Rob Esaw

This is a complete setup - zero-to-hero in underwater photography. Perfect for a beginner looking for something you won't outgrow. The digital camera was the first digicam capable of serious U/W application, due to it's true TTL metering and 19mm very Wide Angle lens. This camera takes excellent images, with adequate file sizes (5MP). I use it every week for topside photography, food photograpy, etc. Camera - Nikon Coolpix 5000, Nikon wide angle lens, barrel adapter, UV filter, SB-80 Flash, custom flash diffuser, pop-up lens hood, universal voltage compact charger with 5 batteries, USB cable, 512MB and 256MB compact flash cards, Lowe Prowe mini bag, Lowe Pro full size bag, all original hardware and boxes. Also an aftermarket manual specific to this camera, with CD. Housing - Aquatica 5000 housing, with leak alarm, single baseplate with foam grip, double baseplate, custom grip handle, quick release handle, two full sets of arms with extensions, modeling light arm, double set of O-rings, lube, standard/macro port, wide angle dome port, custom port covers. Strobes - 2 Nikonos SB-105s (recall replacement strobes), Nikon single sinc cord, Nikon dual sinc cord, double set of O-rings, lube, 2 diffusers with custom retainers, accesory cord caps. Portable digital storage - 10GB X-drive II portable drive, with Universal charger, USB cords, Custom soft case, Pelican hard case. Great for backups or dumping full CF cards. Camera is well used but in very good condition, glass is in excellent condition. All U/W gear is very little used (no longer diving) and in As-New condition all around. All glass is excellent condition. This was over 4 grand new, 750 is a very good value. You can't get into UW for less than this. Check out my ad, with photos, on Craigslist - http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/spo/520714251.html Rob.

Hey thanks I didn't see that on the Canadian site. I found a Sony UK site but it doesn't say much about the product. Are there compatible lighting systems for this housing? It looks like it has a built-in lcd. Do you know any sites with details on this housing?

Thanks guys.

Great News! Santa Claus is giving my wife an HC90 DV cam for Christmas! Now, what sort of housings are available for my, ehem... wife's new camcorder?? Digideep's site didn't list many options, but I thought this was a popular camera?

I don't believe there's been a discussion on editing HD video. I was at an Adobe presentation yesterday on the topic of editing HD and HDV. Obviously, there is a BIG difference in uncompressed HD (huge file sizes and professional broadcasting) and HDV which uses a compressed file, but I was surprised to learn that editing HDV may be out of reach for most people. Suggested requirements for using sophisticated editing programs like Adobe's suite (Premiere Pro?) for editing HDV are huge - Adobe Site I suppose you could use the manufacturers software to make simple edits. I wonder, would this make anyone decide NOT do move to HDV? Or am I mislead into what the realistic requirements are to produce HDV video?

So I understand that 18 minutes on a mini-DVD is not a good idea for underwater. I see that JVC has started to market 30GB internal hard drive cameras. http://www.jvc.ca/en/consumer/product-deta...?model=GZ-MG50U Does anyone know anything about the quality of these cameras? Would a camera like this make a good choice for UW?

I'm sure this is a dumb question, but if people are going to burn their video to DVD to share, then where is the gain with HD? I heard DVDs are not HD quality. If you aren't going to burn to DVD, then how are you going to share the video, other than directly from the camera outputs? If there is a gain from HD capture put onto DVD over standard, how much gain is there?

Any photos??

Thanks for the thoughts folks. I would of course like to look at HD but the cost is out of budget at this time. If I stick to dv tape then, what other considerations should I keep in mind when choosing a system? I liked the model mentioned earlier because it is at least 16:9 format and I was told it had superior picture to the other models in Sony's lineup due to the higher pixel count (mainly due to still capture).

Hey there I'm new to video and I'm looking at Sony cameras for topside, but would like to make a choice based on U/W application. I have looked at the Sony DCRDVD403 16:9 format camera, but they only offer this in mini-dvd format (with an 18 minute record time per side). http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/P...ath=32080n47140 Would this be a bad choice due to the dvd format? Should 18 minutes be enough film time for a 45-60 minute dive? What other considerations should I look at in making a choice? Thanks!

Of course. Round dome, square sensor. duh! Can I strike the question from the record??

I'd be in for sure. I couldn't believe that the dome port didn't come with a shade standard. One question: why do they cut the corners on the shades???

If you put a screw-on filter between the 19mm lens and the barrel mount, you will mess up the sharpness of the lens. I tried using the adapter with a UV filter for lens protection, then screwing the WE-68 lens on top of that for WA shots (topside of course) and found that the WA shots were 'screwed up'. Sorry, can't remember exactly what went wrong, but it seems moving that lens away from the adapter is not a good idea. Anyone else have this problem?

I have a similar problem to these other guys. When I use the function (or is it mode) button, sometimes the housing pushes too hard (ok, me) but not on-center, and the button sticks. This renders my camera useless until I can get the housing open and work it out. As for the rocker button, mine seems ok, but my friend's camera seems to have looser buttons than mine. If it worries you, take it in, I guess.

I agree with Ysemtough, the 4-8-8 arm combo is difficult for macro shots. I also found that the angled SB-105 arms can be difficult to use in that you have to spin the arm around sometimes to get the angle you want on your head, if you want to get creative. I would suggest the ball mounts for the strobe heads and get another ball clamp. You want to get the double bracket for the arms, and mount the 4" section upside down, angled out. Then you can mount the other arm sections first up then down, giving a W sort of look. It's really compact on-board and you can easily pull out to max length for W/A. Then order the molded grip and mount on the top of the left side of the bracket. You can put your ball for the focus light on that handle, or use the tap on top of the housing. One thing I noticed with the top of the housing is that the Nikon double sync cords can get in the way of the focus light if you need to angle it for a macro shot. I use the UK sl4 light, but it's not strong enough for focus in night dives, cold water diving. I did mount a 20w shockwave for fun, and it made a big difference, and could also be used for a night light, but it is a big setup. It might be worth the very expensive mod light from Light and Motion. One thing I have noticed about the TLC arms compared to the Ultralight arms is that the Ultralight arms have more holding strength. You really cannot crank the clamps hard enough on the TLC arms tight enough to hold above water. The arms from TLC are more robust and larger, and less expensive than the Ultralight arms. In general, you will miss the instant speed of the shutter release of your Nikonos, the compact size of it, and you will not get the same results as you do with that 20mm lens. I have soft corners on shots with my we-68 lens. Some posts here indicated to me that it could be a focus issue, but I have not had a sharp corner to corner shot yet. As for the strobes, you will find they work much better with this camera, in terms of speed, as most shots (maybe not WA) do not need full power and they recycle very fast (get Nimh batteries). The ttl works if you shoot from a distance greater than 2' from the subject, but you will have to manually set the stobe compensation to -2 in the camera menu. In general, I find that despite this setting, the strobes are still too hot with this camera, and many shots are blown out in the highlights. Yes, because it's digital you can see the results and do-over, but with the Nikonos the ttl was bang on most times anyway. You will benefit from all that is digital, in trade for these other disadvantages.