Recommendation (Sony 500 Canon 10??)

[mdw]

Some background on me first. I'm a local 600 Camera Assistant so my world is the Arri 435, Pana Millinium, and mostly the Red (I have my own). When it comes to underwater I'm an amateur but I'm looking to develop my skills and change that. When I've got time off from TV & Movies I'm hoping (cross my fingers) to find work as a dive master/uw videographer because its what I love to do.

The problem. While I have a very basic housing for the Red (focus, zoom, rec start/stop) it doesn't transport easily at all. I also need a smaller personal camcorder (I recently shot my 6 yr old's concert on the Red...the other parents think I'm crazy).

Housing/Camera background: I had an equinox with an HVX200 which worked out well up until about two years ago. Last year this time I purchase a Sony SR11 with a Bluefin and two nocturnal lights (SL50 I think) to take on a trip to barbados. Nightmare. The housing was fine in the pool before I left. Got down there and put in the pool and it was ok again. The first time it hit the ocean the entire electronics stopped functioning. No leaks, it just didn't want to work and shut down after being powered up for about 2 minutes. The Nocturnal lights never worked well from the day I got them and the company was the biggest pain to deal with. I'm never buying a product from them again. They sold me defective items and refused to take a return or even exchange it. The housing I returned as soon as I got back. I still have the POS lights. Then last october I had my SR11 stolen. So I have not camera, no housing, and broken lights. I never got a single decent shot in my 8 dives down in barbados (and I'm still pissed about it). I ended up unhooking the housing from the camera, hitting record, and shooting blind with no functionality.

The SR11 was a great little camera. The picture quality was good, it was easy to use, and it was very portable.

So now I'm looking to replace the package. I'm looking for a camera, housing, wide angle adapter, and I'll buy lights when I finally need them. My budget is around $2500 and I can get the Sony HDR-XR500V for $1000 with an extra high capacity battery. I can get the base canon package for $1100. As far as an wide angle adapter I must admit its not something I'm very familiar with. When I need a wider lens I'm used to putting a wider lens on the camera. I have a .6x for my HVX200 that was not a zoom through. But on these ultra small cameras I'm kinda in the dark. I'd love to do an EX3 or even an EX1 but I just don't have the money right now. I just can't justify the extra $300 for the HDR-XR520V for the extra 120GBs which is the only difference I can seem to find. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.

As far as housings I'm considering everything. I must admit I'm leaning away from the electronic ones and especially the Stingray and Bluefin because of my past experience. Also in my budget there are limitations (maybe the Ikelite). I'm intrigue with the Aquatica (which I know is outside my budget) but I'm wondering about its shape and how it performs moving in the water.

Opinions, suggestions, etc.

Also if anyone has general operator tips or even how to get some jobs (I figure to start if I can manage to pay for a trip with shooting I'd be thrilled).

Thanks,
Marque

 

[TheBigPhillyFish]

Well I would love to shot the Arri underwater, I was actually thinking about checking into pricing for the Arri 35-3 and a housing from Hydroflex. Just cause I would love to do 35mm film underwater. And being I just got done with film school, and all we worked with was an older model Arri, it was fun. Yeah the development costs are a little high but the film school has a sweet deal set up with NFL films for discounted rates. But for now I am sticking with my Canon HF-S10. I feel the camera offers more flexibility over the Sony 500. Bu honestly I would test it yourself, as since I own the S10 makes my opinion slightly biased. If your a true film guy the Canon is probably better suited for you because of the extent of there manual controls. At the current time there is no housing available at this minute. Gates housing all manual controls is scheduled to be released around August, L&M is looking at July, and Ikelite is around June July. And I would expect some of the other housing manufactures to fall in suit with the Canon S10/S100 because of the way these things are selling. Oh yah you could also save yourself a few bucks and just get the S100, which is the same camera as the S10 except it doesnt have internal flash memory, just and external card slot. But it does save you about $200.00.

Well good luck! Any questions fire away.

 

[lemon]

Well I would love to shot the Arri underwater, I was actually thinking about checking into pricing for the Arri 35-3 and a housing from Hydroflex. Just cause I would love to do 35mm film underwater. And being I just got done with film school, and all we worked with was an older model Arri, it was fun. Yeah the development costs are a little high but the film school has a sweet deal set up with NFL films for discounted rates. But for now I am sticking with my Canon HF-S10. I feel the camera offers more flexibility over the Sony 500. Bu honestly I would test it yourself, as since I own the S10 makes my opinion slightly biased. If your a true film guy the Canon is probably better suited for you because of the extent of there manual controls. At the current time there is no housing available at this minute. Gates housing all manual controls is scheduled to be released around August, L&M is looking at July, and Ikelite is around June July. And I would expect some of the other housing manufactures to fall in suit with the Canon S10/S100 because of the way these things are selling. Oh yah you could also save yourself a few bucks and just get the S100, which is the same camera as the S10 except it doesnt have internal flash memory, just and external card slot. But it does save you about $200.00.

Well good luck! Any questions fire away.

Do you have any underwater video online anywhere - vimeo or similar? Would love to see some footage on an HFS10 underwater.

 

[lemon]

MDW, as for housings, I have been extremely satisfied with my Gates housing. The main o-ring requires no lubrication, the controls work well and the thing is just built solid. They are out of your price range new, but you might look for a used one. Unfortunately, you probably won't find a used Gates for the new cameras that you are looking for unless you wait. Ikelite as mentioned would probably be your best bet.

 

[TheBigPhillyFish]

Do you have any underwater video online anywhere - vimeo or similar? Would love to see some footage on an HFS10 underwater.

Not yet, the housings havent been offically released, I have seen the footage from the manufacturers test rig of the HF-S10 and the 520V and the Canon HF-S10 is just simply amazing, and with everything set on auto. I couldn't believe it. L&M were looking at July. Gates were looking at August.

 

[TMan2]

From what I am hearing from your posts, Ikelite is the way to go for you. I have heard great things about both cameras but from all that I have been reading and what the manufacturers are saying is the color on the canon is better. The sample clips I have seen also look fabulous. If you have experience running the HVX200 you understand the significance of having a proven method to white balance underwater especially if you are going to hold off on lights to start. I don't know how many times I have spoken to customers that are not happy with their footage and after talking with them I find out they are using a rig where they don't have access to WB, it makes a huge difference.

My suggestion would be Canon HF S10 camera, Ikelite Housing and when the budget permits, wide angle add on and then lights. You could reverse that order between the lights and wide angle I guess it depends on where your diving. Hope this helps.

 

[mdw]

I ended up buying the Canon HF S100 (I just didn't need the built in memory since I already had 4x 16GB cards for the camera. I won't be buying a housing until late July (I'm on a TV shoot until July 19th) and my initial dives will most likely be a few days in the keys and somewhat shallow (40' max) so my UK flashlight (which can mount) should suffice for at least my first trip. The housings are still a big question though. Whats going to be available, different features, price points, etc. I'd love to even get my hands on something for this saturday to test out with the camera.

Thanks everyone,
Marque

 

[ronscuba]

Marque, were you at the NY Underwater Photo Society meeting last week ? Mike from H2O PhotoPros was in town with a bunch of photo and video housings including the L&M for the Canon S100. Pretty sharp looking housing and very compact.

I'm a Gates guy myself, but it's nice to have options. So far for your S100, you will have Gates, L&M and Ikelite.