panasonic Dilemma

[PeaceDog]

is it me, or are there no reputable manufacturers out there willing to make a housing for Panasonic's brilliant DVX line of cameras that shoot 24p?

 

[teksimple]

is it me, or are there no reputable manufacturers out there willing to make a housing for Panasonic's brilliant DVX line of cameras that shoot 24p?

I agree with you there. It is not impossible to get a housing for your camera, but it depends how much money you have. Most of the housing manufacturers will make a housing for your camera, if you pay for their design costs. Ocean Images is one that advertises custom housings. They make one for the GS-400, so maybe they would make one for your Panasonic 24P camera for not a whole lot more. I often go below 200ft and do not want to take out a 2nd mortgage to buy a video system. Therefore, I am forced to chose my camera based on the housings that are available for my depth rating and price range.

 

[RickSp]

I did a quick web search and found the Equinox Pro Pack 8 .

The B&H site says that they have it in stock.

Equinox Pro-Pak 8 Mechanical Underwater Video Housing for Panasonic AG-DVX100 Camcorder

 

[PeaceDog]

Hmmm....Rick, you are a gentleman. Thanks for doing a more invasive search than I did.

Anyone have an opinion about Equinox? I had one for about 2 seconds when I was in college, waaaaay back and way before i was serious (i.e., looking to go pro) with my u/w video.

I'm bummed that housing doesn't have a control for exposure, but I'm willing to compromise, and I also know they'll customize it for you, too.

I keep hearing from professional u/w videographers and filmmakers that it's not the camera or the housing, it's the artist behind it...I'm hoping that's true, and I'll feel okay about converting from the Church Of Light & Motion.

 

[RickSp]

I wouldn't worry too much about exposure control underwater. I left my PD150 happily on auto. I am relatively inexperienced shooting underwater and am now trying to keep the camera steady, mind my bouyancy, frame my shots and not gulp through my tank while focusing on the video. I have enough to worry about underwater and prefer not to mess with the camera settings if at all possible.

As long as the camera is relatively steady and the shot is framed I can fix the color and exposure in post. Pointing the camera in the wrong direction or wobbling while moving is much harder to correct. In my experience anyhow.

 

[bubblevision]

I agree with that. I did hundreds of dives with my Gates before I started using the exposure control. Now I do use the exposure control to close the iris down when I have an over-exposed pale fish swimming against a dark background. This happens mainly at night and often could not be corrected in post because the detail in the over-exposed areas is just not there.

Bear in mind that adjusting exposure manually is really adding to your task-loading. 99% of the time you'll be alright in auto, especially when you're not using lights.

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

I noticed many of you guys use the auto exposure. I find it a necessity to shoot manual exposure quite often, whever I am using lights or not. Last weekend I dove the oil rigs. Trying to shoot upwards with auto exposure was a nightmare. Everythink was blown out from the sun (even at 80 feet). I like having full control over my camera. All I know is my TRV950 in auto has failed me too many times. Its manual only for exposure for me.

 

[PeaceDog]

I noticed many of you guys use the auto exposure. I find it a necessity to shoot manual exposure quite often, whever I am using lights or not. Last weekend I dove the oil rigs. Trying to shoot upwards with auto exposure was a nightmare. Everythink was blown out from the sun (even at 80 feet). I like having full control over my camera. All I know is my TRV950 in auto has failed me too many times. Its manual only for exposure for me.

RIGHT. ON. THE. MONEY.

As a soon-to-be digital filmmaking graduate, I cannot imagine not having the option underwater to adjust exposure for exactly the same reasons you're talking about. And more.

 

[bubblevision]

Apart from the fact that I just don't need to use manual exposure most of the time, there are two other reasons I don't use manual more often. The first is that it's just tricky and a little time-consuming to do (on my Gates at least), and if you're shooting fish there's a good likelihood that the moment will be lost by the time the exposure is right. It's pretty much impossible to adjust exposure while holding a shot steady. The other reason is that I find it's actually quite difficult to judge the correct exposure using the external monitor underwater.

In situations looking up towards the sun, like the oil rig scenario that Mike describes, my VX2000 would prompt me to use one or both of its internal neutral density filters. If I follow these prompts then the exposure is pretty much spot on every time.

 

[PeaceDog]

The other reason is that I find it's actually quite difficult to judge the correct exposure using the external monitor underwater.

In situations looking up towards the sun, like the oil rig scenario that Mike describes, my VX2000 would prompt me to use one or both of its internal neutral density filters. If I follow these prompts then the exposure is pretty much spot on every time.

You raise rediculously good points. I would say, though, that my experience has been that light conditions vary so greatly from day to day - even feet to feet - that being able to throw zebras on the LCD and adjust in the water on the spot for an exposure that's at least siginifgantly closer than I would get otherwise is a huge plus. My initial judgement would be to underexpose if I know I'm going to be going for a lot of tracking shots, so that if those animals do end up moving towards more direct sunlight I'll be able to adjust in post. As you know, with overexposure, there's nothing really there to work with or correct.

You're right - in the water, you're never really gonna get it spot-on perfect. I suppose that just having the option is a huge advantage and an important one for me. And again, you're using a much, much better camera than the TRV-950 I have curently. I may not really need to use it as much as I thought; the DVX100a certainly has better autoexposure capabilities!!