Housing for Sony FX1/Z1

[ScubaBob92651]

scubaBob, do you like the HD10U? I was thinking of getting one as a second setup with the ikelite housing.

I do like the HD10U. I really haven't had a chance to do much shooting with it, but I did take it to Bonaire last year (right when Ivan was passing through). I've been really impressed with the results. The chroma-noise is a little annoying - but I've been able to remove most of that during post. Color reproduction seems pretty good - but I haven't seen comparable footage shot with the FX1/Z1. I've attached a yousendit link to some sample footage (WMV 9) , let me know if you have additional questions...

ScubaBob

http://s19.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2PHJMWUN3TUED1E7WB3XHPLHAX

 

[vdubmixer]

That is an awsome video. What housing did you use. Is the 16:9 true or stretched by the ccd. My friend wants to split the cost on the hd10 and the ikelite housing, so for $1500. I can have a second setup. I have not seen any footage except yours and I have got to say I'm impressed. Didi you use cc filter for those shots? Thanks again for the footage!!

 

[ScubaBob92651]

That is an awsome video. What housing did you use. Is the 16:9 true or stretched by the ccd. My friend wants to split the cost on the hd10 and the ikelite housing, so for $1500. I can have a second setup. I have not seen any footage except yours and I have got to say I'm impressed. Didi you use cc filter for those shots? Thanks again for the footage!!

Thanks for the compliments, always appreciated . I use the Gates HD1 housing with the JVC HD10U. The housing is great (except for having to take the rubber piece off the viewfinder.) The pixels on the JVC are square (1:1) so it's true 16:9 at 1280x720 30p. You can also shoot in regular DV and 720x480 60p (I think that is the mode - it is recorded as mpeg2transport stream.) I use the included red filter on nearly every shot (generally below 15') and manually white balance. A few of the shots in that clip had some additional CC in post.

 

[vdubmixer]

I was thinking of a gates for my fx1 at first, but the phenom has all of the features that I am looking for. Gates are very nice housings. I showed a few friends your clip and I must say they were impressed. They can't beliveve the quailty on the web.

 

[ScubaBob92651]

I was thinking of a gates for my fx1 at first, but the phenom has all of the features that I am looking for. Gates are very nice housings. I showed a few friends your clip and I must say they were impressed. They can't beliveve the quailty on the web.

I checked out the Phenom at the So Cal Scuba Show. I was mostly impressed with it. The only drawbacks I saw were the lack of power control (not able to turn the camera on and off within the housing - not sure if this was only with the demo model) and the angle of the lcd window - though I was told they are going to correct this with a modified prism like window that will allow the lcd to be viewed from a better angle. Thanks again for the feedback! Looking forward to your footage!

 

[wags]

I checked out the Phenom at the So Cal Scuba Show. I was mostly impressed with it. The only drawbacks I saw were the lack of power control (not able to turn the camera on and off within the housing - not sure if this was only with the demo model) and the angle of the lcd window - though I was told they are going to correct this with a modified prism like window that will allow the lcd to be viewed from a better angle. Thanks again for the feedback! Looking forward to your footage!

Bob thaks for posting that, have you any more??
It looked nice, but it did have some artifacts (Square blocks) in some of the the blue water background. Does it show up in the raw material or is it just the because of the commpression to a 8 MPS WMV file.

Still waiting on my Phenom, it should arrive in Aus this week so I am told, but going by your clip, Im looking forward to getting the FX underwater.

Wags

 

[ScubaBob92651]

Bob thaks for posting that, have you any more??
It looked nice, but it did have some artifacts (Square blocks) in some of the the blue water background. Does it show up in the raw material or is it just the because of the commpression to a 8 MPS WMV file.

Still waiting on my Phenom, it should arrive in Aus this week so I am told, but going by your clip, Im looking forward to getting the FX underwater.

Wags

I think all of the artifacts are due to the wmv encode. I don't recall seeing any in the source clips. At 5MBps - they were much worse. 8 MBps seemed much more tolerable for U/W. Here's a link to an m2t file, encoded at a variable bit rate and at a lower bitrate then the regular JVC HDV bitrate. This file eliminates most of the artifacts. I will try to post another sample soon (something a little longer).

http://s36.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=286T8RXUC9CJZ15Q6OM9YPFTM3

 

[ScubaBob92651]

Bob thaks for posting that, have you any more??
It looked nice, but it did have some artifacts (Square blocks) in some of the the blue water background. Does it show up in the raw material or is it just the because of the commpression to a 8 MPS WMV file.

Still waiting on my Phenom, it should arrive in Aus this week so I am told, but going by your clip, Im looking forward to getting the FX underwater.

Wags

In spirit of keeping this thread alive until you Phenom waiters are able to post some 1080i footage, I've encoded a couple more clips - both of these much longer. The first clip is some footage taken in the days after Ivan ran through Bonaire last year. Those of you familiar with the Hilma Hooker will probably notice some differences. The second video is some land footage taken during the same time period. The land footage is handlheld - so it definately leaves quite a bit to be desired. Also - you may notice some of the shots may look a little blurred due to salt build up on the lens (the air was thick in the wake of the hurricane.) Lastly, these were quick WMV encodes (about an hour for both) - so quality is decent but not great. Anyway enough with the disclaimers..

U/W Video - (205 MB)
http://s20.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3U94ERRP1COME0ZKY69JRYPSR9

Land Video - (156 MB)
http://s20.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0GBTO6ONKZQZQ2X8OGGD4BBIZO

ScubaBob

 

[wags]

Hey thanks for that ScubaBob. That m2t file looked great. I will download the others you have posted up. Where are you? Have you a site?

I have just sold one of my 3 CCD underwater setups and after seeing that I recond I will sell the other one and get one of those new HDR-HC1 and put that in a housing to enable us to shoot the Phenom in action in our new DVD productons. Goodby mini DV 3CCD 4.3..........

Here is a few links to a some of uptop shots done with the FX1.

http://www.ningalooreefteach.com/sunsetnew.wmv 17 megs

http://www.exmouthnavypier.com/turtlebeach.wmv 7 megs

http://www.ningalooreefteach.com/hdv.wmv 7 megs

http://www.ningalooreefteach.com/fish.mpg (This one normal 4.3 3CCD )

Wags

 

[wags]

Hey Scubabob, just downloaded that underwater 205 meg clip and played if full screen. That music where did you get that from? Nice...

The images were very impressive although the colour looked like it was off abit. Maybe because the camera is a single chip. I know this is the case with normal MINI DV 1 versus 3CCD.

It looked like is has a good depth of field. I know the FX1 has this to from the uptop shots I have been taking.

Thanks again for sharing it.

Wags