Video Camera selection

[elsrdiven]

Ok, so I finally decided to break down and get a video camera this year. I am going to get an HD (canon or jvc) I want and Ikelight housing but every store I have been too I can seem to get the model number to match what Iklight has to offer. Please Help.

 

[robint]

go to:
B&H Photo Video Digital Cameras, Photography, Camcorders (camcorders and underwater housings)
Ikelite Video Index (figure out which housing you want)

look up your camcorders and look at the housings, then buy at B&H, or Adorama, or Reef Photo. Don't buy through a dive shop, they don't know Ikelite housings as they rarely sell them. They don't keep them in stock either, so you are going to be paying a dive shop to order and ship... cheaper to just do it yourself!

robin

 

[Annie Crawley]

Another tip for you is that when you want to buy a camera for underwater to always consult someone who specializes in Underwater Video Sales...such as Reef Photo, Backscatter or H2O...there are quite a few out there. The reason being is that there are hundreds of video cameras on the market and only a handful of housings on the market. You can also look on the manufacturers websites to see the models.

 

[diversteve]

There's a lead time involved with mechanical housing manufacture since they're model specific as they use manual control arms to access the camera functions. Ikelite only sells mechanical housings. In my experience both Canon and Sony release new models much more frequently than some housing manufacturers can respond.

So for example if you're looking at the current Canon MF-30, MF-31 or MF-300 all you'll find on the Ikelite website currently is:

New models under consideration:

HF M30
HF M31
HF M300

So until they commit to engineering a new housing and update their website, there is some confusion. It's likely the same situation with the "new" HFR-10 and R100, up until recently, the only cameras in that series were the HFS10/20/100/200 which you can find an Ikelite housing (#6096) for.

Jean from Ikelite - is a videographer and often responds to questions in their forum here. Ikelite - ScubaBoard You might ask her what their future plans are.

 

[ronscuba]

The manufacturers constantly changing their models is annoying. However, there is a big plus for us consumers. The new models frequently do not offer any increase in video quality. The "older" models drop in price but are still the great camcorders they were 6 months ago.

I have not read the reviews on the new Canons, but the HFS series are solid performers.