BDSC
Contributor
I thought I'd take a few minutes and give my take on my recently upgraded Stingray + Housing used with the Sony CX520 camcorder while in Bonaire last week.
When L&M began to offer upgraded handles for the Stingray + housing that would allow "one touch" MWB with the Sony CX500/520 model camcorder, I sent in my handles and ordered the cam. The one thing that was missing with the Stingray + line of housings was the ability to do MWB. Well that's not the case any longer.
Last week the housing and camcorder performed flawlessly. I did have one slight problem turning the camera on in the housing a few times but that was user error on my part and Amy at Light & Motion told me what to do to correct it. I needed to flip the LCD screen out and then lay it back against the camera. Once I did that the problem was solved.
With the new handles, you have total access to all the menus in the camcorder. Not that you really need to use many of them on a dive but they are there if you need/want them. The left handle control was easy to use to gain access to the menus. It never once skipped a command. The left handle also controls the lights and I have the Sunray 1000 LED's and it was no problem to turn the lights on, dim them through the three light levels, and turn them off.
The right handle is where you find the MWB button and it really is a quick press and in just a few seconds, it's done! With the Sony CX520 camcorder inside, it was able to WB at 70 ft. with no problem. I never really tried it much deeper than that but will in May when I go to Little Cayman. But it never failed to achieve a MWB whenever I pressed that little button. I had a while slate clipped on and just did a WB off of that. I have read where folks that shoot with the HC7/9's can't get a WB much below 30 to 40 ft. maybe. The CX series is far superior. I would guess it's the improved low light capability that allows a WB to much greater depths.
It will be awhile before I can post any video because I head out of town tomorrow for a few weeks but what a difference WB makes! I've seen all these folks talking about it here and how you really need it and I was always saying, "It's not that big of a difference" but I was wrong. It's night and day folks but I'm probably preaching to the choir to most of you.
The unit with the battery pods and lights is certainly negative in the water but for me, it was fine. I could see how some people might want a flotation device to help offset that and they do make one for the Stingray housing. It would be interesting to see how much of a difference handling the unit would be uw with the added flotation but like I said, I think it's fine without it.
The screen is great on the back and I had no problem viewing what I was filming at any angle. (Assuming you can see the screen of course.) You can adjust the color and brightness of the screen but I've not messed with that much. I think I left it like it came. Looks good to me.
All in all I couldn't be more pleased with my combo. I think this system will serve me for many years to come and really has all the essential features a person could ask for. I know we all have our opinions and I haven't looked at all the other systems on the market (but I did some before I bought) but I can't imagine a better system for the money than the Stingray + housing. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to step up to uw video.
One more thing I will mention is the camcorder and how you record. I was a little reluctant in switching from the tape based system to a hard drive/flash media system. But now I think it's great. On my three hour flight from Bonaire to Miami I pulled out the camcorder, reviewed my clips, and when I saw one I didn't like, DELETE! I know this will save me time when I start the editing process to have already deleted the obvious clips that don't belong.
Anyway, for what it's worth, that's my review.
When L&M began to offer upgraded handles for the Stingray + housing that would allow "one touch" MWB with the Sony CX500/520 model camcorder, I sent in my handles and ordered the cam. The one thing that was missing with the Stingray + line of housings was the ability to do MWB. Well that's not the case any longer.
Last week the housing and camcorder performed flawlessly. I did have one slight problem turning the camera on in the housing a few times but that was user error on my part and Amy at Light & Motion told me what to do to correct it. I needed to flip the LCD screen out and then lay it back against the camera. Once I did that the problem was solved.
With the new handles, you have total access to all the menus in the camcorder. Not that you really need to use many of them on a dive but they are there if you need/want them. The left handle control was easy to use to gain access to the menus. It never once skipped a command. The left handle also controls the lights and I have the Sunray 1000 LED's and it was no problem to turn the lights on, dim them through the three light levels, and turn them off.
The right handle is where you find the MWB button and it really is a quick press and in just a few seconds, it's done! With the Sony CX520 camcorder inside, it was able to WB at 70 ft. with no problem. I never really tried it much deeper than that but will in May when I go to Little Cayman. But it never failed to achieve a MWB whenever I pressed that little button. I had a while slate clipped on and just did a WB off of that. I have read where folks that shoot with the HC7/9's can't get a WB much below 30 to 40 ft. maybe. The CX series is far superior. I would guess it's the improved low light capability that allows a WB to much greater depths.
It will be awhile before I can post any video because I head out of town tomorrow for a few weeks but what a difference WB makes! I've seen all these folks talking about it here and how you really need it and I was always saying, "It's not that big of a difference" but I was wrong. It's night and day folks but I'm probably preaching to the choir to most of you.
The unit with the battery pods and lights is certainly negative in the water but for me, it was fine. I could see how some people might want a flotation device to help offset that and they do make one for the Stingray housing. It would be interesting to see how much of a difference handling the unit would be uw with the added flotation but like I said, I think it's fine without it.
The screen is great on the back and I had no problem viewing what I was filming at any angle. (Assuming you can see the screen of course.) You can adjust the color and brightness of the screen but I've not messed with that much. I think I left it like it came. Looks good to me.
All in all I couldn't be more pleased with my combo. I think this system will serve me for many years to come and really has all the essential features a person could ask for. I know we all have our opinions and I haven't looked at all the other systems on the market (but I did some before I bought) but I can't imagine a better system for the money than the Stingray + housing. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to step up to uw video.
One more thing I will mention is the camcorder and how you record. I was a little reluctant in switching from the tape based system to a hard drive/flash media system. But now I think it's great. On my three hour flight from Bonaire to Miami I pulled out the camcorder, reviewed my clips, and when I saw one I didn't like, DELETE! I know this will save me time when I start the editing process to have already deleted the obvious clips that don't belong.
Anyway, for what it's worth, that's my review.
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