Mike L

Im excited to see what, if anything, they release. So many rumors out there right now for the D400 and also a D700x. Maybe both!! that would be nice

We will be renting a Hugyfot 5d MKII housing at the end of the month. And will also have a Sea & Sea when it becomes available end of May/beginning of June. The Hugy's are available for shipping as well

Jake, I Spoke with Gates today, they are no longer doing any custom poles, the guy that made them moved away. They now only have standard 8 foot poles.

This is extremely sad indeed! I was just out there, and the shark population was already disappointing compared to what I have heard over the years, I can not imagine losing more out there. We were told there were Taiwanese fishing vessels miles out that are often caught with shark fins. What evidence is it going to take for these legislators and fishermen to see the devastation this is causing to everyone in the world??

Well first off, if you are looking for compact, the Ike strobes would not be the way to go...you are better off selling or trading those in and getting either Inon Z240s or Sea & Sea YS 110a strobes. For compactness, if you want to stay with a P&S, then go with the Fisheye FIX G10 and the Canon G10 camera, with either of the mentioned strobes. You can also get a really great wide angle lens and macro lenses. If you want DSLR, then going with the Seatool DSLR housings, or the Sea & sea housings, would allow you to have a compact rig (for a DSLR anyways) and you can carry the entire system on planes with you. Both of those systems allow the use of the Inon Viewfinders as well.

Hmm lets see here. #1. Sony Z1U in a Gates housing with Moisture alarm (see my avatar this was the dive it happened on). At Tiger Beach in Bahamas with sharks all around in 20 feet of water, moisture alarm goes off, so I went to the surface (with sharks following me but was trying to keep the housing level). There was a cup or two of water in the housing, but the camera survived thanks to quick action, and most notably the moisture alarm going off, or else it would have been a full flood by the time I noticed it. I had bent a control shaft after using it on the swimstep during one of Jim Abernethy's famous shark wrangling episodes and quickly jumping backwards when a Tiger Shark came head up onto the step. 2. This past winter in French Polynesia while using my EX1. It was a half hour into the dive, I was at 70 feet filming Lemon Sharks, and all the suddent the MA went off! I went straight to the surface, opened up the housing on the boat. Again probably a cup of water...camera was saved (quick removal of the battery and dried everything off). The Iris control had come loose during transport, and it was just loose enough to the point that me using the control throughout the dive loosened it enough for water to get it. These are my personal stories. I have customers who have been saved by the MA on their SEA & SEA housings, Light & Motion housings, and Gates housings. To me, a Moisture Alarm in my housing is as important as having both arms and legs! Otherwise, by the time you realize it, its too late. The common thing I hear is well by the time the water is in there, its too late. That is DEFINITELY not the case. Camera floods are like riding motorcycles...if you do it enough, its not IF, its WHEN.

Hi Drew, yes Fathom also makes a 110 degree port for the smaller housings. I am not aware of it being available for the Ike housings, but I know it is for Gates and Light & Motion housings.

Unfortunately I missed the sunset as I was helping my best friend move. Ill be shooting the camera today for sure. One thing I am concerned with is the use of the joystick control underwater for accessign MWB and other features. The control is very small, and also very sensitive. Using such a sensitive control with thick gloves (like out here in Cali) or when in current prone waters, I believe will be a bit of a challenge. Gates is using a a nice new joystick control on the Deep Red housing which works really nice...but the joystick control on that camera is much larger then the HF S10

Very nice videos!! Antarctica is very high on my list. I hope to get there one day soon! Would love to hear more about your custom housing.

I have not personally used them, but a few customers have had me order the APS Manta Ray fins. They are available in an off white color and Ive heard that work well for white balancing from those that have used them. They are small in size in comparison to other fins (I use Atomic and Oceanic Splitfins). They are definitely inexpensive ($95) for fins.

Now is a great time to get into video as the new cameras literrally just came out! When you say advanced...that is a bit broad. On the video side, there are big gaps between categories. There are some pretty sophisticated single sensor cameras that just came out (Sony XR 520 and Canon HF S10). The Sony has 4 or 5 housings already out for it. The Canon will have a housing from Gates out later this summer. Things to look for on the camera, and in a housing: Manual White Balance Control Manual Focus Ergonomics Port optics (the housing's port makes a huge difference) Price (this is very relative). Light and Motion just released some new housings for the Sony XR 500 and 520 cameras. The Bluefin Pro will give you the most control over the camera and is extremely sexy looking to say the least. The new Seatool for the XR 520 is extremely compact and has a monitor back standard (as does all of the L&M Housings). When I fit a housing to a customer I really try to get an idea of what they will be shooting, their budget, and their dive experience. All of the housings are great....but some work better than others for some divers.

Well I just unpacked my HF S10. Playing with it tonight and will be shooting some sunset pics tomorrow off of Newport Coast. More info to come!

Jake, The Gates poles are completely customizable. Their general length is 8 feet standard, broken down into two 4 foot segments. I had a custom pole done for a customer with them 2 years ago. It was either a 12 or 16 foot pole....they make the poles in 4 foot sections so they are easily broken down for travel. One thing to note is that the pole is made to be used while a boat is anchored, or at least not in motion (even trolling speed). Since this is a custom pole, I believe their lead time is 4-6 weeks...and could be up to 8 from past experience. What are your intentions for use with this? What housing will you be using (weight of course plays a major role)?

