DIY Video Housing a success...

[crpntr133]

Hey Guys,

Been kinda following this thread for some time. Since I don't have the time nor the machines to make my own housing I ended up buying a used one.
I did end up doing a DIY and mounted a monitor on the back glass of the housing. By using a solid state relay I was able to set it up so it goes on and off with the camera. I know this isn't possible for most of the housing posted here.

You could use a mercury switch or something of the same nature to turn your camera on and off. Turn it upside down and it is off, turn it over and it comes back on. I think this could be done fairly easily and take up very little room. The good part is that it wouldn't need to have a hole drilled in the side of the housing.

 

[Bobby_M]

Success! First dive down on the Tracy of Ft Lauderdale (72fsw max for me) and no leaks. So, the reef dive that followed was recorded! I'm doing a wreck tomorrow that is in the 90-100fsw range and I'm a little scared to pop the camera in. I might use this as a chance to push the housing (empty) to what I consider my practical depth limit right now. We'll see.

Bobby

 

[MarkH]

For my underwater stuff (video housings, flash housings, video lights), I bond the acrylic window to the ABS/PVC with Aquaseal (flexible urethane sealant). So far I haven't had any problems with it. The max depth I've used it is around 140 feet. The Aquaseal acts like a gasket at depth and the pressure just squeezes it tighter.

 

[Bobby_M]

Thanks for the tip swankenstein, I'll use it on my next housing.

In summary, I had my housing down on 6 dives with a max depth of 92fsw and I had no leaks at all. This is encouraging in that it proves that I didn't just get lucky on the O-ring seal once or twice.

The buouyancy on this housing is great. It is slightly negative with the weighted handles on and slightly positive with them off.

Once I have some time to capture and edit the video, I'll post a link.

Bobby

 

[MATTKINZ]

I'd like to see the video.

My daughter is in a course in Archaeology and is doing marine archeology for her lab class here at Univ of w. Fla.

For the class ,she used my housing with some success to film a paddle wheel steamer from 1870, sunk in alabama .

So far I don't have any decent videos to upload. I hope to get to NC this summer sometime and film sand tiger shark if able, and if there are sharks. Should I get any decent video ever. I can post.mk

 

[Bobby_M]

Here's a quick sample of the video I got. This was at 65 feet, cloudy day, no lights and no color correction. I can't figure out how to get Ulead Video Studio 9 to simply bump the red up.

www.suebob.com/Edmistershort.wmv

Bobby

 

[MATTKINZ]

good little video. Nice clouds of fish.

Your housing seems to work quite well.mk

 

[willydiver]

Bobby,

Congrats on the housing! The video clip looks great.

One thing I learned quickly was the need to keep moisture/condensation out of the housing. Not real easy on a boat on the water. Procure a couple silica gel packs and throw them in the bottom of your housing before you head to the water. You can find them in just about every pair of sneakers you buy. They are reusable, too. Bake them on 200 deg F for an hour to remove any moisture from them. Be sure and keep them in a dry ziplock bag because they'll start sucking up moisture if exposed to the air. Mini-cams are extremely sensitive to mositure and will lock up without warning.

Your handle weights must be spaced just right to help stabilize the camera. Your video is alot more stable than my shaky stuff. I've got all of my ballast weight centered on the bottom of the housing. I think that makes it more prone to rotating back and forth.

Will

 

[Bobby_M]

Will,
I already scammed a bunch of silica packs from the shoe boxes at Kohl's. I was worried about drying them in the envelopes so i dumped all the beads out onto a baking sheet. I then put them in the foot of some old pantyhose and shut it with a rubber band. It worked out just fine.

I think the housing is inherently stable being so close to neutral without any weight at all. It could also be the fact that my handles mount to the sides which make it closer to the center of buouyancy vs. a bottom mount handle. Truth be told though, my miniDV has built in image stabilization so that could be the ticket.

I hope to post more clips soon... I've mostly been editing full 15 minute clips for DVD burning so I've got to edit them further for web posting.

Bobby

 

[The_Diving_Hampster]

Bobby M and Paddipro,

A buddy who's been diving for a number of years clued me into this site, specifically regarding DIY / videohousing post. Wow! I'd thought it was do able and have sketched up my own design, but was lacking on materials (where to find) and knowledge on what's worked and hasn't for someone else. Between the info exchange (I read 16 pages worth) I was able to purchase all the non-pvc materials online for much less as a result of the postings. Stuff should arrive late this week or early next. I'm using a Sony DV TRV-230 camera and have chosen to use a 6" x 12" pvc piece with a 4" offshoot at a slight angle. The acrylic is 3/4".

The offshoot will cause additional drag but its purpose to to allow me to open my LCD panel and view what's being shot. I'll mount the camera as far right as possible to counter the weight of the offshoot. I intend to place a black curtain or shroud to shield the lense from any light generated by the LCD panel. Also will make the diving handles removable and mount a permanent handle on the top of the housing for carrying around topside. I do worry the 4" joint will cause some structure integrity issues at deeper depths but will test first.

Since my camera has a remote I'm also very tempted to rig it so I can start/stop/zoom with it at depth, however I'm not sure how the Infra-red will be affected in the water. Any input on this? Of course when completed I'll link/post images either successful, soaked or imploded.

Necessity is the Mother of invention or innovation

Z - The_Diving_Hampster