Looking for camcorder/housing combo

[becthediver]

Hello! I'm looking for a camcorder/housing combo deal to buy. I'm not looking for anything fancy or hi-tec, I want to get my feet wet in advancing my videography. I have a GoPro which I adore but if I want to go on a great white expedition to Guadalupe next season, I don't feel like being the laughing stock of the boat- going up against a great white with nothing but a GoPro and all...

I seem to only be able to find a camcorders with cassettes as memory storage and I have no way to get the footage off that... So I am aiming for one with built-in memory or SD capability. It doesn't have to be 10 megapix or anything... 6 mega pix would be just fine. (If it is a cassette storage type then I would love to know how to get the footage off that).

Here comes the catch... I'm in college so that means my budget is about as low as they come-

around 300-500$... May be able to go higher in the coming months but that is iffy. (Don't laugh I'm in college)

I'm hoping for a two hand, setup kind of like the Amphibico or equinox housings.

This is who I am and what I do- becthediver - BecTheDiver

I would really like to advance but am on a strict budget.


Thank you

 

[diversteve]

Since you already have the GoPro - these were both shot at Guadalupe with one:

Guadalupe White Sharks.mov - YouTube
Great White Shark Dive, Nautilus Explorer, Guadalupe, GoPro Video - YouTube

You might see if the trip organizer has a problem with you using a 3-4' pole mount from the cage. You might get some really good footage if the shark doesn't eat the camera...

Unless you go used, I don't think you'll find a housing/camera around $500. There's someone selling an Ikelite housing with 2 Sony HDR-SR5's for $400 in the classifieds currently. The camera(s) have 40GB HDD's. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cl...omplete-digital-cameras-uw-housing-400-a.html Since the cameras are about 5-6 years old, it might be good to have a spare - you may not be able to find another one. Ikelite housings are model specific so you wouldn't be able to upgrade to a more current model - the controls won't line up correctly.

The least expensive new camera housing combo I can think of is the Canon Vixia HF M500 with their WP-V4 housing, The camera is $499 on Amazon, B&H Photo has the housing for $449. It has limited camera control but does have a zoom control, something your GoPro lacks. Also you can view - but not access - the LCD screen in the housing. Depth limited to 130' which is partly how they keep the cost down. My buddy shoots a previous model, he gets very good results.

Some of the Ikelite housings sell new for $800 - you might be able to find last years model that you could pair with a camcorder for $300+ more. A couple of the newest Sony's sell for around that retail - IDK if Ikelite makes a housing for them though, Ikelite housings are model specific. Or as you've seen, the Equinox starting at $899. But you'd probably want to add the $300 rear-monitor to the Equinox so you can clearly see what you're filming.

If the "cassette" (MiniDV/HDV) camcorder has a firewire port - Sony calls it ilink, you can transfer footage to your computer if it has a firewire port also. The only problem is that it's a 1-1 transfer - i.e. 1/2 hr. of video capture takes 1/2 hr. The HDD/SD/SDHC cameras use USB 2.0 so are much faster. Still faster with an SD/SDHC is to pop the card out and use an external reader.

I really wouldn't buy a used StandardDefinition camcorder now, most people have HDTV's and the footage doesn't scale well. For Youtube etc. it's acceptable. Most of what I see for sale inexpensively used is SD.