sjspeck
Novice
Dec 31, 2004, 9:30 PM
Post #2 of 6
(2631 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Re: [RickSp] Advice for an underwater video newbie
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
I will be diving in Bonaire in March and wanted to shoot some video. I have been considering which camera I should be using and which housing....
Any words of wisdom? Sage advice?
Rick,
Personally, although I'm sure EWA makes a good product, I wouldn't put my camera into one of their bags and dive with it much past 10-15'. And on Bonaire the more interesting reef structure starts at 25-30' most places, above that is mostly coral rubble and sand. So you'd be at the max depth for the bag before getting to anything you'd really want to film.
There are other better options for under $500 - Aquatix - www.aquatix.com makes a mechanical tube housing with record & power on/off control for $459, it's depth rated to 200'. They also have a cheaper version which is just basically a tube with handles, you start and seal your camera in it and dive while recording the whole time.
In some places on Bonaire, you could do this. If you stay at any of the dive resorts on the water, you can actually seal your housing on the dock/prep area and then dive. I wouldn't recommend doing this if you're going to do a lot of shorediving though, there's sand everywhere as there's almost always a breeze, which makes keeping the back o-ring clean difficult, especially since o-ring grease seems to attract sand.
Since it's generally very bright in Bonaire, you'll do well with any of your cameras there. Whatever housing you get, make sure to get and use a red filter for anything below 15' otherwise all your video will be too blue. Most housing mfr's get them from UR/Pro. www.urprofilter.com. You'll want their CY filter for Bonaire. Conversely when filming above 15' remove the filter, otherwise everything will be too yellow.
We filmed in Bonaire last June up to about 60' with no lights with good results. We probably could have gone a little deeper, but I didn't want to have to do any video post-processing to correct the red falloff.
Any 2 lux or better camera will work there, that's what I used. You can see when it's too dark in the viewfinder, for us that was about 70' one bright, but not especially sunny day. On the bright days we probably could have gone deeper, except the stuff we were filming was all in the 40-60' range.
There's also generally some generic tube, Equinox, used Ikelite and other housings on eBay. Some of them sell for as little as $200. For any of the camera specific models, make sure that your camera will fit the controls, retro-fitting them is usually about a $200 option, if it's even possible. Make sure you can get replacement o-rings/parts for it also, some of the housings sold are from companies that are out of business.
Another option is to look for a Sony compatible electronic housing, with a LANC controller most basic camera functions can be accessed through external pushbuttons/switches - advantage to this is less intrusions into the housing since most mfr's use electro-magnetic switches. So less possible leak points than with a mechanical housing. Also if the electronics fail, you can still turn on the camera, seal it and film, if a mechanical gland fails, it has to be replaced before you can use it again. And on Bonaire, you'll be lucky to find a housing to rent - I only know of one place - let alone someplace with parts to repair one.
Also check Backscatter - www.backscatter.com, they sometimes have good used equipment.
Feel free to contact me for more help, either about housings or Bonaire. I was there last summer for DiveFest. Also see www.bonairetalk.com for good general info.
Steve
|
