ChickenCityDivers:
Need some help. Currently I shoot digital stills on an Olympic 5060W but want to move into video. I plan to use it on trips with our shop and offer DVD's to our customers at the end. Would like some suggestions on what to look for in a camcorder, which brand to look at and stay away from. Also housings and lights, what to look for and what to stay away from.
Any help would be great.
A few points to concider. Selling your work means your demand for quality is higher then if doing this as a hobby. Remember the average American watches many hours of professionaly shoot video every day and is uised to seeing good work (even if the show is stupid) thay will compare your work to what they see on TV.
Shop for a housing first, then buy the camera that fits inside. Housing cost _much_ more than cameras and are not made for every camera. (OK, this is not quite true but you have to think of the camera and housing as a set. You will likely be buying a Sony of some kind.
The "three chip" cameras have much nicer color but at double the price. It's worth it only in very clear water but this is vacatn diving so I assume the water is clear. Most divers don't travel to dive in 5 foot vis.
Can you shoot "watchable" video on land? By "watchable" I mean video that other people will want to see and maybe even pay for? Doing this on land is hard. You have to learn to edit and how to tell a story with moving pictres. More then half the work is done on the computer with editing software. If you can't do this on land, just figure it's even harder underwater.
A video editing system can be expensive and have a steep learning curve
will you need lights? You can get by with a filter in some cases, in others you need llights.
A professional level camera and housing will allow setting the white balance. Deside if you want lights, extrnal filter (so you can switch the filter in or out while underwater andif you need white balance control, and if you need the three chip camera.
) You will need to decide on mechanical or electronic controls. I like electronic but others like the fool proof mechcanical controls
) Now your choises are more limited and it will be easier to select a housing and camera
) I have a "top dawg" housing and would not recommend it for travel, it's heavy and bulky. Light and Motion makes a more compact housing called "Mako" For your use, look at the Mak and Sony PC1000 camera
http://www.uwimaging.com/products/video_housings/mako_pc100/mako_pc100.htm
Check out the LCD monitor back and wide angle lens. I got a good look at one of these systems yeaterday, much nicer than mine.
If you are being paid to shoot video at a remote location you have better have backup equipment, so double the cost of everything.
