Need to shoot close to salt water..please help

moblur

moblur

New member
Hi all...

Newbie here, want to just say how much I love this forum, some real world experience makes all the difference!

I've got my first gig and unfortuantely it's taking me to the beach with my new DVX PAL. There will be plenty of sun, sand, water and salt (I'm in the Middle East) :( I need to take shots of a stone that has a TV channels logo carved onto it. The stone will be submerged just on the oceans edge, and will be revealed as the water pulls back. I need to get pretty close to the stones surface, so I may be just above the water. Is this going to be my CAMS kiss of death, or are there ways of pulling this off? What kind of water/sand proofing should I use.... I considered trying to rig a sheet of glass between me and the stone, but believe that I'll end up with too much water on the glass to make it workable?
 
Re: Need to shoot close to salt water..please help

Ive seen people put the camera in an empty aquarium up against the glass, then kinda floated the whole thing on the top of the water. Seemed pretty effective and cheap.

Of course, you can get an underwater housing but thats gonna run you a cool $1000 or so.
 
Re: Need to shoot close to salt water..please help

Definitely get some sort of protection, like an EWA marine bag or something.
 
Re: Need to shoot close to salt water..please help

Thanks for the reply guys... yeah I shot some stuff in a river using a fishtank, works great. My only prob here is I'll need to mount just above the waters surface...maybe add some legs and I could shoot through the glass. Getting the right angle would be the only issue...

I have an EWA bag, but you can't mount it to a tripod... seriously considering cutting a hole in the bottom to allow for attachment but it kinda defeats the 'waterproofing'... no snorkling with that. Mind you, I could use it for shooting in harsh outdoor conditions.... other prob is that your are pretty much forced to go auto on all controls....it really is a point and shoot type of solution for underwater photography.
 
Re: Need to shoot close to salt water..please help

Underwater housing is the best way to go. I shoot near saltwater all the time, however I don't get the camera anywhere near the waves. The water has spray, and salt is very corosive. I did have a PD-150 that I shot with while shooting a shark, and with one flip of his tail the camera was engulfed..so bad in fact, theat when I turned the cemera upside down..water drained out of it. Needless to say it was history. So be very careful..water and electrici componets don;t work to well together.
 
Re: Need to shoot close to salt water..please help

Also..if it is going to be a quick shot ....and don't want to spend the money on a nice underwater housing....you could try and put your camera in a water proof plastic bag...taking the bag and taping it tight along the lens.
 
Re: Need to shoot close to salt water..please help

the fishtank route.. if the water isnt deep you can put it on a Cstand with a monitor support on it, or a plate ( http://store.yahoo.com/cinemasupplies/junwalplat.html ) with a piece of plywood nailed to it. It should be pretty sturdy if you sink the legs down into the sand and maybe even sandbag it and bungy or PL500 the aquarium to the board.
 
Re: Need to shoot close to salt water..please help

thank you all so much for the advise..... I'm glad that Kidster only lost the CAM and not his arm, but I have no plans to wrestle with sharks this shoot.

I'll take a look at some fish tanks this weekend and see what I can come up with. I also have an idea for a moving cam rig, an H frame with a sliding attachment for the camera on the cross bar....i'll try post an image......sorry that the discription is ambig' but the drawing should clear things up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top