Where do I go to learn the basics of Underwater videography?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

paulpost:
It looks like cross breed of a HC1 and SR1 anyway no LANC no luck for scuba.
Read it again:

Inputs and Outputs

Remote Jack --- Yes (Stereo Mini)
btw, lack of LANC jack only discounts those housings with electronic controls.

Gates, Ikelite, Equinox are all mechanical options.
 
Wilbkr1, thanks for the post...I just found it myself a few days ago and ordered it though it looks really basic like the other video was. But, hey, I need everything I can get since I 've never tried ANY underwater video or photo.

slspeck, that camera looks pretty nice...I'm hoping more like it come out this year. I'll expose my ignorance and ask a question...I read in the hammerhead press book about 1 chip vs. 3 chip cameras and how they can read color/light...I think I understood it.

basically: 3 chips good, 1 chip bad. But I don't see anything about that one this camera's specs. Would you know what I should be looking for if it's listed differently?

Again, thanks for your help.
 
riverserf:
...I read in the hammerhead press book about 1 chip vs. 3 chip cameras and how they can read color/light...I think I understood it.

basically: 3 chips good, 1 chip bad.....

"bad" is a very strong word. IMHO, 1 chip good, 3 chips better. My wife can't see a difference.
 
Hi,
Not trying to blow my own horn here but I have been told by many that this article I wrote helped them greatly. It is primarily for beginning shooters.
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/underwater_douglas.html
Hope it will be of help to you. A greatly consdensed edit was published last year by Asian Diver Magazine.
Steve:14:
 
riverserf:
slspeck, that camera looks pretty nice...I'm hoping more like it come out this year. I'll expose my ignorance and ask a question...I read in the hammerhead press book about 1 chip vs. 3 chip cameras and how they can read color/light...I think I understood it.

basically: 3 chips good, 1 chip bad. But I don't see anything about that one this camera's specs. Would you know what I should be looking for if it's listed differently?

Again, thanks for your help.
The HDR-HCX series cameras all use a single CMOS chip. The FX series cameras are 3-chip models. From sonystyle.com:

SR7 Product Description:
3.2 Megapixel (Gross) ClearVid™ CMOS Sensor
FX7 Feature List:
Three -1/4" ClearVID™ CMOS Sensors
I'd have to agree with ronrosa's comment, bad isn't a word I'd choose to describe single-chip HDV camcorders...

The bigger issue with the HDD cameras for me is that they record in AVCHD format. Given the nature of the implementation by Sony/JVC the recording compression means a lower quality output than a comparable HDV/tape model. And more difficulty finding editing s/w, at least on the PC side, the only two I'm aware of are the full version of Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere Elements. The newly announced Premiere CS3 doesn't support it.

I'm sure there's others that do now also or soon will.
 
Hi all, sorry for mislabelling single chip caneras. My mistake. I just read in the Hammerhead press book how the 3 chip cameras were better for capturing color and I erroneously filed that in my brain as 1 chip bad, 3 good. I realize that's not what the book said and I realize you are all right.

But I do think I'll want a 3 chip camera....
 
Hey Steve (Sharksdelight), I think you gave me a rundown on what I would need for a good computer setup if I want to do some serious editing...and because of the sb crash, that's all been lost.

I have a pretty good computer now...but I'll be leaving Korea soon (maybe next month) and I may have a new, top the line computer built...or I may just upgrade my RAM which is currently only 1GB.

Thanks again,
Brad
 
Steve, sjspeck, or anyone else, what do you know of the Sony HDR SR-1 camera? There's a package here (From B&H photo) that won't break the bank...and as I've said before, I really like the ease of using my JVC Hard Disk Drive video camera. Just plug it into the computer with a USB then click and drag all the clips onto my computer. Seems like this would be the same.

One thing I don't see mentioned on the description of the housing is a control for white balance. Does anyone know if the Amphibico housing lets you adjust that?

How would the quality of the HDR-SR1 compare to the HDR-HC7? I saw some videos posted by Pakman here...shot with the HDR-HC7 (I believe) that really really impressed me. The colors, sharpness, overall quality was first rate (I think).

With this package, I could afford to learn as I go and do a lot of playing around. I'll be moving to Saipan in September and hope to dive almost daily for the first few months.
 
riverserf:
Steve, sjspeck, or anyone else, what do you know of the Sony HDR SR-1 camera? There's a package here (From B&H photo) that won't break the bank...
Both the camera and the housing are last years models. I have an EVO SE, the new model is called the Elite. Big difference that I see is that the Elite has the viewfinder angled back. And the price is quite a bit more - $1900 vs. $2300 on B&H's website. I haven't compared all the details but I'd hope there's some other differences.

The newer Sony HDD camcorders are the SR5 & SR7. The SR5 is the same as the SR1 except it has a 40GB hard drive. But it lacks a viewfinder. To get a viewfinder you now have to buy the SR7. There's also an SR8 which has a 100GB HDD. And to further confuse things there's now an SR5C which has the 100GB drive of the SR8. But still no viewfinder...

One thing I don't see mentioned on the description of the housing is a control for white balance. Does anyone know if the Amphibico housing lets you adjust that?
Nope. They had one on their original HC1/A1U housing but that's because the camera had an external "assign" button that you could manually press. Afaik none of the new Amphibico EVO housings have white balance support. Partly because none of the Sony camcorders now offer any way to access MWB except through the touch-screen. If you want that, you have to go with an HC3 or HC7 and get a housing from Gates, L&M or Ikelite. Ikelite does sell a housing for the SR1 also. I think Seatool also houses some or all of these models. But they're more expensive than either Gates or Amphibico. I'd expect to see an SR series housing from Gates and L&M pretty soon but I can't substantiate that.

How would the quality of the HDR-SR1 compare to the HDR-HC7? I saw some videos posted by Pakman here...shot with the HDR-HC7 (I believe) that really really impressed me. The colors, sharpness, overall quality was first rate (I think).
The SR1 (and SR5) have a 2.1MP sensor, Pakman's HC7 has a 3.2MP sensor. How much you'd notice the difference is probably subjective. On a pure HD feed to an HD output you might, but if the video is converted to SD or for the web, I doubt you would.

To get the same sensor in an HDD camera buy the SR7. It has double the HD size of the SR1 also. B&H currently has it for $1149.

I'm not sure who's announced housings for the SR5/7/8 recently but you might want to check around if you're considering one of them. This seems like the time they'd all start shipping.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom