using this combo. I'm still trying to figure out what settings to use (I'll be in tropical water, hopefully with great viz and good natural lighting).

From all I've read here, it seems that the UW mode may be OK if you stay shallow, but then you get their auto-correction white balance settings, and the minimum focus distance is a shocking 2.5 feet. To get around those limitations, I see others report shooting in P mode - not sure what to do about shooting mode or white balance yet. Suggestions welcomed.

 

[subcmdr]

I've done about 40 dives now with my WP-V1. Most recent videos here. (Of course, best watched in 1080p)
YouTube - Wreck of Austin Smith

YouTube - Bahamas dive video based off the Aqua Cat liveaboard

YouTube - Shark dive in the Bahamas

By the way, I've never had the condensation problem previous poster says will happen. These videos were shot with the Ikelite W-20 wide angle lense.

 

[hyrulejedi86]

Anyone selling one of these? I am despirately looking for one at a fair price before it's too late.

BTW: VERY nice videos submdr

 

[jeja26]

Hi submdr
Great videos. Planning to go in 2012 after Thailand, Malaysia and Borneo in 10 and 11
I was wondering if you have any tips regarding dive sites , seasons and operators (land based or liveaboard). We would like to do the shark scene as our first priority and any other diving worth while.
Thanks

 

[chrisstands]

Ya, awesome videos I'm not so sure about shark diving though.

 

[subcmdr]

If you want the Bahamas for the shark dives, the best liveaboard from my perspective is Aqua Cat. The came company runs Blackbeard, but the other boats are much more cramped. Aqua Cat is a purpose built dive boat and the crew is wonderful. As for season, best time of year I've found is September. The water is still blissfully warm from the hot summer months, but the air is cooler than the killer summer months.

The same is seasonal advice pretty much true for Grand Cayman, although I've never done a liveaboard down there. From the cost standpoint, I'd have to compare whether a liveaboard makes sense for the purpose of getting to Cayman Brac, or simply hotelling it. A liveaboard does not make sense for Grand Cayman proper though....

I've dove Philippines, and some places in the South Pacific including Thailand, but have not done a liveaboard in any of those locations. I think if I were to go back to Thailand it would be aboard a liveaboard, but haven't researched it.

As for Australia, a liveaboard makes great sense in order to get to the great spots in the Coral Sea. The "Spirit of Freedom" out of Cairns is the only one I have experience with, and it's superb.

Hope this helps. By the way, there is much more of this kind of info available on the travel forum of Scubaboard.

 

[jeja26]

Hi and thanks. I have been through the travel section, but always nice hearing different views. Doing Thailand again by liveaboard in December- a must if you want to go to the islands off the west coast.