DIY Video Housing a success...

[Guba]

Bryan (and anyone else who's interested),
I've posted a few pics, so you might want to take a look. Some parts are still a bit rough (first attempt, mind you), but you can get the idea. My next camera will be much smaller, so the next housing will be as small as I can get it. Still, this one works well, and as I said before--they're loads of fun, both to make and to use!

 

[Guba]

Hey, Bryan (and anyone else who's interested),
I've posted a few pics of my housing in the gallery. Certainly, there are some rough parts that I'll change with my next design. For sure, my next camera will be smaller, so the housing will be much more compact. There are more elaborate ways to handle some of the elements, but I tend to choose the simplest. Hope this helps, and have fun with contstructing your own. As I said before, they're loads of fun, both to construct and to use!

 

[Warthaug]

Thanx for those pictures; your design looks pretty much like what I had in mind. Couple quick questions for you:

1) What kind of router bit did you use for milling the plastic?

2) Is that a solenoid in the back? I assume that's a record/pause control; does it work well?

Bryan

 

[Guba]

I used a standard woodworking router bit. I set my router table to cut about a 3/8 in groove (the thickness of the pvc, being careful to have the depth set to about 1/2 in.
Yup, that's a solenoid, and it works perfectly. It's triggered with a magnetic reed switch mounted on the inside wall of the tube. A magnet (in the little slide on the left hand side) actuates it. That way, I don't have to have any holes of any kind in the housing wall or plates.

 

[426Scuba]

I just got back from my trip to Florida and the new housing worked great No leaks at all. But I did abort one dive with the camera because the seal didn't look good (and yep you guessed it, the best dive of the trip) but thats the way it goes. Here is some pictures of it. I didn't get time to paint it all before I went on vacation, but everyone that saw it was impressed. Most of all the guy who had the $1200+ ikielite housing

It's completely double wall 4" pvc including the handle. And it took 9 oz to get neutral. Thanks to all here on Scuba board...

 

[rockjock3]

I've made several housings with both ends being removeable. While it does make accessing the inside of the housing easier it adds to the cost by adding at least 3 more latches at $10 each. Not a big deal unless you're trying to build the housing on a budget.



I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "top-hat" style ends. I just used a 3/4 inch thick piece of PLEXIGLAS. Don't use acrylic. Acrylic is very strong but it's is also soft and flexable compaired to Plexiglas. This softness allows it to flex to absorb the shock of lets say a bullet impact instead of shattering because it's stiff. The problem with this is that acrylic will flex and warp due to the pressure if the surface area is big enough and it will scratch very easy. Both things you don't want is you're trying to build a waterproof housing to shoot video through.



This one doesn't make sence. If you're sealing the lens against the O-ring on the end of the housing the surface of the lens should be smooth enough from the factory to seal just fine.

Take a look at the pictures in my photo gallery if you want to see some of the housings I've made.

Plexiglass and acrylic are just trade names, they are in fact the same.

As far as the scratching, one of the benifits of acrylic is that it does scratch, but scratches can be buffed out easily.

 

[rockjock3]

My housing turned out great. I have four dives ranging from 120fsw to 30fsw for 75 minutes, so depth and time tested.

I could never find the 3M glue here so I used "Marine" Goop. When it stated it will cure underwater I figured it would be perfect for this project. It works great.

I also ordered control arms from Ikelite and adjusted them to fit. They work awesome. I have control for power and rec right now.

The housing works great. It is perfectly balanced from front to back and is about .5 neg with the 3 lb weight attached. I like the external attached weight because I can release it to send the camera to the surface in case of leaking and it also makes the camera easier to handle when dry. The case is heavy due to it being 6" pvc.

Here is a video from it on its first dive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emVl7ciXnUo

 

[Padipro]

Plexiglass and acrylic are just trade names, they are in fact the same.

Really? Not according to the distributors I've talked to. I asked that exact question, which should I use and that was not the story I got.

 

[rockjock3]

Really? Not according to the distributors I've talked to. I asked that exact question, which should I use and that was not the story I got.

Really.

"Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or poly (methyl 2-methylpropenoate) is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate. This thermoplastic and transparent plastic is sold by the tradenames Plexiglas, Perspex, Plazcryl, Acrylite, Acrylplast, Altuglas, and Lucite and is commonly called acrylic glass or simply acrylic. The material was developed in 1928 in various laboratories and was brought to market in 1933 by Rohm and Haas Company."

There are high and low grades of the material, but it is the same. I used 1/4 inch on my housing and the 12X12 sheet I cut my lenses out of wouldn't bend if you stood on them and it was an acrylic sheet. If you had some that bent relatively easily or your distributors told you it would bend easily then you either had or they were selling low quality.

Here is another spot on acrylic

"Today acrylic is used more than ever. Virtually all major public aquariums now build display tanks out of acrylic. You will also find acrylic in malls, institutions, prisons, hospitals and commercial buildings. "

 

[Padipro]

I stand corrected.

I figured I had gotten the correct information from the folks that sold it, I guess not.

The 1/4 inch stuff I used in the past was used on a 6 inch diameter PVC pipe so the surface area was farily large. When the latches were locked it would warp the edges enough where the slightest imperfection in the O-ring sealing area would cause the seal to be lost. I switched to 3/4 inch thick for the lens and had no trouble with warpage and the seal was good.