Underwater Digital video camera and housing???

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DiverDown
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Underwater Digital video camera and housing???

Post by DiverDown »

Hey Calvin a while ago you posted a picture about a underwater video camera.. Did you ever wind up purchasing it? I want to buy a video camera and make some dive videos does anyone have any suggestions??? somewhere in the 1,000 dollar range..
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Post by Tangfish »

Image

I did post about that video camera and housing. It was the Sony PC-1000 3-chip camera and Light & Motion Mako housing. It is about 5-grand with lighting. It is a little too expensive for my tastes right now. I'll probably get into it soon. UW video is kinda like dry suits. Very customizable and expensive but you can usually find them at a good price used. Check out eBay. Also, this is a useful article about getting started.

Good luck and let me know if you need any more info on UW video.

The only thing better than having a great video setup.... is having a buddy with one!
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sparky
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Post by sparky »

Calvin wrote:Image



The only thing better than having a great video setup.... is having a buddy with one!

i second that motion Calvin

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DiverDown
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Post by DiverDown »

5 grand huh!!! that one come in 8mm \:D/
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Post by Tangfish »

No, it is a MiniDV camera. If you're going 8mm or hi8 then you'll find something much more affordable. But, video setups are pretty reasonable these days for digital. I've seen more than one good setup on eBay for a Sony TRV camera, once a very expensive rig and very good resolution. The problem with 8mm is that the quality degrades over time if you don't digitize it. Of course the problem with digital is that you need the processing power and the HD space to work with the video.
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DiverDown
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Post by DiverDown »

I was actually making a joke about 8mm I didnt know that the still made that!! I have been shooting video with my digital camera man ive been having a blast with it. Im looking for somthing with some better quality.
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Post by Tangfish »

Oh, ok. I thought that was kinda odd but I didn't want to offend you in case you were being serious. I still like analog records =D>.

So yeah, there are plenty of deals to be had for around a grand, you just have to be opportunistic about it and find a rig that someone has put a lot of time and effort into, who also happens to want to get rid of it.

I don't see many things of this sort on Craigslist for some reason.
renaissancemanjoshua
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You could start less expensively.

Post by renaissancemanjoshua »

In the past I have used a sony camera in an Ikelite housing. The setup was fairly affordable. The setup easily outpaced my skills as a cameraman. If memory serves me correctly about three or four years ago I spent about $600 on the housing and roughly another $600 on the light. I think my camera was around $700 it shot MiniDV. I hauled the setup around southern California, Catalina, mexico and the Caribbean. Never had any trouble.
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DiverDown
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Post by DiverDown »

You mentioned in the past, have you upgraded and if you have do you want to sell???
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renaissancemanjoshua
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Post by renaissancemanjoshua »

Well sir

I wish i had something for sale, but that was a couple years ago. All I am saying is that if someone is interested in underwater video, one need not invest "light and motion"prices to get started. I'd go camera shopping and find an Ikelite housing to match.l
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Post by Maverick »

I use a canon powershot s1Is and it uses a compact flash memroy card which comes in up to 8 gigs. it films 30 frames per second and in great resolution.
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Post by Diver_Dave »

Here is what I used for years...Sony trv.900/under sea video housing/Twin Ikelights for lights..Image
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Post by RSdancey »

Wanna go cheap?

I got the Bionica XP, which is a tiny little camera (fits in the palm of your hand), which shoots video in 30 fps. It's not great, doesn't produce "broadcast quality" by any means, but as a way to get some shots of "what you do under the water" without breaking the bank, I've been really happy with it.

Here's an example of what the footage looks like:

http://livedigital.com/content/362598/

Ryan
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