Strange ghost image (hv30 & Pro 6)

[rcolman]

Anyone out there also using a Canon HV20/30 in an Equinox Pro 6 housing?

Here are my first dive impressions:

1) I notice a strange circular ghost image in the video. I THINK this is due to the "wide-angle adpater" supplied by Equinox with the package. It is a silvery aluminum, and I think it is relfecting off of the inner surface of the dome port, creating a mirror like ghost image. Anyone else experience this?

2) DONT USE THE LANYARD ATTACKMENT ON THE BACK PORT!! It is very flimsey. I did, and it broke while hanging off of the boat and I almost lost the rig. Two divers spent 30 minutes searching for it at 60' before I recovered it.

3) I added a 2.5 video monitor and AA battery pack. Monitor is marginal, but you need something for framing. The whole rig is now way too negative and I need to figure out some way to adjust bouyancy back to neutral..

Anyone else out there who can comment?

Rick Colman

 

[Marinevisions]

1) I notice a strange circular ghost image in the video. I THINK this is due to the "wide-angle adpater" supplied by Equinox with the package. It is a silvery aluminum, and I think it is relfecting off of the inner surface of the dome port, creating a mirror like ghost image. Anyone else experience this?

Rick Colman

I have heard of this from other people in the past.
In regards to a fix; these same people have said that they used black tape or a black marker to cover the shiny silver on the front of the camera.

I don't feel that it's exactly nominal to do something like this to your camera, but it may be a quick fix.

 

[marshallkarp]

2) DONT USE THE LANYARD ATTACKMENT ON THE BACK PORT!! It is very flimsey. I did, and it broke while hanging off of the boat and I almost lost the rig. Two divers spent 30 minutes searching for it at 60' before I recovered it.

Wow, this sounds very serious. Just a suggestion, but you may want to contact the company about this. I use the lanyard and I would not want it breaking off. Please keep us informed on this.

Thank you.

 

[rcolman]

yes, it was almost $1700 worth of serious. I knew it was a flimsey solution, and just ignored it. Stupid me.

What seems to work is just put a lanyard through one of the arms supporting the that attaches to the body of the housing. It has holes in it, and seems much more sturdy than the tiny little screw holding the attachment point to the plexi rear port.

I have not actually tried it in the water yet, but it should work OK.

Rick.

 

[Empty V]

Correct me if I'm wrong but you're not supposed to use the lanyard for hanging your rig off the boat, its a tether so you don't lose it during a dive. I would never let my rig hang by anything in mid air. Hand to hand my friends, hand to hand.

BTW those 2.5" monitors suck. Go for a 4"er DIY baby!

Billy

 

[rcolman]

When you get back to the boat, and there is no one there (privatge boat). It is necessary to hang some gear off of the swim step, so you can actually get back into boat.

My usual procedure is to hang a lanyard with a carabiner off of the swimstep. Then, I hang my camera rig on the lanyard, and it sits about 6' below the surface, in the water, and away from a bouncing boat. Once I am back in the boat, then I pull up the lanyard and retrieve my camera.

I have done this many, many times with my large dSLR rig. Works fine.

And YES, the 2.5 monitor does suck, but, so does my video ...

Rick.

 

[Equinox Housings]

rcoleman,

This is Sam from Equinox Housing, sounds like you have an issue with you dome/lens. You have to let us know if you have any problems with your unit, we offer the best warranty in the biz--3 years, if you have issues we will give you our ups # if your in the states and get your issue taken care of on our dime. Nobody else does that. You have the warranty use it!

In regards to the d-ring breaking, I would be happy to send you a new one but I am going to have to let you know we did not test the d-ring hanging off the back of a boat. (well that will be a new warning for our revised instructions)

The monitor, Im not a BS'r, the monitor is not the greatest monitor and we tell people that. I do know one thing, its better than a mirror and without a doubt you can get our housing and monitor for less than our comp with the mirror. Also that is why we retail the monitor for $249.00 not $500.00-$800.00 like the other guys, if you get the higher quality monitor let me know and I will install it for FREE!

I am here to put everyone on notice, I am a resource for our customers now online daily. If you do not let us know about issues you are having we can not help you and what good is a 3 year warranty if you dont use it. In the end we value everyone of our customers and their input helps us make a better housing.

 

[rcolman]

rcoleman,
I am here to put everyone on notice, I am a resource for our customers now online daily. If you do not let us know about issues you are having we can not help you and what good is a 3 year warranty if you dont use it. In the end we value everyone of our customers and their input helps us make a better housing.

That is great news Sam, because, I have had VERY little luck getting any response out of Equinox, either by telephone or email. One of the things that is truly great about Ikelite is their superb customer support and service. I know because I have had three of thier housings.

The lanyard connection is a throw-away, held into the plastic backplate by a short, small sheet metal screw. Not to be trusted, and should be removed. I am much more secure, it seems, putting a lanyard through one of the large holes in the handle mounting brackets on the sides.

The REALLY BIG PROBLEM with your Pro6 housing for the Canon HV20/30 is lack of a control for manual white balance. This makes the housing pretty much useless for many underwater situations, and Ikelite supplies one.

I did talk to TJ who offered to put two additional controls through the back plate to work the joystick. I wonder whether that will work because the back plate position is not firmly fixed when you fasten the clamps. It actually can slide around a bit into different positions, and I wonder if that will screw up controls in terms of placements for hitting the joystick. Also, the controls need to be carefully placed so there is still room for a small monitor off of the back.

The quoted price was $135. This is not too unreasonable, but, when you add $135 to the street price of the housing, then you are back up to Ikelite pricing range.

Let me say again, that, manual white balance is truly critical. I am not even sure you really need total joystick control. You can set the control to manual white balance before housing the camera. Then, I think, all you need to be able to do is hit the FUNC button (which you can do with the trigger control), and then just hit the joystick SET with a push. It would PROBABLY be possible to do this with one extra control going through the side of the housing, instead of the backplate.

Rick Colman
rcolman@cox.net

 

[Equinox Housings]

In regards to getting an answer to your questions we are now live on the boards and have brought in more people to help with making sure our very valuable customers get taken care of.

From your input we will use a longer screw, the wing is also a great place. I have attached the housing to my bcd by the d-ring with no problems. Sounds like your application is tougher than what we can offer from that d-ring I have customers drill through the lead handle as well if you want to go that route.

I am going to be honest with you the white balance is a question we think about every day. Right now you can get the Pro6 housing for $799.00, as a manufactuer we sit at a certain price point that does not offer all the bells and whistles of a 1300 unit, that is almost 1/2 price, this is exactly why we offer optional controls for a price. See where I am going, I can not give you mercedes for the price of a taurus. But you can upgrade your taurus with the bells and whistles that the mercedes has. And honestly not all of our customer require WB but I do know the value of it.

When you put controls in the rear you will have to take time to make sure your controls line up properly when locking the plate down. And actually that quote is a good price additional controls are $85.00/each and it looks like he was thinking 2 for your camera. In regards to pricing if you received your housing for full retail that is $825.00 + $135.00 for controls and at the most $315.00 for the monitor, this is $1275.00 this I beleive is cheaper than the competiton and you have a monitor over a mirror. This sounds like a value to me

We are more than happy to try any config you would like, that is the benefit of working with us, if it is possible and you want it we will do it for you. We are the only one that offers this type of support and hopefully people notice this as part of good customer service. We by no means are a perfect company but our intentions are good and honest and we strive to make every customer happy.

Sam