Lightweight P&S with HD video?

[Ex Nihilo]

Hello,

I would love to be able to record all of my dives in HD video. The stipulation is that I always dive from a rocky shore where slipping and getting banged up is a regular act. I dive in Southern California so the vis ranges from 30' currently to less than 5' in the spring. Is there a camera that is able to take great photographs without a strobe, is lightweight/ compact, and takes HD video?




I've been looking at the Sony DSC-N1 and the Olympus SP-350. Neither of them shoot HD but from what I've seen there both relatively small and produce decent video and still photographs.

 

[AndyT]

Try this

NV24HD NV series - cameras SAMSUNG

 

[diversteve]

Try to find a housing for it though. According to DigiDeep there isn't one made.

List of underwater housings that turn the Samsung NV24 into an underwater camera

I have an SP-350. They've been discontinued for a while. Housings are getting hard to find without paying way too much for one on eBay etc. - I'm talking about the PT-030 Olympus housing - Ikelite has discontinued theirs.

Problem might be that they're both high-impact plastic so not ideal for bouncing off rocks. But at least the PT-030 will probably fit into a larger pocket.

 

[Ex Nihilo]

Try to find a housing for it though. According to DigiDeep there isn't one made.
List of underwater housings that turn the Samsung NV24 into an underwater camera

I have an SP-350. They've been discontinued for a while. Housings are getting hard to find without paying way too much for one on eBay etc. - I'm talking about the PT-030 Olympus housing - Ikelite has discontinued theirs.

Problem might be that they're both high-impact plastic so not ideal for bouncing off rocks. But at least the PT-030 will probably fit into a larger pocket.

Yeah, I couldn't find a housing for the Samsung DVHD's either. Have you had any experience with other point and shoots underwater?

A local scuba instructor who is also an avid underwater photographer recommended the SP350 to me last year. At that time it was ~400 but now it can be had on eBay for ~$150. I'm not sure whether to purchase the SP-350 camera and housing or if I should wait to see if a housing will be made for the Samsung NVHD's.

 

[diversteve]

Not recently. A couple years ago my regular buddy shot some decent video with a Canon A620. But it's 640x480 at 30fps so not HD. I shoot HDV so I'm probably biased but IMO his stuff looks good on a computer screen but on a larger HDTV I see breakup and artifacting. Two things he didn't like were short record times and the camera locked out any correction when in video mode. This may've changed in the newer models.

I'm not recommending it as I have no personal experience with them but you might consider the Bonica HDDV. It's small and very lightweight in it's housing. Review posts about it in U/W Videography and the Bonica forum before you decide. Here's one: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-videography/216576-new-bonica-hddv-camcorder.html

Or if you win the lottery soon I think there's a housing for this one...lol: Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera

 

[Ex Nihilo]

Not recently. A couple years ago my regular buddy shot some decent video with a Canon A620. But it's 640x480 at 30fps so not HD. I shoot HDV so I'm probably biased but IMO his stuff looks good on a computer screen but on a larger HDTV I see breakup and artifacting. Two things he didn't like were short record times and the camera locked out any correction when in video mode. This may've changed in the newer models.

I'm not recommending it as I have no personal experience with them but you might consider the Bonica HDDV. It's small and very lightweight in it's housing. Review posts about it in U/W Videography and the Bonica forum before you decide. Here's one:
Or if you win the lottery soon I think there's a housing for this one...lol:

Do you have any experience with the Panasonic FX35? I have seen some HD footage taken by this camera and it seems decent. It also has a very wide angle leica lens.

I've looked at the HDDV in the Underwater Video section of this site and it seems to take great HDV for it's size and price. I wonder if the housing is capable of beng mounted to a speargun.

Thank you for your help.

 

[diversteve]

Do you have any experience with the Panasonic FX35?

No...

 

[Ex Nihilo]

I ordered a Panasonic Lumix TZ5 with the Panasonic housing and a 16GB SDHC Class 6 memory card. This camera features 10x optical zoom, 28mm wide angle leica lens, HDV 1280x720p 30f/s with the ability to zoom in video. Another feature of this model is the 3" high resolution lcd display and the advanced image stabilization technology.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 / TZ15 review Cameralabs introduction

I will post a review upon receiving the camera, housing, and transcend sdhc card.

 

[Pacific Taco]

No one recommends the Sea and Sea 1200HD?

seaandsea.com

Looks like it would meet the requirements. I'm thinking of getting this camera for the same reasons...

 

[xariatay]

Canon G9 is not considered lightweight outside water but the Canon housing is very bouyant... It video is not HD but can do 1024 x 768 @ 15 fps, 640 x 480 @ 30/15 fps, 320 x 240 @ 30/15 fps, 160 x 120 @ 15 fps... I took all the videos using the "bigger" 1024x768... Thresher Shark at Monad Shoal Malapascua 12Dec08 on Yahoo! Video
G10 can do 30fps Canon PowerShot G10 Review: 13. Movie Mode: Digital Photography Review
• 640 x 480 @ 30fps
• 320 x 240 @ 30fps
• 160 x 120 @ 15fps