139 replies to this topic

[photovan]

Can't wait to see/hear the results!

By the way Darren, do you ever dive locally? I have a vague memory of meeting you a few years ago in a dive store I worked at, you were telling me about your wildlife photography I think.

Maybe we've met. Learned to dive under Tom Haynes at BDS in 1980. Must say most of my diving is away from Brisbane, but jump in occasionally with a couple of mates.

[Drew]

that's it. Can't wait to get it to Tonga this season. You know hangin' right above a singer, when the sound is so loud that your internal organs vibrate.

And you'll also get your splashing and maybe even breathing. Whalesong is best recorded with a hydrophone hung 10m down from the boat. Also remember to cover up the lens port of the 5D2. With all black, the VBR will lower the bandwidth and that'll extend the recording time.

[photovan]

And you'll also get your splashing and maybe even breathing. Whalesong is best recorded with a hydrophone hung 10m down from the boat. Also remember to cover up the lens port of the 5D2. With all black, the VBR will lower the bandwidth and that'll extend the recording time.

Drew you are the man, always with another tip. Wish I could reciprocate...
We had one singer last season that was recorded by a pax using a handycam from in our vessel's head.. not quit pro quality but a bit of fun.

[bmyates]

One word, Jean: Swwwweeeet!

[Viz'art]

Oh and BTW, we put that 5D Mk II housing on a low fat diet, that baby is significantly lighter. We liposucked every extra piece of metal we could out of it without compromising our 300ft depth rating.

[JimG]

Jean

With all these extra controls on the right, is it going to be possible to work the aperture and shutter speed without removing my hand from the handle? Starting to look a little crowded round that area! Good news on the weight.

[Viz'art]

The straight on view are kind of give you that impression, but no I do not see why one would have to remove their hand from the grip to access such vital controls, it is a little more cluttered than standard (non video) housing but not to the point of forfeiting its photographic heritage.

We got the shell today and it is definetly lighter. No matter how many different housing we design, the first time that chunk of aluminum comes out of the machine all milled and eveything, well you know we still get excited like a bunch of kids. wish I could share this process with you guy's.

[Drew]

Weight reduction is always good, Jean. Balance will be the biggest issue for the video portion. What sort of weight can the port mount take before o-ring integrity is compromised? With the big dome port, up to 300g of weight may be needed to keep the center of gravity and buoyancy neutral.
I also hope it's possible to design the housing so that one can take out the battery without unscrewing or disassembling everything. The 5D2 in video mode will probably last 2 dives at the most.

[Viz'art]

I would consider adding a pair of float and setting them pointing to the rear to A) offset the nose up attitude of the housing when using a dome port and B) lighten up the overall weight of the rig. To me, it makes more sense than to add extra weight and it is the way my kit is set up, for macro I move the float forward to offset the nose heavy tendency of the macro port and I can adjust the trim independently no matter where my strobes are positioned.

The camera will need to be pulled back to remove the battery, no choice, otherwise the split in the housing would need to be way too much up front and would compromise the layout of the controls. It is good t remember that this is a still camera with video capabilities, something that seem to be forgotten often when discussing the 5D Mk II, the idea is to have the best of both world when possible, but if a choice has to be made, and believe me it happens, then the still camera outweigh the video camera. it would be totally different if we where designing a video housing for a video camera with really good still capabilities, then you would have the usual battery in the rear of the camera and not have to deal with SLR optical viewing path, lens interchangeability and what not. That is what I mean by it being first and foremost a still camera with video mode.

A lot of thought and consideration went into designing the video access features, all this while trying to keep the rest of the natural controls encountered on a modern DSLR accessible and as uncluttered as possible. In the case of hybrids such as this one, one has to consider the initial philosophy and purpose behind the camera design and intention when designing and manufacturing a housing for it.

[Drew]

Thanks Jean. I fully understand the demands of designing a still housing alone, not to mention to accomodate a video mode. The SLR housing design isn't the most optimum for handling and balance since the port length is highly variable. Doesn't mean I can't ask for the moon
However, I do think putting floats to the rear will be unwieldy, especially if one has strobes AND video lights on the rig. I've already tested the Doc Oct setup for macro. With a big dome port, the displacement is a bit too much for floats to even out and maintain -100g negative buoyancy. That's why I'm asking about the rigidity of the port connection.

[Viz'art]

The flange is a four point side sealed bayonet mount, according to enginnering you could put your weight belt around it and it wouldn't be bothered by it. As for asking for the moon, I did once and got my wife (wedding anniverssary yesterday... ) so no harm is trying!

[Drew]

Congrats on the anniversary. But you do know it's dangerous to say any weight belt because I know some guys here use up to 20lbs of weight and then some to sink.

[Viz'art]

Gee I was thinking more about my full 7mm neoprene dry suit weight belt that tips the scale around 30 pounds not Nicole Ritchies weight belt (that would be the belt with nothing on it LOL)

14 years and going, I love marriage so much I got married twice... to the same girl!

Edited by Viz'art, 27 January 2009 - 11:01 AM.

[Viz'art]

Well forget about computer rendering, here the real deal, its in production and will start shipping in a few weeks.

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[photovan]

looks very nice Jean, congratulations!

[Nextwo]

I can't wait to try it. Looks so beautiful designed and machined.
Sold my old 20D with Ikelite UW housing so money in the account. Come on with the new one. I'm ready

[AengusM]

Congrats on the new housing Jean!

I'm looking forward to going FF with this housing at some stage over the coming months (memo to self - check Lotto from last night).

Aengus

[TonySuber]

During some e-mail exchanges with the Backscatter folks, I was informed they have received an Aquatica 5D Mark II housing for evaluation and feedback which they, of course, were quite willing to do! Sounded like they liked what they saw so far but hadn't been able to jump in the murky CA water to test it out at depth.

I, of course, would be equally excited to provide feedback from the always-diveable Hawaiian waters but it seems Aquatica prefers to only hand out samples and demos to their retail outlets. How shocking!

Can't wait to get mine -- hopefully early March. And then an Evolution rebreather since I'm working on my Christmas list already!

Tony
PS: Now then, who wants to buy a Canon 5D and the Aquatica A5D housing with dual Ikelite DS-125 strobes . . . ???? :-)

Edited by TonySuber, 15 February 2009 - 10:47 AM.

[aussie]

I'm looking forward to going FF with this housing at some stage over the coming months (memo to self - check Lotto from last night).

Aengus

Aengus, let me know if this means you're going to be selling off some of your crop lenses, I'm sure there'll be some I'm after.

Ryan.

[AengusM]

Hi Ryan,

Only have an EF-S 10-22, my other lens work FF and crop..but will let you know..probably another 3 months before I have the available funds to make the jump.

Cheers,

Aengus