Equinox Pro-6 Video Housing Experience Request

[diversteve]

You either buy their monitor back or you can partially flip it out - asssuming it will stay out and view it thru the back - maybe. Since the camera probably has to center in the port to avoid vignetting there's not a lot of room. I'd get the monitor. There have been a few Equnox problems reported here - the most recent issue: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/camera-coach/370958-using-auto-focus-video.html#post5893174 - I'd personally get the Ikelite - if it has the reversing circuitry. Otherwise it will pan backward.

If your camera has an AV/Remote port you might look at TopDawg and Ocean Images also.

 

[shmuggy]

I have owned an Equinox Pro 6 and and Ikelite housing for a different video camera. At the time I was buying the Equinox, Ikelite did not have a housing for my camera- what a mistake it was to buy the Equinox. I called Equinox and they assured me they could build a housing for my camera- now after two trips of crap video I am learning that the video will never be any good out of this housing because they did not put a White Balance control on it. So everything is Jello green. After the first trip when I called Equinox, they told me it was because I was diving in low vis, on the second trip they said the green was because I was using auto-focus. A real problem since there is no other option with their housing. Then they said I had the exposure setting wrong- not to use the auto exposure on my particular camcorder. There were no suggestions to fix the vignetting problem which occured frequently. Well I wasn't about to blow another trip with this housing- which also weighs a ton. So I am buying another housing. Their BBB rating is an "F".

Both Equinox and Ikelite are in the same price range but after that the similiarities end. My previous experience with Ikelite was positive. I was able to use their housing for 10 years- it needed work done once at 8 years out but the service was inexpensive. They did it in a timely manner as well. Unfortunately, after that the camera went bad. Wish I had waited for them to produce a housing for my camera! Their BBB rating is "A+". I have also purchased an Spd dive light from them and it still works great after 12 years.

Since researching my problem, I have heard more bad things about Equinox. I am sure that someone on this forum will be able to give you some good advice about what to do next if you have to stick with this camera. Good luck!

 

[laurenceh]

i had terrible experiences with equinox and would urge you to look elsewhere. mine flooded the first time i used it (leaving me on a three month whale shark trip with no camera). equinox "repaired" it when i got home, i then left for ecuador and guess what? flooded again, destroying my video camera and leaving me yet again on a great trip with no camera. this second time equinox said it was operator error as "none of their products had ever failed" (despite the fact that they told me they had repaired it after the first incident, how can you repair a product that has never failed??).
i have been taking still photo's underwater for nearly twenty years and had never had a problem maintaining a water tight housing and have been using a gates housing for video, problem free for six months.
after posting my story on this forum last year i received several private messages from divers and retailers saying they had similar experiences and like me, equinox had always blamed the user and refused to replace the housing. it's a shame that people would only private message me this info, posting it would be so much more helpful.
i would never purchase an equinox product again, they don't stand behind their products, buyer beware!