I'm headed to Quintana Roo this week with my HV-20 - and a Sony SPK-HCB Sports Pack underwater camcorder housing - to film along the Great Honduran Reef.

It turns out that this housing can hold the HV-20 - and the external mirrored viewfinder is actually usuable with it. Of course, I have to control the HV-20 with my remote control in a waterproof (I hope) pouch since the Sony handycam control system built into the case won't be of any use with the Canon.

Here's the really sweet part: this housing is on sale for $100 at various online retailers. Sony is replacing it with a new model, so for a few months at least it's going to be available for a fraction of its $250 retail.

I'm hoping for sunny moring on which I can film underwater in 60i. If it's cloudy or a bit dim, I'll have to use the 24p mode for its superior low-light handling. I've found that this camera really sucks in low-light - except in 24p. Of course in 24p I'll have to watch out for motion blur - unless I'm very careful and very choosy about the footage I use....

If anyone's interested, I'll link to some footage when I get back.

_______
Gerrit

May consider it... I film paintball and a nice case wouldn't hurt... only question is if you can use a tripod with it and how useable is the mirror...

My friend had one and it wasn't the greatest, paintballs don't do much damage to the camera honestly, only concern is the lense...

Hey Joe -
The underwater cases have tripod mounts on the bottom. The mirror is OK - it wasn't too well aligned on my HC3, but is perfect on my HC7 - dunno about the HV20. ALSO you can remove the mirror assembly entirely - 4 screws! Then you just look into the side directly.

And if anyone is interested, I've got a couple HCB shells without electronics... bought a big lot of these off that gigantic virtual yard sale - got good, bad and in-between...

DB>)

I'm headed to Quintana Roo this week with my HV-20 - and a Sony SPK-HCB Sports Pack underwater camcorder housing - to film along the Great Honduran Reef.

It turns out that this housing can hold the HV-20 - and the external mirrored viewfinder is actually usuable with it. Of course, I have to control the HV-20 with my remote control in a waterproof (I hope) pouch since the Sony handycam control system built into the case won't be of any use with the Canon.

Here's the really sweet part: this housing is on sale for $100 at various online retailers. Sony is replacing it with a new model, so for a few months at least it's going to be available for a fraction of its $250 retail.

I'm hoping for sunny moring on which I can film underwater in 60i. If it's cloudy or a bit dim, I'll have to use the 24p mode for its superior low-light handling. I've found that this camera really sucks in low-light - except in 24p. Of course in 24p I'll have to watch out for motion blur - unless I'm very careful and very choosy about the footage I use....

If anyone's interested, I'll link to some footage when I get back.

_______
Gerrit
Happy to see your enthusiasm is up.
Regarding the housing my question is do you have it or is on its way.
From my experience with this housings they are very buoyant and is a struggle to take them just a couple of fathoms underwater also make sure you put the camcorder in to the housing while you are in your hotel room otherwise fogging lens may occur.
Have fun

Good questions about the housing.

1. It has a tripod mount on the bottom.

2. I've had the case for a month.

3. I have pencil-shaped lead weights to counterbalance the bouyancy and to give the housing some inertia.

4. Thanks for the tip about removing the mirror - I'll check on that.

5. I'll have to load up in my car with the air conditioner running - some of the reefs I'm visiting are far from my condo.

I have a question: any advice on shooting 24p underwater vs. just 60i?

Thanks

_______
Gerrit

could you post some photos of the rig (front, back, sides)? i'm looking for a rigid underwater solution and this sounds pretty good. but i'd like to see an hv20 inside it first.

thanks

I
If anyone's interested, I'll link to some footage when I get back.


Of course. Do post it.

Good luck

Dennis

Just wanted to let you know that Ikelite is going to make a housing for the HV20. We should have some more details in a few weeks.

I've used Connect HD to remove the 2:3 pullodown - and I'm amazed by what I'm seeing from my underwater footage. I need to add a few more weights to make the Sony camera housing neutrally bouyant, but man...I'm glad I went with the 24p mode with this camera.

I'm going back tomorrow to shoot more giant turtles at Akumal. I'm happy with my above-water footage too. Crocodiles, monkeys, little beachside towns....

Before you judge 24p from this camera, make sure you remove the 2:3 pulldown and view your footage on a progressive display.

Canon just leapfrogged the competition on this one - who knows when they'll catch up.

I'm also glad to hear about the case for divers - of course, it will cost 1800 dollars, but it will be worth it when I take down the Virgin Wall in Cozumel....