Thats awesome. If I ever actually make it to taking the plunge (no pun intended), Its gotta be underwater...I aint wearin no damn Tux!! Only suit I wear is a drysuit or a 3mm

Drew, When I spoke with L&M Last about it, they were unsure of pretty much everything, but would like to make it work since there is a lot of demand for the camera. Paul and I spoke and we discussed the current 10 pin cable used to connect their housings to the Sony camcorders...and that cable being Sony code, will obviously not work. It was a pretty big unknown...but they are going to look at it. Being the Stingray is a basic housing control wise (record, zoom, focus) we will see if it can happen. I have yet to spend much time with the HF S10, however our shipment arrived today with some (after I left the store). Needless to say I will be playing with the camera all weekend and getting to know it better. I have plenty of EX1 footage, so I intend on putting the footage side by side on my monitors when I can.

Sounds like a fun time. Cant wait to hear and see your reports. We got our shipment of Bluefin Pros in for the 520 today so Im hoping to get out and shoot one soon. That sure is a sweet housing. Uzun, did you get the new OLED monitor back?

The G10 is a fantastic camera, and a heck of a deal for the money. The Fisheye housing is extremely ergonomic and compact, and the nice 15mm lens is a great addition. However, you are correct that you will have to make the decision to go Wide before the dive. It definitely puts you in more of the position of having a DSLR in this case...but well worth it. The DX-2G will likely be a great camera and popular one as well as have been all of the cameras in that series from S&S. The 2g camera/housing combos will be arriving any time in the states, so once that happens we will have more information...and a chance to test the camera in water. I would pay more attention to the performance of the camera system with a flash as that is really how you want to be shooting it. The Fisheye Housing and a G10 camera will run you close to $1500. The DX-2G is $1000 (housing and camera). If money is the concern, then you are better served putting the $500 towards a strobe and getting a 2g. If its not as much a concern then I would go with the G10 in a Fisheye housing and add an Inon or Sea & Sea STTL strobe.

Hi All. I wanted to let everyone know we will be hosting another 3 days of seminars on video editing at our on-site classroom in Newport Beach. If anyone needs a hotel, we have a Holiday Inn Express directly across the street and its quite reasonable. Most of you know Steve Douglas (Sharks Delight). He is our staff Video Editing Instructor. Steve is very well known in the video community and is a writer for KenStone.net as well as the LA Final Cut Pro Users Group. Here is a brief description of the classes. Friday April 24th 7PM-10PM Basic Editing....To be including in this class will be a thorough going over of the proper settings for your log and capture, log and transfer, capture scratch and clip labeling. Thorough review of the entire Final Cut Pro interface, the setting of in and out points, working within the timeline, adding and adjust both filters and transitions and final export. Saturday April 25th 9AM-1PM Audio Seminar....To be included will be setting audio levels for music, narration and film ambience. Equalizing audio, looking for audio peaking and correcting of audio problems. The basic use of Soundtrack Pro within the Final Cut Studio and exporting self made music to Final Cut. Preview and review of Sonic Fire Pro's royalty free music program...making your music stand out. In addition, synching your video to music for final export. Sunday April 26th 9AM-1PM Preparing your video for the web. This will be a step by step lesson on how to add protective watermarks to your films so as to prevent theft of your footage as well as to how to use Compressor to export to the web,(Vimeo & YouTube) in HD for the best results. The classes are $195 each day. Or all 3 days for $495. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to sign up.

Awesome, where are you diving...wrecks or La jolla??

Ive flown with them twice, and each time my carry one was an easy 45-50 pounds...and never been weighed. Ive found the best way to beat these guys though is have it in a carry on back pack. Lots of these airlines are letting the backpacks go, but really weighing the rollers. My last 3 trips Ive have my Think Tank Airport Acceleration packed to 50 lbs, and last trip it was 62!! I didnt get asked, stopped or anything, but my girlfriend's roller Think tank (same size) was weighed everytime and hers was a good 15lbs lighter than mine.

Getting the HF S10 camera and a housing for $2500 would be doable with an Ikelite housing. The Gates housing, although pricing is not set, is estimated to be the same pricing as their HC housings, which puts the housing bare (no port) at $2125...so for a Gates rig, with a nice port and the camera, you are looking in the $3500 to $4,000 mark easily. Ive been talking to Light & Motion about the use of the Canon HF series in their Stingray Universal housings but as of right now they do not know if they can get it to work since the housings are designed with the Sony protocol in the wiring. Only time will tell.

Thank you Drew.

Thats funny, ive definitely put together a few shopping carts full as well...damn toys!!

Drew made a very valid point regarding the difference of the EX1 vs. Red. I am definitely on the learning curve of the Red...and not being much of a Post guy myself, I like to look at the Raw footage. Of course with editing you can do wonders...and editing is something definitely required with the Red. In the last week Ive been playing with my footage a bit here and there in Red Cine...and learning quite abit about how much you can do with this camera in post (too much it gives me a headache looking at the screen that long). Regarding the Ex1, although having not personally tested the ISo rating, Ive heard from many of our local shooters and producers in Hollywood that the EX1 is anywhere from 400-800 ASA at 0DB...depending on who did the test. Either way, after having nearly 200 dives with the EX1, Ive never experienced a camera underwater that performs so great in low light. Next time I take the RED out will be late this month/early May...as soon as we receive our new housing. The plan is to shoot it with 4 of the L&M Sunray 2000 LED lights as opposed to natural light (and lets hope we have a good day of vis to go with it)

Congrats on the new computer. I cant wait to hear about the performance of the new processor.