27 replies to this topic

[thani]

Hi there,

Sultan, my friend, has insisted on buying the FS700 despite my repeated advice not to buy hence he has the FS100 already.And knowing him, I knew what was coming next:

https://www.youtube....h?v=jf0abmxH2CY


The footage was taken in Fujairah, UAE on Sept 15, 2012 and was edited in Edius 6 by me. I am using a Sony EX1 camera in a sealux housing with either a falt port or a wide angel phathom lens.
Music: "when" by Stephan Siebert (http://www.myspace.com/stephansiebert)

This housing is modified for Sony NEX-FS700 and is based on the NEX FS100 housing which was originally made for the Sony HDTV X7 by http://www.sealux.de

Here is the link for the FS100 video:

My friend initially has modified the housing to fit the the FS100 and now he has modified it further to fit the new FS700. The major modification is done to the lens so it can a accommodate the longer new Sony E-mount lens. The FS700 offers high video quality, super slow motion and great low light capability - a feature that is highly sought by underwater videographers.

This was a test dive for the housing and my friend is planning a dive trip to shoot a short video with the this setup in the 2 - 3 weeks and a link will be published for the same.

We believe this is the first Sony NEX-FS700 that has been taken under water.

We will share our experience on such a setup on this thread.

Please note we are not associated with Sealux nor we have been asked by Sealux to do this project.

Regards,
Thani

[Nick Hope]

Interesting. But at 2:29 in the FS700 video it looks like the lens is quite a long way off the centre of the port. Can he access the slomo and the ND filters? If not, I guess he won't gain much advantage over using his FS100. Looking forward to seeing the video from it.

[Drew]

Nick, that's FS100 movie Thani posted a while back.

Thani, it's always good to experiment! Look forward to the clips. Btw it's not the first in the water. But there's no prize for being first in these sort of things, is there?

[thani]

Interesting. But at 2:29 in the FS700 video it looks like the lens is quite a long way off the centre of the port. \

Nick, good observation. The camera plate/support was not installed when we took the video. Once installed, the lens is centric to the port.

Nick, that's FS100 movie Thani posted a while back.

Drew, Nick was referring to the new video of the fs700 posted as a link above.

But there's no prize for being first in these sort of things, is there?

I though we are getting a prize from wetpixel for doing this first, aren’t we?

I agree with you Nick, if slo mo specifically is not accessible, then they would be no gain over the fs100.

I will keep you posted on what controls are accessible.

Can you guys advise on what E-mount lenses would be suitable for underwater use? i.e. wide angle,
macro, etc...

Regards,
Thani

[A.Y.]

E-mount 10-18mm F4 OSS - the U.S. ship date posted on the B&H website is November 7. Don't know about when in UAE.

E-mount 12mm F2.8 Zeiss and 50mm F2.8 macro Zeiss were announced at Photokina, but won't be out until 2013.

Edited by A.Y., 01 October 2012 - 08:13 AM.

[thani]

E-mount 10-18mm F4
E-mount 12mm F2.8 Zeiss and 50mm F2.8 macro Zeiss were announced at Photokina, but won't be out until 2013.

Agreed, these are two promssing lenses. Looking forward to buying them

Here is some feedback on the available controls which were built on original housing via LANC:
A) Rec/Stop
B) focus (in manual mode)
C) access to menu (trick is to have menu on screen before dive)
Once menu is on:
D) white balance adjustment (not like manual setting button). You can increment/decrement the value and make your judgment via the screen (acceptable workaround for now)
C) Slo Mo via menu a gain

The important finding here is that Sony adhered to the LANC standard protocol (I think) and thus any housing can operate the camera via LANC. off course, it has to fit.

Regards,
Thani

Edited by thani, 02 October 2012 - 11:10 PM.

[thani]

Here is the second major milestone in this project: Inventing a Ninja II housing.
I hope the attach photo is shown correctly as I am posting through iPad (iOS 6).

The Ninja II which uses HDMI is working beautifully with FS700.

Regards,
Thani

Attached Images

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[Nick Hope]

Looks ready for the Mariana Trench.

[thani]

Looks ready for the Mariana Trench.

Yap
Not water tested yet. I hope Mr. "Hope" that it does not leak

I have not seen it. The depth was needed to acoomidate the depth of the Ninja batteries I guess.

[Ryan]

Separate cables for HDMI and LANC sync?

[thani]

Yes separate cables. LANC to control the camera and HDMI to trigger recording on Ninja II which is unlike the previous Ninja has no LANC cable.

[jonny shaw]

That housing for the monitor is a beast!!! What is it made of? Great work, I would love to see some footage captured via the ninja.

[thani]

The Ninja housing is made from an aluminum cast.
They actually sculptured (machined) the cast. Despite the size it is actually a tight fit.

The monitor housing is composed of 2 main parts:
a) The front which obviously has a glass and a clip-able aluminum frame &
B) The back main body which has a screwable end that goes into the original view finder place.

The plan is to do a test video dive next weekend - not this coming one.
Sultan will be posting the video later. I hope the plan comes true

Edited by thani, 08 October 2012 - 11:42 PM.

[thani]

Ninja II monitor housing test dive:

[Nick Hope]

It felt just like we were seeing Jacques Mayol in The Big Blue, surfacing with the world record.

[jonny shaw]

Did I really just watch a video of two guys testing to see whether a housing leaked? I will never get that 1.50 back in life will I

Keen to see the footage though

[HDVdiver]

I patiently await Episode Two...the test dive to 75 feet.

Seriously though, it looks way too big to be practical. The Ninja housing could be a fraction of the size/weight if it was machined out of a solid block of aluminium or delrin to fit the shape of the Ninja. Also, having a separate cable linked external monitor would allow better ergonomics and positioning for viewing at different angles (not to mention transportability).

Edited by HDVdiver, 15 October 2012 - 02:58 PM.

[thani]

It felt just like we were seeing Jacques Mayol in The Big Blue, surfacing with the world record.

The "Okayyy" shout comes from the guy who made alot of effort into the manufacturing processes.

The Ninja housing could be a fraction of the size/weight if it was machined out of a solid block of aluminium or delrin to fit the shape of the Ninja. Also, having a separate cable linked external monitor would allow better ergonomics and positioning for viewing at different angles (not to mention transportability).

Transportability: Is not an issue hence you can unscrew the monitor housing from the main housing.
Ergonomically: I agree that it might be difficult to use in certain setuations.
Size: Width-wise, you can not make it less wider hence it is a tight fit. And the HDMI out is on the side of the monitor, does not help a lot.

Guys remember that we do not have the tools to do it better.

Come on guys, give us a break. We are a bunch of hobbyists executing this challenging project.
Show some support plz

[DeanB]

Guys remember that we do not have the tools to do it better.

Come on guys, give us a break. We are a bunch of hobbyists executing this challenging project.
Show some support plz

You are doing a great job and thanks for posting ... I think they are only meant to be constructive comments ... Keep up the good work

Dean

Edited by DeanB, 16 October 2012 - 01:35 PM.

[jonny shaw]

Definitely don't take my comment as a criticism, absolutely not. For a hobby job I am exceptionally impressed, I would be absolutely useless at doing this. My god if it keeps it dry and it works you have won 99% of the battle.