Gerrit, I thought the Sony housing was only good for around 17 feet???

got any samples yet? and/or pics of the cam in the housing?

thanks

Gerrit, you inspired me to go out and get this housing for my HV20. I have a Gates housing for the HC-7. I am planning to use the HC-7 as my "Surf" cam and the HV20 as the "Turf" cam, but I like the video quality of the HV20 a bit more than the HC-7. Now I will be able to use both underwater and to capture some 24p with the HV20.

I haven't had much time to mess with the housing so that it will accomodate the HV20. My short-term fix is to slide the largest tray into the housing, mount the camera to one of the thinner trays with the screw mount that is the farthest back and left, and secure the back end of the top tray with some electrical tape. I have mounted a weak neutral density filter to the lens and a 55 mm collapseable rubber lens hood on a step up ring that attaches to the filter. The 55 mm lens hood is the kind that is sold for 35 mm still cameras and costs about $7 US. It completely seals the front port from reflected light coming from other parts of the clear housing. It also slightly spring loads the camera/tray combo once I apply the electrical tape, and keeps the metal on the hood from hitting the glass port on the front of the housing.

I had to remove a small retainer bracket inside the housing so that the HV20 would fit with this setup. The little bracket is there to keep the AV cord that connects the housing to the Sony cameras out of the way.

I will set the camera to Cine Tone to limit blown highlights. Unfortunatley, with this setup I will only be able to start the camera rolling before I close the housing. I will get 60 minutes of footage, mostly of what the reef looks like from a bobbing housing tilted sideways as I swim around. Also, I haven't done anything to flip the image on the lcd, so I will be looking at a mirror image of reality on the side mirror. I did place a piece of flexible black matte plastic in the housing covering the top and upper left sides so that the mirror view of the lcd has less interference from light entering the top of the clear housing.

Gerrit, did you solve the camera control issue somehow?

Pat

just curious but why not put the remote in a watertight bag, attached to the housing and use it to start/stop the cam? and can anybody post pics of the setup? i'm this close to getting one, but i don't like to buy sight unseen.

thanks

I, too would be very interested in seeing some photos of this arrangement! I just got my HV20 yesterday and am now very close to purchasing this housing as well...

Also, how does the remote control work for you? What kind of waterproof solution have you found for it?

Thanks!

well i bit the bullet and ordered the housing...

here are some pics...

in these pics i used the A tray on the #3 hole. the edge of the lcd rubs just a bit, i've since modified the C tray, just drilled a new hole, and scavenged the bolt and vhs pin out of a quickrelease plate i had laying around.

images here....

http://file.meyersproduction.com/hv20/hv20%20housing/

i'm heading out to the natural pool by my house to do some testing. i'll post up as soon.

Thanks for the pics, Austin! Very helpful. I think I am going to bite the bullet today as well.

Have you figured out how to control the camera yet? Are you using the remote control?

yeah i'm just using the remote, above water it works fine through the housing. i'm going shopping today for some kind a water tight bag, and i'll test it out underwater, if the sun would come out...

Ziplock?

DB>)

essentially, we've got an REI here, and i know they have waterproof bags that are a little more robust than a ziplock

Hi all,

Sorry I'm so late in posting - I've been without internet at a friend's condo for a few days. I'm back in Los Angeles now....

I'm very happy with the housing setup. Mine was very similar to what you guys have created with the housing, but I didn't drill any new holes. I didn't mind the slight rubbing of the edge of the LCD screen. No vignetting, luckily.

I did put my remote into a ziplock made by Aloksak (two actually, one within the other). This enabled me to turn the camera on and off, and to zoom. Not much control - and sometimes I didn't even bring the remote into the water with me.

I was just snorkeling, so I didn't take the camera more than about ten feet down at any time. And since I was snorkeling, I was often fighting slight bumps from waves. My best footage was captured when I was in lagoons and cenotes, or when the inertia of my own motion kept surface waves from having too much effect. I'll take this housing on shallow reef dives this Summer down near Mahahual and see how it goes without all the surface turbulence.

Knowing what I was shooting was also a problem. It didn't matter that the image in the viewfinder was reversed - light conditions underwater usually make the Sony mirrored viewfinder pretty much useless anyway. I just needed to see the red record button to make sure that the camera was actually on. The trick to framing with this setup is knowing where the top of the field of vision will be. I was often eyeballing the case itself and consequently shooting too high. I would recommend making a few test shots out of the water so that you will be able to judge your framing by the position of the housing in the water. This camera in this housing actually seems to point upwards a tiny bit - which helps to avoid vignetting, but means that you have to point the housing down more than your would expect to frame shots correctly.

I also found that weighting the case to near neutral buoyancy gave me much steadier shots and more control over motion. I wrapped up a couple of big lead weights in socks and stuffed them into the housing with the camera. Next time, I'll try to set up a system of external weights that I can screw into the tripod mount on the bottom of the housing. Some kind of improvised underwater pod or tripod to go on the bottom of that stack would be nice for shallow-water steady shots from the bottom.

