3 CCDs or a better optical zoom?

[Mark Goodchild]

In my opinion 10x optical is loads.

If you are taking underwater taking video through a long distance of water you'll lose the colour anyway. Even if the visibility is very good. Go for the 3CCD. I have a Panasonic GS-120 and this camera performs very well. The image quality is outstanding.

Hope this helps.

 

[bubblevision]

Definitely 3CCD's more important, as long as you can access white balance through the housing.

 

[peterbkk]

You also might want to check the minimum lux rating of the camera. Some 3 CCD cameras have less ability to capture an image in low-light situations. Something to do with the light being split before recording. Might be an issue in a lower quality camcorder.

 

[RSdiver]

IMHO:

Zooming has always been overated both for still and video, underwater and on land. Better to move to the right location / distance. The quality trade-offs that the lensmaker had to make to get that amount of zoom will show.

Quality of image is second to none.

If all else is equal and you can find a good housing, go with the 3 CCDs.

Regards
Peter

Sony recently introduced their 3 CCD camera PC-1000 and it has already
dropped below $1000 Click Here

L&M has fit it into a Mako housing

 

[PeaceDog]

Zoom is your enemy in underwater video. Unless you're doing still macro, stay the hell away from it. Go with the 3 chips. Your video will look much better.

For God's sake.....stay away from zoom.

 

[bubblevision]

Zoom is your enemy in underwater video. Unless you're doing still macro, stay the hell away from it. Go with the 3 chips. Your video will look much better.

For God's sake.....stay away from zoom.

Yes it means there's more suspended crap between the subject and your port to dim and blur the subject, but often zoom is very useful for tight shots, especially if you're videoing shy marine life or if you simply can't get the camera close enough. Many of my close-up shots are zoomed in as tight as the port will allow before losing focus.

 

[drbill]

Depending on lens quality, I'd opt for the 3-CCD camera over a long zoom IF you can find a housing for it.

I've long been an advocate of the single chip mini-DV camcorders with a good lens. Recently I had an opportunity to view great white footage shot by Guy Harvey with a Sony PD-150 and myself using a Sony TRV-17. I was surprised at the difference. I've used both single- and 3-chip Sony camcorders in the past in the same housing, etc., and always throught the differences were minor. Now I'm convinced that a good 3-CCD unit is noticeably better!

I almost never use telephoto, and when I do I rarely even get up to 10X optical. Of course I'm diving in kelp forests with limited vis and a lot of particulates and/or plankton so a longer zoom would be useless. I have seen videographers who use the zoom frequently (whether zooming in or steady) and find their video is often erratic due to the stability issue.

 

[ronrosa]

I've long been an advocate of the single chip mini-DV camcorders with a good lens. Recently I had an opportunity to view great white footage shot by Guy Harvey with a Sony PD-150 and myself using a Sony TRV-17. I was surprised at the difference. I've used both single- and 3-chip Sony camcorders in the past in the same housing, etc., and always throught the differences were minor. Now I'm convinced that a good 3-CCD unit is noticeably better!

I think a lot of the 1 chip being better than 3 chip thinking started with the Sony VX 1000.

During it's hey day, the VX 1000 was easily the top dog, at least on land. Not sure if it's poor low light sensitivity or not, but the underwater footage I've seen from the VX 1000 was not too good. Comparing the VX 1000 to single chip cameras, I can see some people thinking that 1 chip is better than 3 chips underwater.

However, camcorders have changed since the Sony VX 1000 and even my old trusty 3 chip TRV 900 takes better underwater footage than the VX 1000 and better than any 1 chip I've seen so far.

 

[drbill]

I think a lot of the 1 chip being better than 3 chip thinking started with the Sony VX 1000... However, camcorders have changed since the Sony VX 1000 and even my old trusty 3 chip TRV 900 takes better underwater footage than the VX 1000 and better than any 1 chip I've seen so far.

Actually I had used the TRV900 and TRV950 as well as the TRV17 under the same circumstances and found that the quality difference for most of my subjects (artificially lit close-up shots) wasn't much different. The overview shots were however. Just my experience.... your mileage may (and does!) vary.

 

[PeaceDog]

Yes it means there's more suspended crap between the subject and your port to dim and blur the subject, but often zoom is very useful for tight shots, especially if you're videoing shy marine life or if you simply can't get the camera close enough. Many of my close-up shots are zoomed in as tight as the port will allow before losing focus.

I'll see you and raise you...

I'm all about getting in tight on a macro subject by zooming a bit, and I've definitely done it more than once; but I can't ever imgaine a scenario where I'd need to zoom in more than 10x...I can't imagine a scenario where such footage would turn out decent, either.