Video Housings

[g_atchley]

I am trying to sort out an appropriate housing for my Canon Elura 60 camcorder. I would prefer a housing with an externally viewable monitor. Almost everything I find is designed for Sony products. I found a housing made by Ikelite but the viewfinder is only viewable from the side. Seems like an awkward way to shoot. Also found one by Equinox but which only allows the LCD screen to open within the housing 70-85%. How much of a problem might that be? My Elura 60 takes great video AND it works well with the i-DVD program on my Mac so I really don't want to buy a new camera. Any advice or input?

 

[Cliff Etzel]

I think the challenge you are going to face is the fact that your vidcam is a consumer one and the housing manufacturers don't see it as one to invest in producing an external monitor that, say, sit's on top of the housing.

About the only way you will be able to have thi soption is to look at companies like Light & Motion and see if one of their housings will fit your camera and then add on the external back plate LCD monitor.

Ikelite does make a housing for your vidcam and seems to have a kludged way of seeing your external monitor via some type of mirror, but I'm not a fan of plex housings. Equinox offers it's ProPak housing with a rear external monitor as well.

HTH,

 

[donmoore]

I have a Cannon digital video camera and an Ikelite housing. The Ikelite was the least expensive housing, but I totally understand your desire to have an externally viewable monitor. It will do for now, but I wouldn’t go that way again. Looking through the viewfinder is tough to do while freediving. You have to take a lot of video to increase the odds of getting something good.

Cliff, I don’t know why you don’t like plex housings, but I had quite a negative experience with it and Continental Airlines. They broke it and refused to pay for it to be fixed. But instead of just telling me that right off they made me call a whole bunch of different people in their organization then run the housing down to their counter at the airport. Ikelite said CA would have had to really miss handle my suitcase to break it. Its like ½” thick! Cost a pretty penny to have Ikelite repair it.
don

 

[g_atchley]

Cliff and Don:
After careful examination of my bank account, last weekend I ordered the Ikelite housing for my Canon camcorder. I decided to try it w/o the mirror attachment for now. Don, what is your experience with the side mounted mirror? I also decided (out of necessity) to hold off on the $600 light kit! And Cliff, you are absolutely right about Light & Motion. Altough they could not accomodate my camera, their equipment lineup is impressive.
Unfortunately not in the current budget.

The Ikelite housing appears absolutely bullet-proof...I guess if anyone could break it, the airlines would certainly do a good job of it! Regardless, all the controls line up properly and do the job well. At least they do on dry land. Sea trials tomorrow. I may have more questions later...or I may be in the market for a new camera.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Jon]

If Light and Motion was too expensive, did you look at their economy kit: TopDawg.

They make a generic housing that can fit dozens different cameras and has lenses and view finders that can be added on. They are also a lot more streamlined to swim with in the water. Price should be pretty close to an Ikelite.

I've used both and the TopDawg housings are just easier to freedive with.

Jon

 

[roy_nexus_6]

I am using a combination of Sony PC101 camera and OceanHause housing and love it.

Oceanhous makes housings that are tailored to the cameras and are not much bigger the the cameras themselfs. Very easy to handle underwater because of the small size and minimal weight.

http://www.absea.net/products.html

 

[Jon]

Roy,

That's my dream housing!

I know that Ted (unirdna) is currently trying to save for one. Can you give us some more details about how it works for freediving?

Jon

 

[roy_nexus_6]

Jon,
In two words: "Works Great" ... it is very small and easy to handle with one hand. Very easy to handle in strong currents. I use mine without the optional "handles". It is easy to operate and to load / unload the camera.

I use it for my scuba and freediving, when scubadiving I just clip it to my BC and jump in to the water (you don't really need a divemaster to hand it to you after you get off the boat).

The only minuses I can see are as follows; You can't do a full zoom (the lens will not accomodate that) and you don't have the access to "white / exposere" controls (all this is for PC-101 housing). However I understand that the model for PC-120 is more feature rich.

