Sony HDR XR - questions. Need assistance.

[Misa]

Few days ago, in the last day of the safari in the Red Sea i've made a terrible mistake. I`ve caught the cables from the HDR XR 500v camera to Equinox display, between the housing and the rearplate. Didnt noticed that until de 1st second of the dive when i saw some water going gently inside the housing. Went up, called the zodiac and put the camera there. When i went back to the boat, everything was dead inside, camera, display, cables, battery.

Few hours ago i`ve went with the camera to Sony service to see whats up with it and if it can be repaired. There was some salt on the bottom of the camera but not onthe upper part of the camera. Now the questions are:

1: if camera is dead, files from the hdd can be saved, transfered to any type of storage device ?
2: i need a similar camera, and im looking after the XR550 or the 2012 model when it will be released. Any1 can tell me if xr550 is better then xr500 or if some info about 2012 xr model is available ?
3: IAuto from Sony 2010 cameras (XR and CX) is a good feature ?

 

[DiverLaura]

oh man, so sorry to hear about your camera

the 550 has wider lens. make sure it's compatible with your housing before purchase... there are still some XR and CX 500/520 series that come up on B&H photo..

when i was upgrading my camera, i found that my housing would not handle the 550 series without a large makeover (replace the faceplate/port and all my glass) which was not really an option. So i found a lightly used CX500 and i've been delighted.

 

[Misa]

what housing do u have Laura? i cant find any cx/xr 500/520 on bhpoto.

 

[diversteve]

Overstock.com has the HDR-CX520V for $1037EUR. And they ship to Romania. Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB Flash High Definition Camcorder (Black) | Overstock.com

Do you shoot PAL or NTSC?

Are the control locations the same on the XR500/XR520 vs. the CX520? IDK

 

[Misa]

thanks. i have decided for xr/cx 550. better cameras.

 

[Misa]

the controls are the same on 500 and 520,u/w housing wise but not for cx/xr 550. so, i need a new housing too. thank god i have time until march (1st trip) to buy it.

 

[diversteve]

I realize this may be more difficult given that you're overseas but I thought Equinox had a retro-fit program where for something like $250 they could convert your housing - I think I've seen mention of it here in the past. You might contact Erik to see if that's an option. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/members/equinox+housings.html

 

[Misa]

i know that...i already spoked with Eric about it ty DS