Waterproof housing for HVX200

[cbrougham]

One of my clients (a resort) has hit me up with a project for their indoor waterpark. I've shot for them before in the waterpark, but it's always been at a safe, relatively dry, distance. Now, the marketing director wants to up the ante a bit, and get some first-person footage in the water. This includes slides and rides, climbing around on some of the structures, and being under this apparatus that dumps a couple hundred gallons of water at once. OK, cool... but how?

I'm looking into renting/borrowing a waterproof housing that will fit my HVX, but I'm not sure if that's the way to go. For one, these things look relatively heavy (25-30 pounds before camera and power, etc), which is going to make operation somewhat difficult. Obviously, these are meant to operated underwater, not above it. However, for the best waterproofing (and peace of mind), this seems like the best option.

I've also taken a brief look at the plastic bag types, like this one from Ewa-Marine (http://www.keepitdrycase.com/vp2watcamcas.html). I don't know, though--while it looks to be much better suited for my purposes, I'm a little nervous about nothing between my camera and liquid death than a piece of plastic wrap. Anyone have experience with these... and if anyone actually rents them? Or is this a "purchase only" kind of deal?

Other than that, I've looked at waterproof consumer camcorders--but not seen a thing that I think is worth the trouble.

I'm open to any thoughts or suggestions on these or alternate solutions, and if you've got a good place to rent from that will ship (to Michigan), please let me know.

Thanks in advance...

[Jarek Zabczynski]

Depending on how crazy you intend to get with the water, the "bag" might be enough for what you are looking to do. I wouldn't submerge my cameras underwater in one of those, but I'd feel safe taking it down a slide and in and around "wet" areas. I've rented aqua housings in the past but it'll run you almost as much as just buying that baggy thing. Granted the pro housings cost $$$$.

I've always rented out of Florida. Mine actually came with the camera preinstalled. You specify what camera you want and they get it setup and send you the whole thing. I don't remember what company, but there are many in Florida.

[Wakeboarder]

I've had an underwater housing constructed for my HPX-170 by Jim Bailey from Sea Research in Lakeland Florida. He makes custom housings for at least a third of the cost of the production housings and they are typically good for at least 30ft which would probably be more than enough in your current circumstances. If you don't want to spend the money, let me know. If the HVX will fit in my housing i'd be willing to rent it out.

Jim bailey's website
www.waterhousings.com

[cbrougham]

Thanks for the responses. I don't plan to be going to deep, if at all, for this shoot--after all, it's a waterpark, and all you'd really see underwater is... legs. I'm looking for something that will function as a splash guard, more than anything, and still give me some degree of maneuverability. If this is something that I thought I'd be doing with any regularity, I'd probably look at one of the more permanent housings. The bag might do the trick.

Wakeboarder--(I think I can trust you know what you're talking about, given your name!) How well do you think your housing would work out of the water, in this type of scenario? My feeling is that normally, the water would be supporting the housing and camera, so your hands would be free to make adjustments and such. In this case, I'd have to support the full weight of the rig with both hands, which would make such adjustments a challenge. Any thoughts? And thank you very much for your rental offer!

[TedRR]

We shoot for the local water park every year. Last year they "upped the anti" as well and wanted similar footage down the slides including their new ride that dumps you into a pool.
I was going to buy the Ewa-Marine unit and remembered I had one for my old S-VHS camera so I gave it a try.

Low and behold the HVX fit pretty good. I could acces enough controls including Record, zoom and focus so I saved the money.
We were even able to flip out the LCD monitor which made framing much easier especially for the under water shots.
We had the camera submerged as much as 6' while shooting people underwater.
The housing kept the camera Perfectly dry.

Since the bag wasn't custom for the HVX, I had to make sure the lens shield was held against the HVX lens. I did have a couple times where the lens shield wanted to get in the shot but since I was paying attention it never got into the hero shots.

If you do this stuff daily, I would suggest getting a solid housing. But for us, having the "bag" for a few jobs a year is plenty and opened up a lot of opportunities for us.

[cbrougham]

Thanks Ted--that's the recommendation I needed to hear!

[Justyn]

I 2nd Jim Bailey. I had him build a housing for my HVX.. used it for a year and sold it for a small profit. He's the best and he'll build it custom. I had mine tweeked out and loved it. Will be getting one for the 150.


If the housing is built for the 170 then it won't fit the 200... When you get one built think about what adapters you may be using too. I had mine built to accomodate my fisheye

[Wakeboarder]

Yeah, the underwater housing is obviously going to be heavier than a bag, which you may find inconvenient if you are going to be lugging it around all day. As far as ease of access to camera functions, Jim makes his housings with whatever functions you deem important enough to have buttons for. Mine is just made with iris, zoom, and record/stop...I'm a minimalist to say the least. If you don't mind getting your tripod wet, the housing actually has a 3/8 thread on the bottom.

[Stephen Mick]

Go with the Ewa-Marine bag. I've got one and love it for surface-level/shallow shots. Anything beyond that and you need a dedicated Gates or simliar housing.

--SM