HVX200 & Underwater Set Up

[Dean Sensui]

Ralf…

Unfortunately the HVX doesn’t work as a P2 recorder for HD. It can only record SD to tape via the composite or Y/C inputs.

You might want to consider a smaller housing with some other HD camera.

Or use the HVX in a Gates housing (or similar) and have it feed a monitor topside.

Dean Sensui — Imagination Media Hawaii

[Rennie Klymyk]

https://www.nauticexpo.com/boat-manufacturer/underwater-video-camera-2210.html

https://www.tritech.co.uk/products/products-cameras.htm

https://seaviewer.com/underwater_video_cameras_equipment.html

I just turned these up with a google search. It seems these manufacturers are slow to get above 480 line sd resolution. You should check with Sony, Panasonic JVC and Elmo to see what they have. NAB might be a good place to dig around.

There is no advantage to bringing the HVX200 into the mix if you are only capturing Sd resolution. You need to get above the SD quality level in capture. Some of the links I listed are using MP4 compression which could be compressed HD (didn’t check) so that is probably the best in the market for these lip stick cameras. You might be able to capture direct on your laptop.

These little cameras definitely shouldn’t scare the fish but I hope they don’t look too much like fishing lures!

“everything is broken” ……1st. coined by Esther Philips I believe.

[Rennie Klymyk]

Since cost is an issue I thought I’d mention the old aquarium trick. Get a small but deep aquarium and place your HVX200 in it and wedge the lens tight to the glass. You can get great shots in shallow water this way and if you leave it stationary the fish won’t be scared. With P2 you can let it roll, re-writing the cards till some action gets recorded. Even if you can only get 5% of your shots this way you know the picture quality will be superb.

“everything is broken” ……1st. coined by Esther Philips I believe.

[Dean Sensui]

[Rennie Klymyk] “You can get great shots in shallow water this way and if you leave it stationary the fish won’t be scared.”

Shouldn’t you take the fish out of the aquarium first? 🙂

What’s nice about this technique is that you can get an interesting above/below POV with the surface of the water bisecting the image. That’s sometimes harder to do with a housing.

You’d have to back the camera away from the glass a bit and you also have to make sure the space between the lens and the glass is hooded to prevent unwanted reflections.

Also, it helps to carefully add weights in the aquarium to get the right amount of buoyancy so you’re not fighting to keep it at a certain depth. Gaffer tape the weights so they don’t shift.

An easy way to figure out how much weight you’d need is to determine how deep you want to sink the aquarium. Measure the distance from the bottom to the waterline. Then measure the length and width of the aquarium to determine volume in cubic feet.

Water weighs about 62 pounds per cubic foot. So if the volume to the waterline takes up 1.5 cubic feet, you’ll have to add enough mass to make entire aquarium and camera setup weigh 93 pounds.

This exercise will also highlight the need to use the smallest possible aquarium so that you’re not having to haul a lot of weight. The greater the volume the more weight will be needed to make the whole thing sink to the desired depth.

Dean Sensui — Imagination Media Hawaii

[Ralf Meyer]

Thanks guys for taking the time to help figure this out. I like the aquarium idea but unfortunately it’s not going to work because I’ll never know where the critters will show up in advance. And yes the thought of a hungry fish swallowing one of the lipstick cameras did cross my mind…..
and since I really would like the footage to work as well as possible with the HVX200 leaves only the option of getting a cheaper (and/or lightest) HD Camera and UW Housing with an uw plug for feeding a monotoring setup.
I’m now playing with the idea to weld a cage to a pole, set the camera/housing in it, strap an external monitor on the other end of the pole and hope that this works.
Do you have any experience with any of the lower end HD cameras and housings?
I’m looking at the Sony HDR HC7 and Ikelite housing or the Canon HV-20 and Ikelite housing.
Others in this price range?
BTW – I’d like to have the HVX200 on hand for topside shooting while the uw action is happening – that’s why I’m not looking at this time for a HVX housing.
Thanks again
Ralf