Camcorder upgrade

[shoreman]

I am looking to buy an underwater camera housing for my Camcorder which is a Sony DCR-TRV33E. I have had this camera for around 18 months, so rather than do this, I think I would like to upgrade the camera first, and buy an underwater housing for the new camera.

With a budget of $2,000 for the camera, $2,000 for the housing and $1,000 to $2,000 for the lighting, what system would you recommend?

Are the new Sony cameras that record directly to a DVD any good? Seems to me that this would make transferring to PC a lot easier. Is there any loss in quality with these cameras?

I looked at a few housings, and the Amphibico ones look very good.

 

[crpntr133]

Most are going to tell you not to buy a camcorder that records to DVD. The reason behind this is that it is almost impossible to edit and get good quality video. Also if the camcorder stops, battery dead or whatever, you will loose the footage that you have shot. In other words, the footage isn't burnt directly to the DVD.

Housing? Take your pick. One thing to keep in mind is that if you want manual white balance you will have to have a housing that allows for the screen to fold out. Unless someone has come up with a work around for the touch screen.

A good web site for info isdigital divers

 

[shoreman]

Thanks for the pointer about recording to DVD.
After looking around, it looks like the DCR-PC1000E is one of the better Sony products. (I like Sony as I have memory sticks already.)

And for a housing and lighting combo I was thinking of the Mako.

I have no idea what "manual white balance" is, so couldn't say if I want / need it.
If I also have a back monitor would that make manual white balancing possible?

 

[diversteve]

Thanks for the pointer about recording to DVD.
After looking around, it looks like the DCR-PC1000E is one of the better Sony products. (I like Sony as I have memory sticks already.)

And for a housing and lighting combo I was thinking of the Mako.

I have no idea what "manual white balance" is, so couldn't say if I want / need it.
If I also have a back monitor would that make manual white balancing possible?

No comment on the PC1000, I've never used/shot with one. The Mako is a sound housing, you might also consider Amphibico, Gates, USVH and Ocean Images in your price range. I also like the looks of the Silverfish housings on your side of the pond. Links to all these are found in the housings sticky at the top of this forum.

Manual white balance simply means telling the camera what is white u/w so that it can adjust all the colors accordingly. It's less important if you're going to be shooting w/lights. A better explanation copied from a website:

White balance basically means colour balance. It is a function which gives the camera a reference to "true white" — it tells the camera what the colour white looks like, so the camera will record it correctly. Since white light is the sum of all other colours, the camera will then display all colours correctly.

With the Mako housing/monitor back, when the PC1000 finishes white balancing or you make any other changes to the camera settings, you will be able to see them in the monitor if it's set to display the data settings. Otherwise it makes it easier to film as it normally functions as an external monitor. Recommended if you can afford it.

crpntr133 is correct about Mini-DVD being an inferior format. It records in MPEG2 so that they can squeeze minutes onto those smaller DVD's, even then, at a useable resolution setting, you'll only get 20 mins. per mini-DVD. Also if you lose power before the write buffer clears and the session closes, you get nothing. I'd stick with MiniDV.

For the money you mentioned, you could also consider getting into HD format. There's the prosumer Sony HDR-HC1 available for around $2K. SeaCam has a housing for it in the $1800 range. I think I've seen a Gates housing for it also, but probably exceeds your budget. Or it will fit in a L&M Bluefin for about $3K U.S. Something to consider....

 

[diversteve]

Edit: wrong model...

 

[crpntr133]

The back monitor will NOT allow you to access manual white balance. I would love to see a touch screen back monitor (not sure what water pressure would do to it).

Another thing that you might keep in mind with the housing is that once you flood it, and you will, will you be able to find a replacement camcorder to fit. This is only an issue if you are going with model specific housing. If you go with something like the Ocean Images Dolphin Pro then there is less of an issue. My viewpoint was that electronics are only getting smaller and better so why limit myself to a certain line of models.
But with that statement I then say that it also means that you won't have manual white balance. On digitaldivers someone is doing some experiments with turning the camcorder off and back on at depth to see if it changes the white balance. If this works then the housing/electronic control & whitebalance issue is no longer if the camcorder has a LANC jack.

 

[ronrosa]

I am looking to buy an underwater camera housing for my Camcorder which is a Sony DCR-TRV33E. I have had this camera for around 18 months, so rather than do this, I think I would like to upgrade the camera first, and buy an underwater housing for the new camera.

With a budget of $2,000 for the camera, $2,000 for the housing and $1,000 to $2,000 for the lighting, what system would you recommend?

Are the new Sony cameras that record directly to a DVD any good? Seems to me that this would make transferring to PC a lot easier. Is there any loss in quality with these cameras?

I looked at a few housings, and the Amphibico ones look very good.

That's a pretty healthy budget.

Can you wait ?

HD camcorders and matching housings are out. Prices will begin to trickle down and the Sony VX2000/2100 owners will be selling their stuff to buy HD.

Or you could just forget the lights for now and buy a new HD setup. Many of us just use lights on night dives anyway.