My Tachyon head-cam bit the dust and I need a new video camera.
What I use my video camera for are the following:
1) to record scuba lessons, both in the pool and in OW to use for giving feedback to my students
2) to record dives up to about 50m
3) to record wreck dives so I can look through it after the fact for details I can use for planning future dives and/or doing research
What I want it to have:
1) hands free operation. I want to be able to turn it on at the beginning of the dive and pretty much forget it and then turn it off at the end of the dive.
2) it needs to be able to mount on top of my greenforce light head which is on a goodman grip for wreck diving. That light head produces 1900 lumen so when mounted in that position it has to be able to handle the light output of the dive light without washing out. The problem with the Tachyon was that it could handle up to about 500 lumen without washing out so I needed to mount it on my mask or my backup light for wreck diving which is a pain when you're trying to record details.
3) the mask-strap mount that the Tachyon had is a pain in the patoosh because you see a lot of exhaust bubbles. Mounting either on the shoulder or on the top of the head above the mask is necessary. Basically I need flexible mounting options. Being able to put it on a tripod for in the pool would be nice too.
4) it needs to be able to record about 2 hours of video in one-go with a reasonable resolution. I'm obviously using it as a tool and I'm no videographer and don't pretend to want to be so resolution is not the highest priority as long as it's good enough to display on a computer screen or beamer after the fact.
5) it needs to record in a format I can work with with a cheap editor on a Windows PC
6) it obviously needs to be waterproof in the normal range I dive in which is up to about 50m. If it's good to 100m that's ok but I don't want to pay a bunch of money for a housing that can go to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. What finally killed the Tachyon was a dive to 50m (I think). It didn't flood and it actually recorded the dive but something in the electronics broke and after I changed the batteries it wouldn't turn on anymore... so the housing has to be OK but not amazing. The Tachyon was only rated to 30m I think so it's not their fault. I know.
7) batteries need to be able to keep it running in 4C water for 2 hours. Rechargeable.
8) the smaller the better. It can't be in the way.
Is there anything on the market that even comes close to this? I could really use some advice so thanks in advance for any suggestions.
R..
What I use my video camera for are the following:
1) to record scuba lessons, both in the pool and in OW to use for giving feedback to my students
2) to record dives up to about 50m
3) to record wreck dives so I can look through it after the fact for details I can use for planning future dives and/or doing research
What I want it to have:
1) hands free operation. I want to be able to turn it on at the beginning of the dive and pretty much forget it and then turn it off at the end of the dive.
2) it needs to be able to mount on top of my greenforce light head which is on a goodman grip for wreck diving. That light head produces 1900 lumen so when mounted in that position it has to be able to handle the light output of the dive light without washing out. The problem with the Tachyon was that it could handle up to about 500 lumen without washing out so I needed to mount it on my mask or my backup light for wreck diving which is a pain when you're trying to record details.
3) the mask-strap mount that the Tachyon had is a pain in the patoosh because you see a lot of exhaust bubbles. Mounting either on the shoulder or on the top of the head above the mask is necessary. Basically I need flexible mounting options. Being able to put it on a tripod for in the pool would be nice too.
4) it needs to be able to record about 2 hours of video in one-go with a reasonable resolution. I'm obviously using it as a tool and I'm no videographer and don't pretend to want to be so resolution is not the highest priority as long as it's good enough to display on a computer screen or beamer after the fact.
5) it needs to record in a format I can work with with a cheap editor on a Windows PC
6) it obviously needs to be waterproof in the normal range I dive in which is up to about 50m. If it's good to 100m that's ok but I don't want to pay a bunch of money for a housing that can go to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. What finally killed the Tachyon was a dive to 50m (I think). It didn't flood and it actually recorded the dive but something in the electronics broke and after I changed the batteries it wouldn't turn on anymore... so the housing has to be OK but not amazing. The Tachyon was only rated to 30m I think so it's not their fault. I know.
7) batteries need to be able to keep it running in 4C water for 2 hours. Rechargeable.
8) the smaller the better. It can't be in the way.
Is there anything on the market that even comes close to this? I could really use some advice so thanks in advance for any suggestions.
R..
