Underwater Video with PDX10?

[Lambis Stratoudakis]

Anybody use PDX10 for unterwater film?
If yes I nned some tips and comments

Lambis

[Julian Luttrell]

Use a waterproof housing!

(sorry, couldn't resist that).

Seriously, I have done some underwater work using an EWA Marine waterproof bag. They don't look like much, but work very well, and are the most cost-effective solution for 10m depth.

First of all, make sure you practise before trying it for real.

From memory, my mistakes were:

If the water is anything less than crystal clear, then use manual focus. There's nothing more annoying than shooting perfect autofocus material of a great big fish, only to find it all out of focus as the camera tries to hunt from one bit of seaweed to the next.

Remember that light levels drop considerably as you go down, so experiment with autoexposure.

In the EWAmarine bag, use the LCD rotated and clipped back into the body - using the eyepiece is well nigh impossible.

Use a wide angle.

Clip the camera/bag to your wrist/wetsuit with something!

Use a polariser if you are shooting at the surface otherwise all you'll get is glare.

Regards,

Julian

[Shawn Mielke]

Do a search on

PDX10 underwater

for starters.
Also try Googling the same.

[Steve Tapping]

Depends what your using it for. I'm usin it for surf shots mainly.
With a custom made water housing, wide-angle. That's pretty much it.
Cameras definatly a winner for me due to it's size.
Definatly a plus in the water and is why I bought it.
Maybe get two different ports, wide and normal.
For no water droplets for above surface filming; Spit and lick the port 5mins before use.
Once in the water keep licking.

[Lambis Stratoudakis]

SOme questions

1. Is vertical smear a problem underwater. like: shoot in the night divers that care torches or shooting from above directy to the sun?

2. Wide angle Lens: what is a gret one for the PDX
Any difference between Wide angle Lens attach direct to the camcorder or Wide angle Lens attach to the UV housing?

3. Are the Century Optics worth the (high) price?

4. The PDX have great controls via the LCD display like Spot Focus and balance? This is useless underwater or?

5. UW Microfon: What are u using to record clean UW Sound?

6. What "peripheral" are u have together with the Sony that u think is useful?

Regards

[Rick Bravo]

Depending on where your light sources are located, your vertical smear may be lessened by the water's difusing effect on the light. If you have very hi-contrasty, hard points of light, you will probably run into the same problem as on the surface.

Shooting from underwater into the sun will probably make the situation worse as you have the sun as the main source of hard light and a whole slew of "breakaways" caused by the water catching and reflecting the light.

Go to http://www.gateshousings.com/TRV-950.html


They have a terrific product for the serious underwater shooter. We own three of the these housings from Gates. 2 for the Panasonic EZ-30 and one for the TRV-950, inclduing the wide-angle, standard and macro ports as well as the NightRider U/W light systems. They absolutely rock!

With the Gates housings you don't need an (although they could be added) underwater mic. The transference of sound through the aluminum housing affords some great sounds using the on-board camera mic.

Julian's suggestion of the EWA bag is a good one. We have five of them but use them in a different capacity than your normal, underwater scenario. While it will protect your camera from the water, it will not offer any real physical protection if you are shooting in any hostile environments.

Here is a thread that touched on just this very subject:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&postid=99663#post99663


Good Luck, RB.

[Lambis Stratoudakis]

That was exact wat I was searching for!!

Thanks!!

Gates makes great housings. I am between Gates & Sea & Sea.

Is there a online store with great prices on Gates / Sea - Sea housings?

PDX 10 willl be great underwter but offen I thing if a simple Camcorder is enough for UW film

Lambis

[Rick Bravo]

Don't mistake simplicity for quality!

Anytime you add water, especially saltwater to the equation you definitley want to keep things simple. Obviously, the simpler you keep things, the less chance you have of something going wrong.

On the other hand, just the fact that you will be shooting underwater makes the project that much more special. I would not sacrifice the quality of the end product by going with a camera that is simple just for the sake of simplicity.

The one thing that you do not want to do is to come back with footage that has all the elements for a spectacular shot only to be disappointed because the quality of the image itself is poor!

Our EZ-30s are simple cameras with tremendous pictures. We have used them in the nastiest conditions that anyone would want to (or HAVE to) dive in with wonderful results. The 950, although a little more complicated has also yielded some teriffic footage.

You will notice that with these higher end housings you can control virtually all of the cameras settings...in actuality, you will probably never use any of them except the On/Off, Record/Pause, color correction filter and possibly the Photo button. It is a real pain to try to deal with menu settings, etc. while underwater.

There is really no way to get discounted Gates products and they will only sell through authorized dealers.

Good luck, RB.

[Lambis Stratoudakis]

Rick Bravo

Becauce I dont whant to make a mistake I am thinking very offen
if all the tools that have a camcorder or a housing is needed underwater.
I think that the a High Quality Wide Angle lens is very very important. What to do with a high end camcorder that have poor optics?

The only think that I need is a camera that have broadcast quality and a housing with UW microfon, On/Off, Record/Pause & white balance.

I dont need to have "THE BEST CAMERA & THE BEST HOUSING"
but o combination that do the job.
I shoot between 0 - 10 meters without lights (EWA MARINE maybe)

and my budget is 4000-4500 $

Lambis

[Rick Bravo]

Lambis,

The Gates housings have a wide angle port that replaces the standard port. The housings WILL NOT accept a wide angle adapter that screws onto the lens.

You may be able to get away with a lens mounted wide angle adapter in the EWA bag depending on the camera you are using and how far your battery extends into the back of the bag.

If your budget is $4,000-$4,500 US, then you are well on your way to a true deepwater housing. This is a lot money so, I would look long and hard at what your usage is going to be. Not the kind of money you want to lay out for casual use.

If you already own the camera and are going to shoot limited underwater, you might want to consider the EWA or even possibly renting a housing fro your shoot.

Let me know how things progress, RB.