Underwater Video....

[wa.mama]

Hi,

 

Does anyone have recommendations for an inexpensive housing for a Canon camcorder (ZR-500)? I saw the Aquapac, but want something that goes down at least 30 ft or so. Also saw the Ewa Marine product, but it costs more than the camcorder. I'm not trying to be a pro, but love to edit movies and make vacation DVD's (yeah, iMovie!) I have a housing on my Olympus digital camera and am reduced to taking short video clips via the camera, but you know how poor the quality can be with those.

 

 

Any help appreciated!

[cruzrcpl]

Try ebay I found a ewa housing for my camcorder for about half the price ... and don't forget to find an orange lens filter, this is for color correction underwater

[bruce-r]

inexpensive and UW video are mutually exclusive. The camera will be the least expensive part of the package. Even some of the cheapest housing with only the most rudimentary mechanical controls cost over $600. Also, you will find that just about all UW video housings are for sony cameras only. That is because Sony is just about the only company that still puts the LANC jack on their cameras. The LANC is an electronic controls input port for remote control of the camera. A camera without this jack can only be controlled by mechanical controls which are usually very limited.

 

I think the Ewa Marine would be of limited use. I don't think it would very usable at any decent depth because the pressure on the control buttons would keep them depressed. Of course, I could be wrong, but I personally wouldn't put my electronic device in one and go deeper than 3 feet with it.

 

I'm sure this is more than you wanted, and I'm sorry that UW video isn't more affordable like UW digital still photography can be. I have an Olympus C5050 in an Olympus housing. It takes very good still photos, but the video is of limited quality.

[wa.mama]

Thanks for your help. Bruce R, I have the Olympus c-8080 with the housing (it's so big!) is it worth lugging around? I purchased it for a trip to Fiji that got cancelled; now it's the Caribbean, and I don't want to bring it if the underwater scenery is similar to hawaii (boring). I think I'm giving up on the camcorder thing - you're right, too pricey.

 

Cruzrcpl, I'm still looking on ebay and if something comes up I may bite, but I think even the Ewa is rated only at 17 feet - have you used one?

 

Anyway, any last words on what to do with all your equipment at the beach if you're not using it? thanks,

[cruzrcpl]

I have not used one as of yet but great great reviews. I just purchased my first one but only intend on using it for snorkeling. I should have re read the post before posting seeing as i sugested a shallow depth housing instead of what you were looking for but bruce-r is right all the dive rated ones I've seen have been well over $600.

 

My question to bruce-r is this ... am i right about the color filter? I only just read about this a few days ago. do they really help?

[wa.mama]

Cruzrpcl,

 

I posted that question about the orange/red filter on some thread and couldn't find it later - so I asked a friend - she said that the color will be better but you will sacrifice light by using the filter. So if you're shallow it shouldn't be a problem, but below 30 ft or so you 'd better have a good flash. Or a friend with a strong flashlight! I'm going to try it out; seems to be worth the few bucks (after all the money I'm saving by not buying the camcorder houseing!)

[bruce-r]

Thanks for your help. Bruce R, I have the Olympus c-8080 with the housing (it's so big!) is it worth lugging around? I purchased it for a trip to Fiji that got cancelled; now it's the Caribbean, and I don't want to bring it if the underwater scenery is similar to hawaii (boring).

I think you should bring it. The Caribbean is quite a bit more colorful than Hawaii at least underwater.

[budaman]

I had been contemplating U/W video, but had been afraid to commit the $'s it would take for just a basic setup, until...........One day I was browsing the JVC website & decided to look at their accessories and came across several U/W cases for MiniDV camcorders that had been reduced to $99 and one was rated to 105ft. was I skeptical....of course. Problem was they were for discontinued camcorders. Being resourcefull, off to Ebay I went to see what the availability was for the camcorder & found they were somewhat plentifull and could be had for under $250. After several calls to make sure both items were available, I took the chance. I was really pleasantly surprised at the quality of the U/W case and made several dives between 90 & 100ft on our last cruise. On DVD, the picture quality is very good, but you do lose a lot of color definition below about 20ft. Used a small flashlight to highlight critters in crevices & it restored color. Overall, I am very pleased with my $350 investment & figured I saved half the first trip by not having to buy the diveshop DVD:) I have some of the video footage in our homepage. Unfortunately, a lot of detail is lost in the conversion to MPEG. Have rigged a removeable red filter for use on our next trip. Drawbacks on the case.....no mounting provision for a base & handle or light.

 

Mike

 

http://www.homepage.mac.com/csealove/

[wa.mama]

Budaman,

 

Darn it, was looking for something just like what you got. How long ago was this purchase? I tried to click on your link to see your movie, but no go, despite the fact that we're fellow Mac fans - what version of quicktime do you use? I don't mind purchasing the diveshop DVD but I don't know how to edit the DVD into my iMovie projects. Any hints?

[budaman]

I got mine right around Christmas last year. Checked the JVC site last month to see if they had any accessories & they still had the cases available. The Quicktime movies take about a minute to load...just click on the ? To download a DVD, you'll have to get a program like DVDxDV. It is free & downloadable on the internet. When you get a camcorder, it will go right into IMovie when you download it on your computer. Do your editing there & then send it to IDVD to finish it & convert it to a DVD. I'm still using ILife '05 and of course .MAC.

 

Mike

 

http://www.homepage.mac.com/csealove/

[SeaTeacher]

WA MAMA:

 

It would be great to see your videos online.

 

I too love producing home DVDs of our vacations. You can see a low-quality stream of my most recent video on my website below (link in my signature). Let us know if you post one.

 

Also, I should consider getting a housing for my camera too. I am finishing my SCUBA license course next month, so I have planned a dive for all my upcoming cruises. Maybe then I can stop using plain old pictures in my videos.

[bruce-r]

Also, I should consider getting a housing for my camera too. I am finishing my SCUBA license course next month, so I have planned a dive for all my upcoming cruises. Maybe then I can stop using plain old pictures in my videos.

Any time you want to try diving where you live, let me know. I drive up to the Puget Sound when I want to do some "local" diving.

[wa.mama]

Seateacher,

 

I couldn't get your video to load - don't have windows media player (I use quicktime on mac) Your pics were great though. Where are you doing your checkout dives? I still remember my first dive in the sound at Keystone, with snow a foot deep, thinking I was crazy, now the only time we dive in the sound is to check our mooring buoys.

 

Bruce-R, ever dive in Deception Pass? Totally amazing stuff.

[bruce-r]

Seateacher,

 

I couldn't get your video to load - don't have windows media player (I use quicktime on mac)

You can get windows media player for Mac if you are using an older version of the OS. If you are using OS X 10.3.9 you can get windows media components for quicktime from here

 

Bruce-R, ever dive in Deception Pass? Totally amazing stuff.

Not yet. Have you dived the California Channel Islands? Kelp forest is amazing.