small, inexpensive HD camera?
 

Looking for a small, cheap, HD camera with underwater capability. I really like the HD Hero camera but it has no zoom. I need some zoom range.

Suggestions?

Move the HD Hero closer to the subject? Har har har...I know....

There are two low cost UW kits...an EWA soft bag, and a clear acrylic tube called the "Epic." Each can take a small to medium sized HD palm camera, and allow you to use the zoom; although the tube type is a fix-and-seal-it-up deal, so no in-shoot corrections.

How deep are you going, what are you shooting?

What about a second hand HC3 with housing? Is that still too expensive?

Ed,

I have an extra Sony HC3 in VG condition and an unused Sony SPK-HCD underwater housing (see below) I can sell for a reasonable price.



PM me if you have interest.

That housing goes to 17' which would be OK, not great. The camera is DV tape. I really would like to stick with SDHC.

The price of HD Hero is amazing...$300 with housing!

Looks like a good option. I hadn't seen that particular device until now, looks promising.

I have the HD Hero, and it's a great little camera, but it does not have a viewfinder or LCD view screen - only an info one, so framing is going to be tricky, but you could setup a wireframe.

I believe Sanyo has several underwater models.

Hi Ed,

In amongst my toys I have a GoPro HD. I've just finished a several hundred kilometer ride on which I used it. Whilst I get some good footage occasionally, I'm not yet sold 100% on it. Reasons are;

It struggles with contrast, keeping colours is very hard, if for instance one is moving at speed (read cycling) through a forested area the change from light to shadow causes a lot of blow out. ( over exposure)

One needs to be very selective with the mode. If you're shooting for a larger screen you'll need to shoot in a 16:9 and if you are going to have movement, such as fish, you'll likely need to be in mode R1 (SD) or mode R3 (HD) These are 60FPS modes. I've found if shooting in the R2, R4 & R5 modes, which are 30 FPS, the image is noticeably 'jerky' ie frame separation is noticeable.

The other annoying issue I had was condensate on internal surface of the waterproof housing. This plagued me to the point I couldn't shoot. I was shooting in the rain with ambient temps of 15 C. I eventually found a small sachet of silica, broke it open and poured a small amount into the housing. This raised new issues in that when ejecting the camera to remove and download the card the small balls of silica would get caught in the hinges. It did, however, keep the condensate away......

The unit doesn't have a hell of a lot of glass.....funny that....considering it's size.....so if you're looking for definition in distant objects....good luck.....

If you intend to shoot underwater you may well come up against the problem of having an even wider angle to deal with. This is due to the convex face of the waterproof lens. I believe you'll wind up with one hell of a macro lens! To overcome this you'll need to remove the existing lens and replace it with a flat lens port. I'm happy to stand corrected on this issue, If I were by the sea I'd test it, it's got me intrigued!

Having said all of the above, one is able to get some unique footage with this little camera. :)

My 2c worth.

Al

Ed if you have not found anything yet send me an email.

I have a Canon HF10 with Wide Angle and Ikelite housing w/dome port. I used this for a project that just finished. All of my shooting was in a pool. Gear is excellent and I plan on putting up the ad this week.

Have you considered a compact stills camera? Several of the panasonics shoot AVCHD lite which I'm sure would be comparable or better than the video from the GoPro HD. Panasonic have Underwater housings for most of their compact cameras which are rated to 40m.

Sony TX5
 

Shoots HD video and photos underwater and is cheap compared to most gear discussed around here. It is pocket-sized. I know little about its performance. Some users say it's great and others are not so impressed.

I think that many of us have gotten pretty spoiled. These cameras are so inexpensive, and we are projecting our desires for general acquisition cameras onto these little devices. I have 3 SD GoPros and 2 HD GoPros.

I have some underwater stuff here:
This was in Lake Superior...the wreck is about 20 feet down and the water is too cold to enter without at least a wetsuit, so I clamped two GoPros (SD) to the end of a paint roller extension handle and we just 'hovered' with a typical, small pleasure boat. One took video and the other snapped a still every 5 seconds.

The boat had to keep repositioning for current...and the Z rotation is from drag in the water...I'll have to put some kind of stabilizers if I try this again...

Anyway, if you want a camera with full exposure control and a zoom lens in an underwater housing, I suspect expecting one for 300.00 USD is probably a bit unreasonable.

The GoPro shoots blurry underwater due to the dome port not being designed for true underwater shooting. Some people are making their own flat port modification over the dome port or buying a modification.

If you are going deeper than 10 feet you will need a UW filter to bring back the colors.

If you want to zoom I would take a look at the Panasonic Lumix ZS7 point and shoot camera with housing for around $700. For video shooting you will want to add some kind of handle tray to help keep shots steady.

If you are a little more serious about UW video, look into a dedicated camcorder with an Ikelite housing. A Canon or Sony camcorder with the Ikelite housing will cost you around $1,500.

On the website, the GoPro folks say they are developing a flat port system for underwater video to fix the sharpness issue. Not a lot of help right now, of course...

Tim K,

Not bad, considering it's stuck to the end of a stick. I agree with expecting to much from theses little fella's but they can be good fun.... :)

Al