triswebb:
Fantastic, thanks for all this information. I have read some more reviews regarding the camera and as you say it looks very impressive! One more quick question (if you dont mind!!) when you say "You must get the upgrades though (wide angle lens, manual controls).". I have looked at the housing and it comes with electrical controls so what manual controls are you refering too? Also, is the wide angel lens an adjustment required to the actual housing or do you mean just getting a wide angel lens for the camera?
Sorry for all the questions, its just so much cash to spend I want to make sure I get this one right!!
thanks so much,
tristan
I don't mind.
It looks like the Wide Angle lens is now included in the base housing cost (it's $1545.00). The wide angle lens is not removable as it is a wet lens and is thru the housing's body. It's a nice lens, really big.
The base housing has the following controls (It comes with electronic and manual housing controls):
On/off and mode selector (both are manual housing control knobs) and
Electronic Controls - There are 4 buttons. Record start stop, photo, zoom in, and zoom out. The camera has a port that is normally for a Panasonic remote, the housing has a wire inside that you plug into the camera.
The $250 Professional mechanical control system adds three extra mechanical housing control knobs:
Auto/Manual/AE selector - A knob installed on the top of the housing that puts the camera from auto mode, manual mode, or exposure hold mode.
Focus/Zoom, Shutter/Iris, and White balance selector - This is a neat control on the left front of the housing that allows you to push three buttons on the front-left barrel of the camcorder. It takes a while to operate smoothly and you need to learn the three selections by feel. I use white balance the most, and ocassionally use manual focus. The white balance selection (the lowest of the 3 on the camcorder) only controls white balance. The other two selectors select buttons that switch between two other funtions. Top button = focus or zoom, middle button = Shutter speed or camera Iris. Whatever you select out of these 4 manual controls is what the last housing control does.
Camera ring control - This knob on the right front of the housing turns the ring around the end of the camcorder (like a focus ring). I use it mostly for focus, but have played with iris control a little when filming up toward the sun.
You need the entire manual control package to access manual white balance, even if you don't need the rest of the manual controls. They are nice to have though, especially the manual focus and I can see the shutter/iris control needed.
For an example of what the video looks like uncompressed - I went diving Sunday, here is a link to some stills from the video I filmed. The vis was crappy (maybe 15 feet with lots of particulate matter). When I make DVDs of this footage the resolution is this clear. They are here at
http://www.socaldivevideos.com/Catalina071705/index.htm
Cheers,
Mike
http://www.socaldivevideos.com
. Just a couple quick questions. Does the housing let you switch to stills? I notice the panasonic takes 4 megapixel stills as well and the ability to switch to still mode would be a major selling point. Also, how do you find the quality once put on full DVD and not compressed?
