DIY Video Housing a success...

[Bobby_M]

Far be it from me to stifle your project plans but I'll offer some thoughts.

That's gonna be a lot of positive buouyancy give those dimensions. My housing is 4x8" and only took .5 pounds of lead to get it neutral. With 6x12 with another side bit, you might need like 5 lbs of lead on it.

Maybe reconsider the need to look at the swing out LCD. You really don't want to zoom the cam due to how much light is lost under water unless you're in 100+ vis. You're gonna want wide angle and you'll get used to the overall framing after a while. I had pretty good luck with just sighting down the top of the housing to know what i was shooting.

I can also see my viewfinder through the housing also and i'm thinking of experimenting with a mini freznel lense on the back port to make it a little larger.

Another thing you might try is seeing if you can open your LCD part way within the 6" pipe without the "Y".

Remote: Not really necessary underwater. Seal it up topside, gear up, hit record on the remote and jump in. Use editing software to take out the boring parts.

Bobby

 

[MATTKINZ]

Hi hamster,

I ordered a remote for mine but the remote is actually for a different model and my cam won't work with a remote.

I read somewhere that the remote will work if placed with silica pack into a total of 2 tied latex condoms . Place remote into one condom with silica pack and tie open end of condom , then place in a 2nd condom and tie as well. This is supposed to work the camera with IR control at least down to 50 ft. Please realize I haven't had the opportunity to try this out myself but someone else seems to have had success with this method.

I would like to have controls and am looking for glands for my cam. MK

 

[Bobby_M]

Matt, Hamster,
I totally understand wanting to at least record/stop record with these housings but do you really want one more device (the remote) to keep track of? If you really want the control, I think the Ikelite gland/rod/lever kit is the ticket. I'm thinking of buying one for mine but I might wait for my second housing.

BHphotovideo.com has them for $25 plus shipping. I know it's a little tough paying nearly the entire cost of the housing for a control, but I think their glands are probably worth it. You could go cheaper and add your own shaft and buy just the gland:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...516&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

I know my cam will go into sleep mode if not recording so I'll power up, seal it in, let it sleep. Then i'll use the control to hit record. That is, there's no reason for a second control to turn power on/off.

One other option is to buy an Ikelite housing on Ebay and trash it for all the glands/controls. I bet a few of us would buy a few of the extras to offset it.

Bobby

 

[MATTKINZ]

I've been looking at ebay for this option . If I buy a used cam housing , I'll sell you a gland cheap. mk

 

[Bobby_M]

Crap Matt... I should probably stay off Ebay, we're probably bidding against each other on those old Ike housings. Good luck.

Bobby

 

[The_Diving_Hampster]

Acrylic pieces @ http://freckleface.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/acrylicsheet.html
arrived in 6 days, with a holiday and at standard ground rates. The latches and O-rings arrived 4 days from order date @ http://www1.mscdirect.com. These sites check out for me, as recommended by previous divers on this form. Prices were very reasonable. Now comes the hard part, not @#$%^&* up fabrication.

Bobby, I like the Control Gland and will consider since as you mentioned makes operating one less step, thanks again. For now I'll just try to keep it from leaking. Any idea on a depth range it’s rated for?

I’m not sure about Matt’s suggestions on the condoms; I’d rather put those to better use . But like duct tape I’m sure condoms do have more than one use.

I should have something to show by late next week and will post photos, I would have tried to complete this weekend but I have diving to do!

The_Diving_Hampster

“No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.” Ancient Chinese Cookie

http://www.myersinteractive.com/Scuba/

 

[Bobby_M]

Hamster,
Theoretically, 4" schedule 40 should be able to handle 494 ft+ because it's already rated at 220psi from inside. Exterior pressure rating would be quite a bit higher even though I can't find references. Then psi = Depth x 0.445.

From what I found online, and seems a bit off, 1/4" acrylic can withstand thousands of psi. See: http://www.sdplastics.com/acrylit1.html

I guess that leaves the glued joints as the weak link. The O-ring is really going to seal better the deeper you go.

My next attempt is surely going to have the removable acrylic window sit directly on the O-ring. I like the idea of having fewer glue joints to depend on.



Bobby

 

[giom]

here is some pics of finished underwater housing with my Sony PC100 in it. I just used in for half an hour in a lake not deeper than 8 feet. Absolutely no leek so far.
It is made of a 6" PVC and 1/2" acrylic windows. Screws for the latches are on the first 1/4 inch layer of pvc only.(coupling pipe).
Well, it seems like uploading pics doesn't work...so I'll do it whenever it works.

 

[Guba]

I haven't back-read all the posts, but I've built my own video housing and it works extremely well. The method I used for turning mine on-off is pretty simple and very reliable. I used a solenoid to punch the on/off button on the camera. My camera goes into "sleep" mode after a couple of minutes and hitting the record button "wakes" it. Therefore, I can turn on the camera, seal up the housing, and then dive. When I want to video, I simply have to trigger the solenoid.
To do that, armed the solenoid with its own battery and used a magnetically operated reed switch. By sliding a magnet over the reed switch on the outside of the housing, it triggers the reed switch and operated the solenoid. A simple slide arm holds the external magnet (which is the size of a button). Simple and effective. Hope this helps.

 

[moneysavr]

Had My sewer cam,or Sch 40 pvc case to 130fsw and shot this old schooner in LakeMichigan last night,no lights just a old sony dv cam,
you guys got some cool looking cases! good luck !
next dive she is going to 165'fsw
click this link to see short clip,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbs4xzrV9vo
dive safe,
Brad