Hey Everyone,
Just thought I would let those interested know that Gates is starting to ship their EX1 Video housing this week.

other EX1 housing options
 

There are 2 other manufacturers making housings for the EX1

Sealux, a german company that makes solid housings and Seatool a usa/japanese company.

Will hopefully get some info. on the sealux soon and post, some info on the Seatool below BUT as you can see was supposed to be ready in March but its been delayed for some reason



Seatool is developing, and will ship in March, a hybrid housing for the Sony PMW-EX1. Record, Zoom, and Focus will be controlled electronically, and other important camera functions will be accessed via mechanical controls.??This housing will be machined from solid, allowing the housing to be as small as possible and light in weight. Seatool's PMW-EX1 Housing features positions the cameras electronic viewfinder at a 45 degree upward angle for excellent ergonomics.??Accessory lens ports for Sony and Century Optics Conversion Lenses will be offered, including a 170mm optically coated glass dome port supporting fisheye and superwide adapters.

Sealux EX1 housing pic & price
 

Just got reply from Sealux.

1 x HDZX1 with planeport and two moisture indicators 4159,66 €
Delivery time: 2-3 weeks

EX1 housing about same cost as camera :-(

Picture attached.

I take it you some of you are unfamiliar with professional underwater housings. Many of them cost more than the cameras they protect. They have a very difficult job to do, and have to protect the cameras in some of the harshest environments possible.

My question is this...

Does the EX1 have a LANC port? In all the reviews I've read, I've never heard it mentioned. If not, then a mechanical housing like the Gates may be the only choice. Perhaps Ikelite will offer some support and then we should get a housing around the $1500 price point.

No, the EX1 doesn't have LANC support....

And yes, housings are expensive, for those of us that shoot underwater we are more
familiar with housings costing around $4000... not the $7000 that we are seeing these
days...


I think the EX3 has more available remote control than the EX1 ???

There would be a strong market for a bare features "splash" or "surf" housing, that offered rigid protection, but would not need the depth capability of a dive housing.

Amen! That's exactly what I am waiting for. I just want something to protect my EX1 while mounted on the deck of my kayak. The Ewa-Marine plastic bag approach would even be okay for me if it were mountable.

You should be able to make those types of housings pretty easy...

Just go to a plastics shop and they can show you the items you will need....

you'll need the following:

a plastic tube that will house the camera and plate.
a flat plate to mount the camera to, it slips into the tube
a clear front cover on the tube that you point the camera out of
a back cover to close it all in...

If you want remote control you will need to purchase the control and feed it
thru a hole on the back cover....

If you want more control of the camera you can contact Ikelite and they have
the feed thru rods to control the camera buttons...

This actually comes with a start/stop record mode which will work with the EX1 according to the folks at Epic. The EX1 will fit in the pro V1 or the ProHD (with the big battery)

http://www.epiccam.com/products/hous...ic-pro-hd.html

I have a Sealux housing form my PD-170 and I'm very satisfied with it. So I'll have a closer look to their new housing also for my Ex1.

Dennis,
The Gates Housing looks also very nice. But for what is that vacuum system good for? Can you please explain this to me.

That would be also what I'm looking for. I normaly don't need the depth for my shootings. Also the price and the weight/space of the underwater housing is often a problem for me when I'm traveling via airplane. That Epic housing looks nice, but Ex1 gave me poor results in automatic mode which should be the problem with the Epic solution. Damn, this would be such a perfect solution for my PD-170, but HD is what we all are dooing now. Without controll the results can't be good.

The Gates Seal Check (vacuum system) allows you to check the integrity of the housing prior to putting it in the water.
Here's how it works:
Hook the system up and pull a vacuum to 10 Hg.
Leave the system connected for 3 minutes to verify that the vacuum is not lost. During the 3 minutes you can operate all the controls to ensure there are no problems.

We use this system on all of our housings, as well as on our rental housings. It's really nice being able to verify the seals prior to putting the camera/housing in the water.

Joe,

thank you for your detailed information about this! This really sounds like a great feature. I killed a small sony picture camera in the red sea, because there was one grain of sand between the gasket of the sony plastic housing. That camera was just 4 pictures "old" :-(

So now I allways check this very carefully, especially on my sealux housing for my Pd-170. I allways test this now first without a camcorder to make sure that no gasket is damaged. But you can never be 100% sure. Therefore the vaccum system sounds really like a great tool!

I am renting the Gates housing from Joe Holley at Marine Vision for a shoot in two weeks. Joe has been a real pleasure to work with and I look forward to two full days of shooting with the housing. One day will be in the ocean at the surface and a few feet under and the second day is in a pool.

I will be trying both the flat port and the dome. Will see of the Sony Wide Angle fits also I will try the Century fisheye for a few shots.

This site may be of some help.

http://www.splwaterhousings.com/sony_XD_EX_HD.html

They make splash housings out of aluminum and plexiglass and you can add some custom controls. Price is to be quoted so you will need to contact them but the price is nowhere near the prices of the Gates housings. These housings are used mainly for capturing surf footage and have a depth rating of about 15-20 feet. I have tried the Ewa-Marine "bags" on DSLRs and a Sony HC-1 and found them very difficult to operate in any mode other than auto. If you just want to turn the camera on and off and keep it waterproof, the bag was fine. Just be cautious of fogging that may occur inside the bag as is will be subjected directly to the sun.

Aloha,
Dan