 

[g_atchley]

Hi Jon:
I can see where the Light & Motion housing would be much easier to use but the real problem was that it was not compatible with my camera. Now, however, I'm thinking when the time comes I'll try to get the Oceanhaus set up you guys are gushing over. I'll need to get plenty of use out of my Canon Elura before that can happen though.

By the way, the sea-trials went well - No leaks but I can tell it will take some time getting accustomed to.

 

[donmoore]

G_atchley,
I don’t have the mirror. I didn’t know existed until your post. I just try to look through the viewfinder, which is tough because you have to look through the housing and the mask which makes it difficult to see, or I just point at the target on wide angle and hope I get something. Pretty lame, I know!
don

 

[fuzz]

Jon,
In two words: "Works Great" ... it is very small and easy to handle with one hand. Very easy to handle in strong currents. I use mine without the optional "handles". It is easy to operate and to load / unload the camera.

I use it for my scuba and freediving, when scubadiving I just clip it to my BC and jump in to the water (you don't really need a divemaster to hand it to you after you get off the boat).

The only minuses I can see are as follows; You can't do a full zoom (the lens will not accomodate that) and you don't have the access to "white / exposere" controls (all this is for PC-101 housing). However I understand that the model for PC-120 is more feature rich.

How does the viewing work? Is the viewfinder magnified or anything?

 

[roy_nexus_6]

How does the viewing work? Is the viewfinder magnified or anything?

The viewfinder is a port that allows you to see through the original camera's viewfinder.

 

[fuzz]

The viewfinder is a port that allows you to see through the original camera's viewfinder.

Isn't that quite difficult to use? I've used a few housings & have had terrible times with that style of housing/viewfider backs.

 

[roy_nexus_6]

Isn't that quite difficult to use? I've used a few housings & have had terrible times with that style of housing/viewfinder backs.

The housing is so small, light and maneuverable that this has never inconvenienced me.

 

[fuzz]

The housing is so small, light and maneuverable that this has never inconvenienced me.

sorry, but what does the maneuverability have to do with the viewfinder? I've used a few housings & the ones without viewable screens are hard to keep on target when filming subjects on the move. Are you swimming around with the eye piece close to your face?

 

[fuzz]

To clarify further:

I used a friend's housing which was also ultra compact & had just a viewfinder port as you're describing. On the other hand, I now use a L&M mako housing. It isn't as maneuverable as my friend's housing, but the video I can get on it is way better since I can always see exactly how the shot is being framed. I'm not limited to holding it in a certain manner. The monitor back rocks

I wanted an oceanhaus housing for the longest time, but that viewfinder issue is what held me back.


http://www.uwimaging.com/products/video_housings/mako_pc100/images/mako_monitor_lg2.jpg

 

[roy_nexus_6]

You do trade the the size of the housing for the features.
Hopefully one day someone will manufacture a compact housing like Oceanhaus with the feature set of L&M.

 

[g_atchley]

I have to agree regarding viewfinders. After using the Ikelite housing I recently purchased for my Canon Elura 60, it became very obvious that the Light & Motion external LCD monitor would greatly improve the ease of filming. As it is, I found that if I re-attached the left side handle upside down, I could view the camera's LCD monitor from the side with relative ease. Awkward to say the least, but better than trying to see through the eyepiece, eventhough the housing has a built-in magnifying lens. If you go to http://www.waterbugstudios.com you can see our initial results filmed in our community swimming pool.

 

[donmoore]

g_atchley,
Cameras and housing aren’t my specialty, but isn’t the mirror attachment you mentioned so you can view the side LCD monitor from behind the camera? I thought that was its purpose, to bend your view so you can be behind the camera, but view the monitor on the side without having to get your head to the side of the camera.
If this is so, then how much does the mirror attachment cost to add it to our Ikelite cases?
Learning,
don

 

[g_atchley]

Don:
You are right about the mirror. I decided to try without it first. I'm thinking now I will make the $40.00 investment and give it a try. Do you happen to know anything about the lighting option Ikelite offers? I may end up purchasing that as well.