View Full Version : Underwater housing?
RogerandOut
10-12-2005, 05:22 PM
Anyone have an idea as to which underwater housings will work with the HVX?
YES - you're an underwater filmer too? :)
There's a housing from Bruder / Mediasub in Germany and France:
http://www.mediasub.com/
The enterprise mailed me, that it was a Carbon-Housing called BUW8PAHVX200, under 3000 USD, 470x220x200cm, 4,8kg (ONLY!!!), Leckwarner, LCD integrated. No other detail until they test it with the HVX200.
That's great news I think, as this housing is
a) very light
b) carbonfibre
c) very, very cheap
and it's so difficult to find a housing for this kind of cameras (I found only 3 world-wide for the DVX100 and all of them have a lot of negative points and cost a couple of time what this housing costs...)
The housing is visible on their page under the name BUW7 - in fact it's BUW8 - details to be seen under the BUW7 here:
http://www.mediasub.com/Video_e.htm
It's a big reason for me to buy the HVX200 - I could not buy a camera without an underwater housing or with a housing as *** as the DVX housings are... ;)
RogerandOut
10-12-2005, 06:21 PM
You used their housing with a DVX100 and there were no problems?
No leaks? You trust their products?
stabwound
10-12-2005, 06:26 PM
Will underwater housings cause heat buildup and damage?
The mediasub housings look cool. I might use it just for the armour/weather sealing aspects.
Ryan_W
10-12-2005, 06:41 PM
Underwater housing?
Wow, I so thought this was going to be an untasteful thread about New Orleans.
I used Sony and Sealux housings before... this would be my first carbonfibre-housing!
The sealux has the SAME shape and it's a matter of physics, that with simple shape and a single, round o-ring, the risk of leak is much smaller than if there are 2 rings, strange shapes etc.
@stabwound: For weather sealing aspects you should rather get a plastic cover / housing as
a) underwaterhousings are very heavy compared to sports-housings or raincoats
b) underwaterhousings cost 2-10 times more than rain/saltwater protecting solutions
c) you lose MANY functions!!! Be happy with an underwaterhousing with man. focus / iris etc. as many underwater housings have only REC, STOP and perhaps ZOOM.
Underwater white-Balance is luxury and I hope that housing will have it... But I'm used to make white-balance with a green (not blue...!) paper before putting cam inside the housing for saltwater dives (blue water), as the housing I have now has only REC, STOP, ZOOM, MAN FOCUS.
Experience with mediasub / bruder? - Some of the mates in the german video-forum where I work as moderator have bought some of these new housings (enterprise is very young) and they liked the service (they answer fast your e-mails and can build housings after your whishes and they make good prices for special packages). Nobody ever had a problem so far, but it's only about 1 year that people use housings of that enterprise....
As far as I understand of housings, the risk of leak is 99,99% because of users who don't care enough for their equipment. Rinsing with sweet water as soon as you can after the dive - leaving the housing closed until after the rinsing - driying the sweet water drops on housing (especially lens, buttons and region of o-ring) if not using destilled water - greasing o-ring EACH time and controlling EACH time whether there is any dust particle or damage on it... etc. etc. - Many people I know had many leaks and it's always people who did not care enough - they even know what they did wrong afterwards... when it's too late...
Spare o-rings needed always kept near the housing... never leave the camera to boat-crew if you don't know them... they think that 8kg-thing is massive and strong, just handle like the steel-air-tanks, but 1/10 mm damage/streching of the housing can be the reason for a leak.
Yes - RogerandOut, I trust that housings, if you film for the first time underwater (or did you before? With what housing?) then it's a question whether you can trust yourself, concerning the care I mentioned for the housing and whether you can trust the people who will touch the housing... Divers are used to dive with tanks, covered with damages, BCDs that are bleeched from the sunlight, neoprenes that stink and are full of holes, fins with broken parts, etc. - underwaterhousings for cameras are just to be treaten completely different if we want to use them over years.
