Video Camera Housings Buyers Guide (revisions coming soon)
By James Forte Copyright 2007, Do not reproduce with out the permission of James forte

Almost everyone today has a T.V. and most of us have VCR's, A fun and exciting way to capture a dive trip for family and friends is videoing your trip. Whether it's a local beach dive or the trip of a life time using a camcorder to capture those moments has never been easier. According to market survey's most of us already own a video camera or are thinking about the purchasing one for one reason or another. Today's camcorders come in a range of models for home video use or higher end production quality for the Professional who needs broadcast quality.

If creating your own home movies is a hobby you already have or are considering the purchase of a new camcorder this guide has been put together for you. The buyer's guide contains current listings of the most popular camcorders and makes, housings and the features of those housings that go with these video cameras . Note not all camcorder models are included, please don't be discouraged. With all the camcorders on the market today we could not possibly list them all. By contacting the manufacturers listed or an authorized dealer you may be pleasantly surprised to find they have a housing for your specific make and model.

Camcorders

Today's more popular camcorders consist of names like Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, Canon and JVC. These companies make cameras for other companies as well. For instance Sony makes camcorders for Nikon & Ricoh to put their name on and market. Along with the different name brands comes different recording formats.

When purchasing a camcorder for use underwater or on land there is a few options that make since to have. The first option is steady cam or image stabilizer. This is what helps in lowering camera shake in your videos. The best kind of stabilizers are those that are optical another common type is digital, which is less affective.

Name brands and makes

Sony and Canon are the largest manufacturers, and Sony get's most amount of support in U/W housing market do to there LANC control access. Other manufacturers who don't get a lot of support are Panasonic and JVC who make digital video cameras as well. Most computers today ship with some kind of basic editing software ( we prefer MAC's and Final Cut HD). Recently we had the introduction of High Definition digital recording format called "HDV" this standard is what all manufacturers are expected to got to in the near future. Several benefits to recording digitally include non linear editing, copying with out generation loss, input onto your computer for editing directly from your camcorder or up loading onto the world wide web. Accompanied with this new format is the high price of new technology, which will prevent some of us from rushing out and buying these cameras any time soon.

Recommended choices

To help make purchasing a housing easier we would like to point out some of the reasons to buy one system over an other. First most of the housings today are made for Sony camcorders specifically. This does not mean housings are not available for your Canon, Panasonic, or JVC camcorder, it simply means your choices are narrower and less options are available for these camcorders. You should look at camcorders with a few features in particular when shopping. First feature is the Stabilizing unit for the lens. U/W we have a tendency to move where the ocean moves us and staying still is tough. The best camcorders for preventing camera shake are those with optical stabilizing units. A less expensive camera may have no stabilizing unit or a digital stabilizer which is less effective than the optical stabilizer. A second consideration is the zoom type built into the camera. Another consideration of the camcorders is it's zooming characteristics. Options again are digital are optical, as you may be able to guess optical zoom is best. The Digital zoom of most camcorders pixilated the image (reduces the image into pixels like a photocopier does when it copies something) and this degrades image quality. For the videographer looking to use their footage for broadcast the new HD digital camcorders are the only way to tape. Designed for the Prosumer or individual looking for quality that rivals 80,000 dollar T.V. production cameras. Since these cameras introduction they are marketing to HD Television owners and small production teams. Pro's and serious amatuers are using these cameras create T.V. productions being aired around the world.

Housing Construction

Materials used in making a housing determine its depth rating, ability to protect the camera, size and weight. The simplest form of protection for a wide selection of camcorders are EWA Marine's flexible PVC pouches. These flexible PVC housings provide light-weight protection to limited depths, and for the basic operations of the camera to be accessed. The nice thing about these housings is that they require minimum of set-up and are very compact for travel and use in other water sports.

The next material commonly used in housing construction are hard plastics like Lexan and high- tech, glass-reinforced polycarbonates. Hard plastics allow a camera to go deeper and offer better shock protection. A downfall to most plastic housings is size. Ikelite makes plastic housings that are inexpensive and have lot's of controls, however these housings are large in size and require lead weight to be added to them so they will sink. Rigid cases also allow for the use of interchangeable ports, external lighting and more camera functions to be accessed. Plastic housings enable the budget-minded photographer to get into a full control system that's affordable.

Aluminum housings, when put to the test for durability, features and ease of use most pros would agree to use nothing less. Amphibico, Gates and Light&Motion are the most popular aluminum housings for professionals and amatuers alike. These housings provide maximum control in the smallest of sizes. Another advantage to Aluminum housings is that the weight of the material being used helps the housing from having buoyancy problems.

Control types

There are basically two types of controls mechanical and electronic. Mechanical controls are lever or buttons on the exterior of the housing that actuates the a control on the camera in the housing when pressed. Mechanical controls need direct contact to the control from the outside of the housing. These types of controls are considered more reliable because the control being actuated is on the camera and would only fail if the camera was broken. Electronic controls are advancing in to the market more so every year. Less through holes are needed making the housings less likely to leak with wear and tear. Ease of use is as simple as pressing a button. The two most common manufactures take two different approaches to get the same result. Amphibico uses push button key pads on the grips that when pressed send a signal to the camera that tell the camera which function to do minimizing the amount of holes in the housing. Light&Motion use similar technology in that you move a control that uses magnets to send the information through the housing and then to the camera thus eliminating the need for through holes that might leak. Both of these manufacturers have taken advantage of remote control output that is used with the Sony brand cameras again reinforcing why Sony is the most popular housed camera.

Advantages to electronic controls include ease of use and less through hole penetrations. Disadvantages to electronic housings is that electronics can fail if spoiled by water making the housing useless.

Viewfinders and monitors

Most housings use the cameras existing viewfinder for viewing. Some manufacturers offer magnified view finder options and even external color monitors from 1.25 to 4 inches in size. Most of the camcorders made have color viewfinders making the picture similar to how you would see it on your T.V. Use of built in monitors on video cameras may get more support in the future, but today have limited support. If a larger viewing area is wanted you should consider the manufacturers who offer external monitors. These monitors offer a lot better peripheral viewing of the scene you wish to video.

Port optics

Almost all video housing makers offer flat ports for their housings that allow the camera lens to function like it does on land. Most video cameras have a very narrow field of view and require a wide conversion lens to record large areas. Some manufacturers are offering accessory lens that either enhance or widen the lens view or allow for closer focus than the lens does on land. As with all underwater photography and videography we need to get close for definition and color saturation. For quality video of wrecks, reef scenes and large sea life you must be able to add a wide angle lens of some sort to your housing or camcorder in the housing. Make sure you look into different lens available for the types of subjects you wish to video.

Lastly some of the most important features to consider

Probably the single most important consideration of any video camera underwater is the ability to use a color correction filter. As we go deeper into the ocean we lose light and the first light color we lose is red ( we all learned this in our open water class). Most of the time when recording underwater we will need the use of a color correction filter to gain back color. There is three ways in which filters are part of a housing. First the filter could be screwed of the camcorder before putting it into the housing, making it not removable once underwater. This method is the lest liked because when were shallow or shooting towards the surface the red filter tints our video. The second type are mounted externally over the front port and can be removed underwater for reasons just mentioned. This method is not so great because the filter has to be put some where convenient when not in use. The last and best method is the internal removable design. These filters are in the housing and can be flipped in front of the lens for color enhancement and then flipped out of the way when recoding with lights or in shallow water. When diving at night or trying to get color saturation you must use lighting from an external light source. Video lights come in a range of prices and configurations and run the whole gauntlet. In a future discussion I plan on going more in to the lighting units available.

My video housing maker of choice is Light & Motion.