Patima Smart 2 UW housing review

[didekeer]

I received the housing and did a quick dive to test it.

Test results can be seen at: Test Patima Smart 2 Housing and Sony XR500 on Vimeo

Patima 2 Smart Housing with Sony XR500 and Inon UWL-100 Achromat Wide Conversion Lens
Lights: 2 x 24 Watt Darkbuster on Inon Mega Float Arms M
Filmed at 1080i Anamorphic, re-encoded at 720p for posting.

Location: Whytecliff, Vancouver, BC - Depth up to 85 ft and filmed in early evening with low vizibility and low ambient light due to Algae Bloom. The video actually shows way better vizibility then it really was. I'm pleased with the results (and I haven't shot in the highest resolution yet due to my computer not being able to edit the files).

The housing seems to be good quality and easy to use. I only have 2 negative remarks:
- The LCD view angle is not large and the LCD screen itself is not angled, so you have to keep the housing in front of you to properly see the video.
- even with the Inon mega floats, the housing is still a bit negative allthough very reasonable.

Hope this helps someone.... I will be doing some deeper and longer wreck dives this weekend, so hope to have some more footage soon.

 

[didekeer]

A longer video from a dive this weekend: Tuwanek on Vimeo

Viz was better this dive (not the tropics but within reason for BC), but I did have some White Balance issues I have to work on. Close up shots or shots at deep deths where good, but closer to the surfase, I had a strong green cast that was hard to make better during editing. Guess I have to learn to use manual White Balance.

Dirk (canekeesdiving.ca)