ewa-marine housing or similar for underwater/surf

R

Richard Sutcliffe

Well-known member
Has anyone on the board got any experience with the ewa-marine housing or anything similar? I need a unit that I can use for waterwork, filming swimming, surfing, kiteboarding, maybe some nature work in rivers and shallow water.

Any feedback or recommendations gratefully accepted.
 
Isn't the EWA-marine a plastic bag? I'd recommend dropping a few thousand dollars on a housing especially if you are going to be filming surfing. I spent 3 months in Nicaragua filming the first ever surf video to come out of there and used an SPL housing from San Diego. There are a few custom housing makers out there that usually sell for about 2g's US$.

I will however strongly advise that you stay away from Del Mar housings, they have a terrible reputation and I almost got involved with them which would have completely screwed up my production.

SPL is great, they are quick, reliable 100% trustworthy and can customize your housing to your needs.

I only wish that I would have purchased a 3 foot pole to use it as a pole cam to get those killer fisheye shots from a high angle.

www.splwaterhousings.com

These are made from a lightweight aluminum, it is nice since it keeps you buoyant while bobbing around the ocean for up to 4 hours at a time. They take a good beating, are simple to maintain and will only leak if the user is a complete tart. I had ZERO issues with my housing, and many others can say the same for spl.

It'd be a good idea to get a couple of ports, i had one for the stock lens, and one for use with the fisheye lens.

if you want more info pm me.

best regards,

tyler
 
daviddelaurier said:
the ewa is great! I have one for my XL1s. go for that if you dont want to spend a lot
Click to expand...


I would not take this product out in the surf in a million years, thats like signing a death wish for your beloved camera.
 
Thanks heaps for the replies both of you.

David, can you elaborate a bit on what applications you have been using your housing for? They are an order only item here in NZ ie I can't see one or demo one before I buy it.

I would be nervous about taking the housing into surf conditions I guess but if its rated to 10m, its rated to 10m. The kind of work I'll be doing with it, I definately wouldn't expect to see those sort of depths.
 
bolex.jpg


SPL Underwater housing for a bolex? Is that an underwater windup crank on the side!
 
spl makes a great product. tough and light. for just below surface and on surface. they will add on extra controls for your needs . great guy. i had my own hvx200 made with a back entry to get at the cards easyer.that way you don,t have to take the camera out to change cards. and i have a gyro that bolts on as well.
 
just finished shooting for 8 days with the EWA "sandwich bag" in fresh water, close to surface conditions and it is pure junk. You think its a deal at $600 but it is so bad. The weighting system is goofy & even weighted Its awkward to use as it fills with air, you cant see either the lcd screen or the viewfinder well at all because of the bag design & glare. The construction is cheap cheap the small holes in the bag that the metal bar attaches to are not re-enforced and will eventually tear or stretch. The other issue was that even with the screw on lense adapter it still popped out quite a bit when in use.

At the end of the day it's mine own fault for not researching it more, i was in a rush and skeptical but decided to try it out as i felt we were not going to be using it in extreme circumstances. So hopefully this post will steer anyone who is considering the bag in another direction. I am considering sending it back to the manufacturer loaded with sandwiches as that's about all its good for.
 
Justyn said:
I wouldn't trust that for rough surf or doing anything else but splashing around. PLUS I had a friend's cam die in one from the moisture alone.
Click to expand...
All underwater housings and bags are sealed (at least they should be), so if something dies from moisture, it is the fault of the person using the equipment for not purging the atmosphere and/or including a desiccant -- that can happen regardless of the brand and type of enclosure you use, it's pure and simple operator error.
 
I've been looking into this too and the thing is I dont need to control everything on the camera when using a underwater housing, so there is no need to spend thousands on one. Recently I went out and shot some friends of mine (pro wakeskaters) and one of them had this underwater housing made by EPIC. As far as I could tell it looked pretty good. So you might want to check them out. I know that they could be a great alternate to a bag... www.epiccam.com

Trent
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top