Hi:

I've looked through this forum and can't seem to find any thread for the newbies .. So while this is still only an idea of mine that may never come about, some newbie questions to under water video to get started:

The case: What kind of case would you recommend? I know, it all depends on what you expect to do, but I think that for anything that's not a pool, the camera will likely be hurled around by waves or current, there may be stones and sand etc. The bag-style case (Ewa Marine) doesn't comfort me but the hard case (Equinox) seems very expensive for close to surface filming, snorkling (down to about 5m) or surf videos. What's your vote?

With the limited access to camera functions once in the water, how do you prepare? How do you set white balance? Presets? etc? And once in the water, does autofocus work just fine? How do you handle iris, exposure? Does the refraction of the water change the zoom range? Everything on auto?

How do you frame? Using the EVF or some external view finder frame for approximate framing?

Lot's of questions, I know, but it seemed nobody has asked so far...
Thanks, Erik

I asked the folks at Equinox about the HD6 vs HD8 for the XF100:

"If the camera were to go in the HD6 housing you would only have control of On/Off (mode), Start/Stop and Zoom. With the camera in the HD8 you have control of ON/Off, Start/Stop, Zoom, White Balance, Auto Focus and ND filter. "

I don't know these cases, I understand that they are fitted to each camera model. The HD6 offers 5 buttons and the HD8 7 buttons. I'm a bit confused as to how they decide which functionalities these buttons are assigned to.

Anyway, do I really need more than start/stop and zoom?

With the battery life of the camera I'd suppose I'd switch it on before closing the case, that should leave a button more to be assigned.

I think $500 is a lot extra for the ability to handle WB, AF and ND.

Thanks in advance for advice, Erik

If you are looking for a surf housing check out SPL, not sure on their costings but they are used by a stack of guys in the industry.