Wife Wants A Video Camera?

[mako1]

hey guys i need some help, my wife got her end of year bonus and said she wants a video camera, out of the blue. I was happy just taking pictures, she is looking for a nice camera that will do sports video above water as well. I would like it to function in low light conditions as well as have a good optical zoom, to film wildlife. This is her her so her wants are more important! size does not matter. we dive in warm clear water 50 dives ayear. picture quality is most important. Her bonus was just over 3000.00 so that would need to cover everything she needs to get started. we are not gear heads so simple is good.
thanks mike

 

[mike_s]

hey guys i need some help, my wife got her end of year bonus and said she wants a video camera, out of the blue. I was happy just taking pictures, she is looking for a nice camera that will do sports video above water as well. I would like it to function in low light conditions as well as have a good optical zoom, to film wildlife. This is her her so her wants are more important! size does not matter. we dive in warm clear water 50 dives ayear. picture quality is most important. Her bonus was just over 3000.00 so that would need to cover everything she needs to get started. we are not gear heads so simple is good.
thanks mike

I think your wife has been talking to my wife.

I just got her a JVC video camera with a 30gb hard drive in it. Why the hard drive? it was much smaller than the ones that write to tape or DVD and I didn't want to mess with a bunch of tapes or DVD's. The only negative I can see so far is that the hard drive eats up the battery quick. It seems that most of them ship with a battery that is good for about 1.5 hours. You can get a high capacity battery, but plan on spending half what the camera cost. go figure.

you can get a housing for this, but I haven't checked into that yet.

 

[ronscuba]

How about a Canon HV20 with Ikelite housing and Ikelite video lights. Should be able to get it for under $2,500.

 

[Scubasteve1950]

Ron
Do you think the Canon HV20 is a better deal than the Sony HC7.. Not much difference in Price.. I have read about the HC7 not performing well in low light.. Haven't heard the same about the Canon. I would also like to upgrade from my digital 8 to HD for under the 3000.00 range.

 

[ronscuba]

I have no 1st hand experience with either, so my opinions are based on what I've read and video that others have posted.

I've seen very nice UW footage from the HC7 and Gates housing combination with manual white balance. Only problem is the combination costs more than $3000. I think it's something around $3,500 with the MWB option and camcorder. I'm a big fan of using MWB and always want access to it, but some don't want to bother with the extra cost or effort to use it.

The HV20 has been reviewed as giving better topside video than the HC7, so that, plus the cheaper price is why I recommended it. Ikelite lists access to MWB, but I don't know how easy or hard it is to use.

There is at least one scubaboard member with an HV20, but I don't think he has posted any video yet.

 

[mako1]

thanks for the two cameras mentioned. i will do some reading, and other info please keep posting thanks mike

 

[robint]

hey guys i need some help, my wife got her end of year bonus and said she wants a video camera, out of the blue. I was happy just taking pictures, she is looking for a nice camera that will do sports video above water as well. I would like it to function in low light conditions as well as have a good optical zoom, to film wildlife. This is her her so her wants are more important! size does not matter. we dive in warm clear water 50 dives ayear. picture quality is most important. Her bonus was just over 3000.00 so that would need to cover everything she needs to get started. we are not gear heads so simple is good.
thanks mike

I would not go for an HiDef camcorder unless you have an HD tv set to play it on. Also, you need an HD DVD burner...... you can downgrade the video to SD to write and play them but then why bother getting the HD camcorder? I know, just my 2 cents, but I have been debating this issue for over a year now.
You could get her the Sony HC96 camcorder and Ikelite housing for $1400 or so. Then add the lights if she wants. It isn't HD, but I have seen some great videos with it and if you are diving in clear water it will be great. It has good low light resolution too.

Make sure she has a good, fast computer with lots of memory for editing - most editing software needs it to work correctly.

robin

 

[Rick Murchison]

The best advice I ever got concerning underwater video and photo was:
"Never house a camera you aren't willing to flood/ruin."
Rick

 

[OceanObsessed]

You are lucky she wants one. My wife has not dove in years. Over the last 2 months I bought her a Mako scooter and a new video housing for my HC3

 

[diversteve]

I seem to always be at odds with Robin over this - but I can't see not getting an HDV camcorder. You posted:

picture quality is most important

that's gotta be HDV - in your pricerange.

HD broadcast takes over in February 2009. I just read Best Buy just removed all analog (DV) TV's from their shelves. So if you don't have an HDTV, you soon will.

To me DV footage viewed on a big HDTV looks like a VHS tape that's been rented too many times. Unless you have HD upscaling somewhere in your system. I may be more critical than some but it sounds like so is your wife.

I also think with the latest Warner Bros. announcement that Blu-Ray is going to become the dominant format (70% of the film studios now support it) so that has to drive the price of HiDef DVD players even lower.

All this I believe limits the future use of SD. Except the better three-chip pro-sumer models. And imho, those folks are just trying to hold onto their investment a little longer. (I expect Billy to rebut this..lol)

A point to mention about the Canon HV-20/Ikelite housing combo. It will pan Backwards in the mirror. Ikelite only sells their reversing circuitry for Sony models. And you have to disable it to use the touchscreen functions with their HC7 housing.

The HC7/Ikelite combo is $2200 at B&H, The camera seems to retail for around $999. If you want the Gates housing instead, it's $2240 alone. So almost within your budget. Even if you bought the Ikelite, you're not going to get much in the way of lights for the extra $800. The Gates also allows you to fully open the LCD screen which is a huge plus viewing underwater through a mask.

I'm personally a big proponent of metal housings, they're lighter and stronger. A video pro told me once, drop a poly housing let it hit your foot to save it, drop a Gates move your foot quick. Full disclosure: I shoot an Amphibico EVO/HC1 so I may be biased.

If you're diving in warm, clear bright water, I might go with the HC7. Or save yourself a couple hundred dollars with the HC5. Surprisingly it appears to have better low-light performance. Since the sensors have the same footprint, Sony reduced the size of the CMOS elements on the HC7 chip to make up the 2.1 vs. 3.2MP difference which degraded it's low-light performance slightly due to cross-talk.

But your housing choices change as Gates doesn't do an HC5 housing. Equinox is a mechanical option that does. Could just about get an HC5/EVO Elite housing for that money. Tradeoff is no MWB and it only has an SD monitor back.

You might also look at the new L&M Stingray HD. It houses just about any Sony HDV/AVCHD camera made. $1899. No MWB. (that I know of)

Conversely the HV20 was camcorderinfo.com's camera of the year. Read the reviews there for both models. I also like the new Canon HG-10 but it's an AVCHD/HDD model so the image quality is slightly less than HDV. Not sure anyone is housing it yet.

There's a bunch of new Sony models due out 3/14 - see my other post in this forum for details. So if you're not in a hurry...