Flip Mino HD Underwater Housing Question

[urmaddad]

I recently purchased a Flip Mino HD camcorder. Although I purchased it mainly for home use, I would also like to take it underwater. Most of the underwater housings I have found on the internet which cost $30 to $40 are only good to about 30 feet of depth. Are there any housings that will go beyond 30 feet that are not too expensive? The Ikelite housing goes down to 200 feet, but it costs more than the camcorder.
Urmaddad

 

[bennyscuba]

urmaddad, I'm curious if you found anything out about this - I too am looking to buy a flip and it would be great to take it diving...i read some reviews where people took it below 30ft, but the idea of that would make me nervous...

bg

 

[TMan2]

Hey guys,

The only thing I have found is the Ikelite unit that goes deeper than 30ft for the flip. Benny you may want to take a look at the JVC website about their new little camera. Ikelite has a housing for this one as well. The camera is $199.00 and it features image stabilization where the flip does does not. Hope this helps.

 

[jaydrum718]

I made my own case for the Flip Mino

sites.google.com/site/flipminounderwatercameracase

The video's are at youtube.com search jayb718

 

[Gombessa]

urmaddad, I'm curious if you found anything out about this - I too am looking to buy a flip and it would be great to take it diving...i read some reviews where people took it below 30ft, but the idea of that would make me nervous...bg

The Ikelite housing is great, but the Flip itself isn't the ideal choice for a cheap underwater solution, unless 1) you already own one and 2) you also already own a WA-20 wide angle lens. The reason is because the field of view of the Flip's lens is about 45mm native, which is way too much on the telephoto end (and this is exacerbated by the magnification effect underwater).

I'd look to any of the other flash recorders such as the JVC and Kodak offerings and see if one of those has a lens in the 24-35mm range.

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

I think it really depends on what the intended use is of the camera. if you are a diver looking to shoot reef scenes, videos of your dive buddies, etc..then Id definitely look at something with a wider lens. The Flip and JVC cameras are becoming very popular with freedivers and spearfisherman because it is small, and the narrown POV is ideal for them when attaching it to their spearguns.

A Canon G10 or G11, or the Canon S90 are fantastic cameras and there are housings from canon, Ikelite and other manufacturers available depending on the budget.

 

[bennyscuba]

thanks for all the great opinions - tman2 - you're lucky to get to play with these!

I would say that I'm finally at the point where I can think about taking video/picture during my dives. I have 60+ dives but mainly dive 1-2 times a years on vacation. I would love to be able to get something to capture the "moment" and share with others and for the price, video seems better than pictures. Since I will be lucky to use this probably only a dozen times before the technology becomes obsolete i don't want to spend too much money on it (< $500 sounds good).

In that sense the Flip/JVC/ZXi seem best - total is < $500 w/out lens or light. (from reading the forum - light doesn't seem necessary if doing tropical diving - correct?) The JVC seems good but the critique I read about it on cnet is that the buttons are not very responsive - i'm curious when y'all get a chance to check it out how it feels through the housing.http://http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/jvc-picsio-gc-fm1/4505-6500_7-33775782.html?tag=box4505

The best of the cameras seems to be the newer Kodak ZX8 and I plan to call ikelite to see if anything is coming out for that. Doesn't seem like anyone has tried the ZXi.

btw, when reading the specs on a place like cnet, where does it mention the lens size - i don't see anything about that..

thanks always,

bg

 

[bennyscuba]

fyi, i spoke to someone at ikelite who said that as of now the Flip, JVC & ZXi are the only ones they have plans to offer housing for...it seems like it's a toss-up with the Flip with superior controls but not as good features and JVC with better features but not as good controls...has anyone found out about the JVC's lens size - that may be a deciding factor...

bg

 

[Gombessa]

Flip with superior controls but not as good features and JVC with better features but not as good controls...has anyone found out about the JVC's lens size - that may be a deciding factor...

JVC Picsio GC-FM1 Camcorder Review - JVC Flash Memory

"Lab tested wide angle: 34 degrees." I have no idea how that translates to 35mm equivalent focal length. But the same site tested the Flip at a wider 42 degrees, and in my tests, that equaled about 45mm focal length.

One site said the Creative Labs Vado had a wider angle lens than the Flip/Kodak/JVC, but I can't tell by how much.

Also, the site claims the JVC has "horrible 720p motion" - which is a bit of a bummer since I imagine most people shooting in HD will stay in 720p since 1080p takes up a lot more space and the jump in quality isn't that dramatic, especially if it's all lost when uploaded to vimeo/youtube.

If you're looking for wide angle shooting (and unless you're shooting mainly close-up macro, you probably are), the limited visibility and close distances typically kept by dive buddies may really make these flash-based camcorders more of a second-tier option. Here's what you get:

Flip UltraHD: $170
Ikelite housing: $260
Ikelite port adapter: $35
W-20 or UWL-100: $280
Total: $745

This gets you a 720p shooter with a fixed 21mm lens at a fast f/2.4 aperture. No manual WB, no optical zoom, no image quality settings, no still photography, no flash. Compare this to:

Digicam w/ 28mm lens: $250
Ikelite housing: $260
8GB flash card: $20
Total: $520

This gets you a 720p shooter with a 28-120mm optical zoom lens with perhaps f/2.8-3.5 wide, image stabilization, manual WB, 8-12MP still photos, etc. And over $200 left to apply towards a video light.

Personally, I'm still quite happy with the Flip, partially cause I found a killer deal on a used wide angle lens. But if I was doing everything over, I'd probably go with a Canon Powershot or something similar.

Just my $0.02.

 

[ae3753]

Personally, I'm still quite happy with the Flip, partially cause I found a killer deal on a used wide angle lens. But if I was doing everything over, I'd probably go with a Canon Powershot or something similar.

Just my $0.02.

Thanks for the comparison. After seeing your Flip, I got gear envy.

Regarding the PowerShot or something similar, the Panasonic DMC-ZS3 is pretty nice. However, finding an underwater housing is quite difficult.

I'd really like for Canon to have a point and shoot that captures video at 720p. However, I might not be able to wait, and I'll pull the trigger on the Flip Ultra HD. Especially if my current WA lens will work with the Ikelite housing.