@stabwound: underwaterhousings don't cause heat, because they are used underwater - so they are protected by the water they are in... But if you use the housing for filming on land or if I leave my housing in the sun for hours, that might be a problem and in fact I always put my housings in the shadow (on zodiacs: in a box...) and never registered any hot air coming from inside when I opened. My actual housing is silver and that's a good protection too and it attracts barracudas (they might bite if it's flashing...) and it's good for attracting shy sharks (they won't bite, just get curios) - I play with the housing like children try to reflect sunlight into somebody's face - I turn the tall side of the silverhousing towards the shark e.g. and try to get the right angle from the sunlight.... it works!
Back to your question: as underwaterhousings don't have any possibility for pressure to get out of it - the heat could cause a problem and could grow fast.... but that's theory...
stabwound
10-12-2005, 08:32 PM
Wow.
Suddenly I've lost interest in the housings, as cool as they look.
The logistics of doing shoots underwater are enough for me stay away.
Thanks for an enlightening post.
RogerandOut
10-13-2005, 10:21 AM
'As far as I understand of housings, the risk of leak is 99,99% because of users who don't care enough for their equipment.'
I have been around some dives with all the tanks and other equipment so I know what you mean. But if you are doing snuba, and not full diving around others, then there shouldn't be a problem, right?
@RogerandOut:
no difference for "snuba" :cry:
- if you don't grease the o-ring enough it might get a microscopic damage with time and weather and that's enough for a leak
- if you don't rinse the housing (well) enough, a salty crust might once be the reason for un-returnable material damages that might cause a leak
- if you hit the corner of the wall with the housing while leaving the house - a micro-damage could have driven the 2 parts of the housing 1/10mm away from each other - they don't fit 100% on each other anymore ("only" 99,99%) and that might be the reason for water at only 1m depth to enter the housing, because of the fast increasing pressure at the first meters under water (most ear-problems at the first meters...).
Yes: the pressure of water is IMMEDIATELY present - even if you swim and hold the housing a little bit towards the tiny turtle - that's already around 0,5 meter and more than 1 bar of pressure (1000mbar!!). And yet if you JUMP into the water - you easily get some several bar pressure on the housing at the side where it hits (if it's not the region of the o-ring, then it's no problem - all regions except that of the o-ring and buttons are ALWAYS fit for some 30-90m average - depending on housing - if they don't have a real visible damage).
So even for swimming/snorkeling at 0m/snorkeling at 0-5m/ freediving at 0-20m the care of your equipment is the same.
Only difference: if you don't go below 5m - then you have some cheaper solutions than underwater-housings: sports-housings (some of them up to 5m) or sealed plastic bags from ewa-marine (well known and trustable system, but looks ugly ;) and is not very practical).
@stabwound: I didn't want to chase you out of this GREAT hobby - many people don't care as much for their housings and film for years.... (luckily) - I just don't want anybody not to see what SHUOLD be done for a secure care and no luck needed at each dive...
Steve Shovlar
10-13-2005, 04:52 PM
I should think Gates will bring out a nice housing in a few months time, and they are very well made.
RogerandOut
10-13-2005, 06:10 PM
Is there the same parallax issue with shooting video as shooting still shots with an slr?
I see what you mean. You can test your equipment by just taking the housing in the water first, and taking it under and seeing if it leaks. Then if it does the camera does not get exposed to the water.
parallax issue? because it's underwater? - You have the LCD screen, so what's the matter? - Everything seems 1/3 bigger and also closer than on land - but you can see that on any viewfinder or LCD...
And for the leak test: lol, no, I wasn't that ironic, but it's the direction that those guys go towards.... You're right. Many systems have o-rings that will be all clean and dry after opening the housing after the dive - so why take it out, check and grease again? (that's what many UW-videographers wonder). I say: if there's a microscopic salt particle somewhere in the gap of the removed housing-half, then that could grow (as salt has crystalizing abilities) and cause (e.g.) a scratch on the o-ring when closing the housing and growing and scratching over and over again - and the fifth or twentieth time (or FIRST time?!!) it will open a 1/10mm channel between o-ring and housing and at 1000mbar water pressure, that's enough for water entering slowly... or FAST in 30m depth! and how do you want to go out of the water with a leaking housing at 30m? Ascend like a rocket? Good bye my beloved ears.... and lungs... Just GREASE and check and rinse - that's all. 5 minutes work (max.) before entering water and 5 min. (max.) after the dive. 10 minutes for a housing that will work for several years with 99,9% guarantee!