Need suggestion on first video setup

[crum]

I am looking to purchase my first camcorder for underwater and looking for suggestions. I have been reading through other post and it seems that a lot of people are happy with the panasonic GS400 with the ocean images housing, but they don't make this anymore. What would ya'll recommend to somebody that is just starting in and pretty much knows nothing about video?

 

[ronrosa]

Decide on your budget. Many people get sticker shock when they find out most housings costs as much as the camcorder.

I'd recommend a Sony 1 chip mini-dv camcorder and an Ikelite housing, total cost about $1100.

Watch other peoples videos and decide what level of video quality is acceptable to you.

 

[miket]

I am looking to purchase my first camcorder for underwater and looking for suggestions. I have been reading through other post and it seems that a lot of people are happy with the panasonic GS400 with the ocean images housing, but they don't make this anymore. What would ya'll recommend to somebody that is just starting in and pretty much knows nothing about video?

I currently own the GS400, Ocean Images housing. It's awesome.

It was not my first rig though. My first rig was a cheap Panasonic in a real old Ikelite housing all bought used on Ebay for under $300. I bought new o-rings, tested it with no camera a few times then shot tons of video with it.

If you have never done video before I think this is the best way to go, if you love it, sell it on Ebay and get a better camcorder and better controls. I'm glad I did it this way, I learned how to handle the camera underwater first without too many controls to worry about. All I had was zoom in and out, and record/pause, nothing else. I had to turn the camera on, then seal the housing before jumping in.


The above video was all shot with my old setup that cost me $260. The light I used on some of it was a single UK light cannon on some ball-arms I bought on ebay, that cost an additional $240 or so. This would be the ultra-cheap way to do it.

A GS400 and an Ocean Images housing isn't cheap. It was $3600+ if I remember right. But it was worth it, check out the videos at my website www.socaldivevideos.com.

Have you contacted Ocean Images about a housing for the GS500? It is the same optics and manual features as the GS400 but they are all in different places, and the camcorder is smaller than a GS400 too.

- MikeT

 

[yceltikci]

I'd recommend a Sony 1 chip mini-dv camcorder and an Ikelite housing, total cost about $1100.

If you really care about true colors, you should go to a 3-CCD camcorder, or new CMOS chips (Sony).

Don'T forget the red filter and lights.

Good luck
Yener

 

[crum]

Thanks for the feedback.

I will be contacting Ocean Images about the GS500, don't know why I didn't think to do that. I do want to get a 3 CCD camera. Video is something that I want to get in to, I have been taking video underwater with my digital camera and have had a blast putting it together with music and notes. It is just so much fun to go back and watch or share with people. As far as my budget, I was looking around 2500 - 3000, but I will spend more if needed.

I have not researched the red filter yet, is this something that is necessary to get true color? And I forgot about the lights.

Another camera that seems to be popular is the Sony PC1000. Has anybody compared this to the GS400 or GS500?

 

[eric_in_az]

The red filter is often included with the housing (my Ikelite came with one). It corrects the color enough that I've been able to get good results without lights at depths of up to 80 feet on a sunny day. In shallow water, it may make your video too red, so if you're shooting during your safety stop you might want to remove it. You also need to be sure to remove and replace it when you first get in the water to release the air bubbles. I keep my filter on a shoestring attached to the housing so I won't lose it if I drop it. I also use a locking retractor to keep the housing tethered to my BC.

Also, if your PC doesn't already have firewire, I highly recommend adding a firewire card. It's the best way to transfer video from the camcorder to your PC. I use Pinnacle Studio 9 for editing and I've been satisfied with the results.

 

[ronrosa]

Thanks for the feedback.

I will be contacting Ocean Images about the GS500, don't know why I didn't think to do that. I do want to get a 3 CCD camera. Video is something that I want to get in to, I have been taking video underwater with my digital camera and have had a blast putting it together with music and notes. It is just so much fun to go back and watch or share with people. As far as my budget, I was looking around 2500 - 3000, but I will spend more if needed.

I have not researched the red filter yet, is this something that is necessary to get true color? And I forgot about the lights.

Another camera that seems to be popular is the Sony PC1000. Has anybody compared this to the GS400 or GS500?

With that kind of budget, I'd skip mini-dv and go straight to an HD camcorder like the the HC1, A1 or HC3. I would hold off on the lights until you get comfortable.

 

[miket]

Another camera that seems to be popular is the Sony PC1000. Has anybody compared this to the GS400 or GS500?

On the PC1000 there is no way to do manual white balance without using the touch screen (almost impossible in a housing). The GS400 and GS500 have a manual button on the camera that does manual white balance.

With that kind of budget, I'd skip mini-dv and go straight to an HD camcorder like the the HC1, A1 or HC3. I would hold off on the lights until you get comfortable.

The HC1 and HC3 also only have manual white balance on the touch screen. The A1 has a button that can be assigned to this function. I agree about waiting for the lights until you are more experienced, with manual white balance you should be able to get pretty good color up to about 60-80 feet deep. The red filter will help when deeper.

- MikeT

 

[ronrosa]

......The above video was all shot with my old setup that cost me $260. The light I used on some of it was a single UK light cannon on some ball-arms I bought on ebay, that cost an additional $240 or so. This would be the ultra-cheap way to do it.....
- MikeT

WOW, great footage. Where was it shot ? I'd love to dive with seals and a big school and I can't believe how good the footage looks for a $260 camcorder/housing setup. What model of camcorder and housing was it ?

 

[miket]

WOW, great footage. Where was it shot ? I'd love to dive with seals and a big school and I can't believe how good the footage looks for a $260 camcorder/housing setup. What model of camcorder and housing was it ?

The large school footage was from Catalina Island, the Sea Lions were from Santa Barbara Island, some of the other footage is either Anacapa Island, San Clemenente Island or at Catalina Island. I made this quick video when I sold my old housing and camera on ebay as an example of how the video can look.

The old camera/housing was:
- A Panasonic PVDV-101 (cost about $300 new in 2001, I got it for about $115 on Ebay)
- An Ikelite housing from the mid 1980's that was designed for the first Sony 8mm video camera. I just had to bend some control arms and plug up one hole where an old control was. The housing had a nice dome port and built in wide angle lens that I mounted onto the front of the Panasonic with some thread adaptors from a photo store.

My new rig (the Panasonic GS400 in the Ocean Images housing) is so much better! I'd say the video comes out 5 times as good, better color, more sharp, better focus, etc.

Cheers,
MikeT