On 8/23/01 3:07 AM, "Jerry Mobbs (CIV)" <JMobbs@CO*.CO*.VN*> wrote:

> Joel,
> 
> Here's my 2 cents on UW DV for non professional use.
> 
> I don't have heaps of experience with other cameras or housings, I only use
> a Sony PC 100 and a Gates housing.
> 
> The Gates housing is pretty bombproof and I've had not problems with it down
> to 88m, jumping 6ft off the deck and even strapping it to a Gavin. I'm very
> happy with it and their customer service is excellent. If you just take the
> housing itself, it handles very well under water, is very small and can be
> clipped off on the left shoulder d ring and held out of the way under your
> left arm. You don't know its there.
> 
> Changing the red filter is easy as you just flick a small handle underwater.
> This is very useful if you go into and out of wrecks a lot. My only gripe is
> that you need a screwdriver to take the video out of the housing, not a huge
> issue if you are not shooting hours of video each day.
> 
> The images from both the DV and stills facility are great. Whilst not
> broadcast quality, they are pretty close. You can take stills directly from
> the video tape and they can be printed on a printer or put on the web. You
> cannot do A4 size prints from frame grabs, only smaller 1/4 A4 page sizes.
> The dedicated stills mode is very good and gives 1028 by 728 pixels I think.
> This is enough to fill a PC screen. The stills facility is a nice to have
> feature, it does not replace a proper stills camera in terms of flexibility
> or quality.
> 
> One thing I realized, is that the real key to all of this is the lighting
> you use. Don't buy halogens, if your going to spend a small fortune on a
> housing and camera, then go the whole way and buy hid lights as well. I use
> an EE pro 3 with an 18W hid, a video reflector and arm. You can get this
> from Tamara at EE.
> 
> The pro 3 gives 1 hour burn time (DV tapes are one hour) and when mounted
> under the housing, you have a nice complete package of video plus lighting
> that is slightly negatively buoyant. I then use a pro 6 as a primary light
> and when I need the extra lighting, I just flare the reflector and direct
> this light by hand.
> 
> Have a look at www.the-yellow-box.com or www.deepweek.com for some stills
> etc. Just bear in mind that how the images appear will also depend on your
> monitor settings.
> 
> Jerry


Thanks. I think I replied to your housing & lights suggestion on another
note. I'll have a look at both.

All good suggestions, I'll have a look at that package and sites.

Thanks,

JoeL


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