Help me get started

[sandman12]

I'm possibly looking to get into underwater videography. I'am looking for recammendations on a good camcorder and Housing to start me off. I doubt I would take it past 180'.

thanks

 

[robint]

okay, we need more information in order to help you......
how much do you want to spend?

what types of dives are you going to be using it on? shallow reefs in clear water? wrecks in murky water? kelp forests? night dives?

not deeper than 180'.?????...... dude, unless you have lights and an expensive setup you can't shoot video deeper than 80' or so. Diving to 180'? Shooting video (or even still photography) is very distracting and can be intensive mentally - diving to 180' is where a beginner or any diver should be concentrating on their own safety, not shoot video.

just my 2cents.

 

[sandman12]

I'll be shooting video of spearfishing in the gulf of mexico. Ok , no deeper than 80' I just threw that out there to give me alot of room to play with. I would like to spend 5-600 but we'll see. I've been looking at a sony camcorder and a DIY housing like the one made out of PVC in the DIY thread.

Thanks
James

 

[robint]

$500-600 can get you a nice Sony camcorder but you will need to spend that much again for a mechanical housing - so your total is going to be over $1000 minimum.
Ikelite makes nice housings (I have an HC-42 and Ikelite housing) in that price range. There are a few other mechanical style housings in that price range. Some housings fit a multitude of camcorders so you need to take that into consideration also - some of them are a problem because of this as they have way too much wasted space inside causing bouyancy issues and also some of them set the camcorder so far from the front port that you can actually see the housing in your picture. Do your research!
An electronic housing will be over $1200 for the same camcorder. Then there are add-ons like lights, wide angle lens, etc.
check out: www.bhphotovideo.com and www.adorama.com for the housing once you decide on a camcorder.
hope this helps!

 

[sandman12]

I think I'm going to go with this
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony...44139/catOid/-13063/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

And build a DIY housing out of PVC. Is there a better camera for around $300?

 

[LowVizWiz]

I don't know much about underwater video, but I do know about cameras and video in general since that's what I do for a living. I would recommend that you at least try to get a camera with 3 CCD's

miniDV is a great format, but it needs a lot of artificial light to look halfway decent Underwater. A camcorder with one 1/6 CCD would do a poor job in anything but a nice bright sunny day on the surface.

Save your money and invest in a higher end camera. Even better, purchase the camera you mention and do some test around your house in daylight and see what the picture looks like on your TV.

Wys.

 

[ronrosa]

Looks like a nice inexpensive camcorder and if your DIY housing leaks you are only out $300.

If you decide you really want to get into the underwater video hobby you have plenty of room to upgrade and you can give your $300 camcorder to your mother, wife or girlfriend. If you decide underwater video is not for you, you have a topside camcorder.

 

[LowVizWiz]

ronrosa awesome videos!!!

 

[diversteve]

I think I'm going to go with this
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-...oductDetail.do
And build a DIY housing out of PVC.

I see a couple potential problems with the camera.

One is the location of the zoom/wide angle slider. It's on top and sort of recessed so I think it will be harder to move with a diy control should you attempt to make one. And the rec start/stop is on the back so it will need to be pushed from a control mounted thru the back glass, not the tube of the housing. These two controls would be the bare minimum I'd like to have u/w, you can let everything else work auto(focus, white balance. etc) and still get good results in bright clear water.

Also the viewfinder seems rather small, so unless you're going to diy a housing that has the lcd screen open, it will probably be necessary to position it as close as possible to the rear glass. Since the battery mounts underneath it, using any sort of extended life battery will move the viewfinder forward a corresponding amount.

Also Sony deleted the Lanc control jack on this model(strange, it was on the lower end HC21 last year) so there's no way to use this camcorder if you decide to upgrade to an electronic housing later.

One good feature is that they put redundant controls on the LCD screen. I could see engineering a housing with an Ikelite pushrod that could hit these controls with the LCD screen open similar to what Ikelite does with their HC1 housing.

Might want to read this review also:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-DCR-HC26-Camcorder-Review.htm

Is there a better camera for around $300?

Probably not, the Canon rates worse. I don't know about the Panasonic. Although either of them will also have the lack of LANC control problem.