Has anyone come across external housing weight solutions like this?

Without the ability to control the camera's focus and exposure while in the water, I was limited in my setup choices. Sometimes I just put the camera on full automatic - and 99% of the time it didn't focus on the glass of the housing or stuff floating in the water. At other times, I set the camera on AE (program mode) and present the focus to a certain distance, then moved the camera so that fish and objects moved through that focus range.

And I tried setting up more precise focus and exposure settings before I got into the water, but conditions can change so drastically from one part of a reef or cenote to another, that quite a bit of that footage was under or over exposed.

I'm in the process of pulling my 24p footage of my tapes using Connect HD, and I'll put together a small sample video for you guys to check out.

Thanks for being patient!

Gerrit

here's what i did for support for mine...

http://file.meyersproduction.com/hv20/hv20%20housing/housing%20support.JPG

http://file.meyersproduction.com/hv20/hv20%20housing/housing%20support2.JPG

this made it much easier it swim with, and made it more or less neutrally buoyant (sinks a little)

went to the local outdoors shop and picked up a water tight bag made for little point and shoot digitals that has a clamping rail top. and just used a lanyard to attach it to the cam, the contoller worked fine under water.

as gerrit said the mirror is tough to use, and you have to get used to the backwards thing when you can see the viewfinder.

but overall for the price i'm really happy as well.

underwater footage....

http://file.meyersproduction.com/hv20/barton%20springs%20underwater%20HD%206k.mov

Just received the Equinox XChaser Mechanical Housing from B&H. It is specifically designed for the HV-20. The housing is meant to be used for snorkeling or surfing where you're not too far from the surface. Its depth rating is 45'.

I've never used an underwater housing before and never did any underwater videography. The XChaser does not have a lens filter adapter for color correction with this model as far as I know. It's not necessary, since the housing isn't designed to go to any great depth and there should be ample light penetration.

Equinox recommends using the HV-20 in auto settings this housing even though there is some mechanical control - basically for zooming and start/standby.

As far as downsides, the only thing that annoyed me is you could not get a full unobstructed view of the LCD screen, because one of the housing fins partially occludes it. Otherwise the camera looks perfectly positioned in this clear lucite container.

I'm departing on a cruise to Cozumel tomorrow. I'll be back in a week or so to report on the outcome of this adventure in newbie underwater videography.

So Sony has got the SPK-HCA, HCB, HCC and HCD. Guess what! They all look the same. I have to order one online, so can any of these owners please comments on whether all of them are the same ?
Also, is there a link for the 100$ sale on the SPK-HCB's ? Could find anything less than 150/- on ebay..

So Sony has got the SPK-HCA, HCB, HCC and HCD. Guess what! They all look the same. I have to order one online, so can any of these owners please comments on whether all of them are the same ?
Also, is there a link for the 100$ sale on the SPK-HCB's ? Could find anything less than 150/- on ebay..

I have the HCB, as far as i know the HCC is smaller, but i'm not sure. the HCB works fine, it's a bit tight if you don't modify the plates, i modified mine (just drill a new hole and put a 1/4" thumb screw on in it).

i picked my HCB up from amazon for a little over $100 a year or so ago.

HCB's have been "closed out" for a while, thus why they aren't found cheap anymore. AFAIK all the shells are pretty close in dimension and should work with minor modification to the sled/plate - just a matter of lining up the camera properly.

Just a question about using the remote with the HV20 underwater - mine's been sent off for a warranty repair so I can't test this myself...
How accurate do you have to be in aiming the remote at the IR sensor? Do you have to point the remote at the front of the cam, or can it be used from behind the camera? Do you think the remote would be usable if taped to the side of the SPK-HCB? Maybe if it was taped to the front side of the LCD mirror it would be pointing towards the IR sensor?

Thanks,
John

you have to point it right down the barrel to get it to work, and have to be pretty close as the water greatly reduces its range. i've found that sometimes it works from the side, but most of the time you have to put it right up against the front port.



Just a question about using the remote with the HV20 underwater - mine's been sent off for a warranty repair so I can't test this myself...
How accurate do you have to be in aiming the remote at the IR sensor? Do you have to point the remote at the front of the cam, or can it be used from behind the camera? Do you think the remote would be usable if taped to the side of the SPK-HCB? Maybe if it was taped to the front side of the LCD mirror it would be pointing towards the IR sensor?

Thanks,
John

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking of using if for surfing so it sound like i'd be better off just leaving the thing running the entire time and leaving the remote safe and dry - i'll have enough other things to worry about. The only control i'd really like to have control over is the zoom.

Looks like I may have to trade the HV20 for a HC9.