Biting the bullet

[Admiraladz 0]

After suffering with a stills camera for the last 3 years I have finally decided to bring my first love of film making to my second love of diving. But shame on me for thinking it was going to be easy!

 

The choice of camera is thankfully massively reduced by my own desire to be able to shoot broadcast quality footage. I know it's not always the primary concern when looking for a first setup but as I work with broadcast footage I just know I'll be dissapointed with domestic quality.

 

My problem is this.. The Sony PD170 is standard broadcast, but as it has a b+w viewfinder the only way to get colour correct balancing for your shot is to add an external colour monitor. Now if money was no option I'd go straight for the Gates housing with a wide angle port, but as the PD170 is at least £1800 and the Gates housing a staggering £3460 with monitor - well lets just say that's a little over the budget!

 

So I have almost swayed to the Canon GL2/XM2 which has colour viewfinder as well as the flip out monitor. It has LANc conectivity for an electronic housing and there are a wide range available.

 

I spoke with a dealer today and they advised against the Ikelite housings for larger cameras as they can be very unweildy underwater (even though they are cheaper!), plus you can't add a monitor to these without drilling the housing (*alarm bells ringing!*)

 

So I'm now stuck between going for the fully electronic Dolphin housing, or the Equinox/Aquacam manual housings. - what I really need to know is how likely is it that the electronic components will fail?

 

I totally understand the logic for going totally manual, but surely if the electronic controls are constantly breaking then people wouldn't buy the housings?!?! It's not like I'll be using the housing everyday, more like using it for about a week solid on holiday then giving it a month-or-so rest. - Has anyone got an electronic housing from dolphin? Can you tell me how reliable they are, or if you have had issues with them and had repairs done - how did that go?

 

Many thanks in advance for your help and advice.

[Drew 0]

Why not the VX2100? It has the same CCDs as the PD170 and a color viewfinder. Pretty much the same thing except for DVCAM, smtpe time code and a few other things like XLR audio and more gradual aperture settings. You'd be psychic to differentiate the results from either camera (unlike a canon vs sony). It's still the lowlight champion camera of the miniDV world. And the VX is about $800-1k cheaper, which will help you get a better housing or better lens.

The age old argument of mechanical vs electronic will never be settled. Nobody can argue the convenience of electronics, but many will condemn them on reliability. It's also how they package it. My S&S housing has sealed main circuit boards, lowering the risk of exposure. It is also much simpler than the Amphibico model, which has a higher failure rate in my experience ( I owned/own both).

Also if you take a trip to the US, you will save more than enough to justify an electronic housing. UK VAT and exchange rate plus taxes and profit margin makes for high prices.

Also most miniDV cameras are "standard broadcast quality" :-)

[MikeVeitch 0]

Perhaps you should check out Amphibico as well. I have their new Phenom on order for the new Sony HD.

I currently use a Gates and have no problem with the manual gears.

However, Amphibico has nice one touch WB and record which lends itself well from avoiding camera shake etc that i have with my Gates when accessing those controls.

But as you say these housings are sort of expensive....

You may think about the new HD as opposed to the 170 as well. For broadcast, especially BBC etc, most want HD now adays anyway.

You should be able to find a good PD170 and housing used now too with so many people moving on to the recently available HD

Food for thought...

Mike

[Drew 0]

There is a slight warning on HDV from Sony vs Panasonic etc. The format is still not standardized. The HD standard used right now is 720P,1080P and1080i. HD DVD uses 720P 1080P so converting will have to be done on 1080i.

Then again as a DV unit, the Z1 shoots very good quality DV...but is $1000 more expensive than a PD170 and lowlight will never beat the king. Things to think about. Sigh!

[Teppo 0]

Electronic vs manual: Allways remember conditions you are. In moderate and cold waters use manual bcs there's a chance of condensation inside the housing depending air moisture etc. It's hard enought to protect the camera against it so why to seek more troubles?

You dont need to see colour to set the balance. Take the whiteboard to set it manually or preset with videolights.

 

Regards Teppo from Arctic Ocean (last sunday Varanger fjord water temp +3 Celsius) PD170+Ikelite

[Detonate 0]

If you are going with either a VX2100 or PD170, give Ryan Canon a call. I recieved a recent email from him with news of a sale on the Sea & Sea housing with optical viewfinder. I have the LCD monitor version of this housing, and I think it's a great choice in housings.

 

Ryan Canon

Reef Photo Video

 

877-453-8927

816-453-8927

fax: 816-453-8929