video editing program recommendation

[ronscuba]

Maybe look at housings 1st and camcorders 2nd. You might have a problem finding a successor to the FX1 for UW. I see a lot of housing choice for consumer camcorders, some for pro camcorders, but hardly any for prosumer camcorders.

 

[danvolker]

Maybe look at housings 1st and camcorders 2nd. You might have a problem finding a successor to the FX1 for UW. I see a lot of housing choice for consumer camcorders, some for pro camcorders, but hardly any for prosumer camcorders.

oK... Canon XA1 ....SO FAR in Equinox housing or Gates..

Have heard I should not go with Equinox because the controls are hard to use without messing up your u/w shots...Don't know if this is reasonable, does not seem so as you would set up shot anyway and then shoot ( store told me this)

Gates will cost much more, and "may" have similar issues with where cotrols are compared to Light and Motion ( do not think they do this camera either)

 

[baitballer]

I have the same dilemma at the moment I want to upgrade to HD but I want to do it properly and it seems at the moment there is nothing in the prosumer market. I am contemplating going backwards and gettinga FX1 and housing second hand since in many ways it seems to give me what I want without a huge price tag and better quality than the new consumer models.

 

[sharksdelight]

There is a huge difference between the quality of a Gates housing and that of Equinox. Gates is truly a professional housing and one of my biggest regrets was dropping a partial sponsorship from them for another company offering a full sponsorshiip that has been a big dissappointment to me.
Steve

 

[ronscuba]

oK... Canon XA1 ....SO FAR in Equinox housing or Gates..

Have heard I should not go with Equinox because the controls are hard to use without messing up your u/w shots...Don't know if this is reasonable, does not seem so as you would set up shot anyway and then shoot ( store told me this)

Gates will cost much more, and "may" have similar issues with where cotrols are compared to Light and Motion ( do not think they do this camera either)

Be careful. That is a discontinued tape-based HDV camcorder. More of a peer to the FX1 than a successor. Gates still sells housings for some old discontinued camcorders.

There are exceptions, but the current trend I am seeing for UW video is consumer cams and then the whole prosumer line is bypassed to the pro line like the Sony EX. Seems like the prosumer video market has been dropped and filled in with DSLR cams that shoot video.

 

[danvolker]

There is a huge difference between the quality of a Gates housing and that of Equinox. Gates is truly a professional housing and one of my biggest regrets was dropping a partial sponsorship from them for another company offering a full sponsorshiip that has been a big dissappointment to me.
Steve

Steve, are you talking about the safety from flooding....or the intelligence of the control interphase and how it allows you to shoot U/W ?

 

[ronscuba]

There is a huge difference between the quality of a Gates housing and that of Equinox. Gates is truly a professional housing and one of my biggest regrets was dropping a partial sponsorship from them for another company offering a full sponsorshiip that has been a big dissappointment to me.
Steve

Yeah, every company has it's fans and happy customers.

I've only used Gates and Ikelite and have been very satisfied. Other big mfrs. have satisfied customers too, but I find the Dark & Still play on words pretty funny.

 

[sharksdelight]

You don't say what your budget is or what your video aspirations are. If all you want to do is make a few videos for friends and family than an inexpensive HDV or AVCHD cam will do the trick. If you hope to be the next Howard Hall than the EX3 would be the way to go. Keep in mind that the housings for these cams are 3x as expensive as the cam and are huge in size and weight.

Dark and Still doesn't make any housings for the better cams, not one, to my great disappointment.

Dan,
Its not just the risk of flooding, you should have all your equipment insured against just such a thing as I do with D.A.N. The Gates housing is mechanical and some don't like that much; they want an easy push button operation. I used many Gates housings when I started out and you get used to the mechanical operation very quickly. Gates is pretty much bulletproof and doesn't require much maintence at all. Their customer service has an excellent reputation. However, they are very, very expensive housings.
On the other side of the coin, you have Ikelight and Equinox. Ikelight is inexpensive but very prone to fogging from all reports. Equinox reminds me of my first 8mm housing which was an AquaVideo housing I used in the mid 80's. It is a cylindercal tube, does not utilize advanced glass ports like the Fathoms WA ports that L & M and Gates use and which is of extreme importance when you have moved to the HD world out of SD. The Equinox also does not provide all the operating controls you might need and want.
This is just from my observations, as I personally have never used one. I do know that they say they make a housing for the JVCHM-100 which I wish others would make as it is a great little cam. If Gates or some other quality manufacture made one of the HM-100, I would own it now.
Steve