A switch to HDV from SD

[peteguam]

I'm about to make the switch from SD to HDV as my old faithful housing and camera setup are feeling their ages. I came across this forum doing a google search and it's nice to see a small community of divers talking about the same thing.

Without a long and boring intro of who I am (some of my videos are at www.youtube.com/mdaguam) my questions are these.

I send a lot of time travelng all over the west pacific and with the ever changing airline rules size and lugqage is definitely an issue now. This really affects my choices of cameras and housings and I've narrowed it down to these:

1. Obviously cost is a major issue.

2. Either an Amphibico or Light and Motion housing. I'e used both in the past and the fact that they both have the monitors included is a big plus.

2. Camera selections between the sony hvr-a1u of the newer hdr-hc9. I've also looked at the sr-12 but the interface with final cut pro seems to be somewhat touchy with the format of the camera video.

Any comments before I spend the bucks would be very appreciated.

[Jonathan Bird]

The HVR-A1U is getting a little long in the tooth now, but I am using one and love it. Nice optics, still records to tape! (The death of videotape is not coming soon....it's still the easiest and cheapest way to archive). It has unbelievable telemacro which is awesome underwater and untouchable by the Z1. The small 37mm front filter thread means that there are plenty of wide angle options that don't vignette--a major stumbling block for the Z1U in even the most expensive housings. And believe it or not, because of the 3MP sensor in it, the A1U actually measures 100 lines better resolution than the 3 chip Z1U, although the Z1U has slightly better low light performance and color accuracy. The downside is that if you intend to use it above water, the manual controls are mostly in menus, so it's a lousy topside camera unless you just want a simple camera that doesn't draw a lot of attention and doesn't have many manual controls.

I think at this point one of the best cameras for underwater use is the V1 which has the best features of both the Z1 and the A1, but it is larger than the A1 and probably doesn't meet your travel size requirements, although it is considerably smaller than the Z1.

Jonathan

[peteguam]

Jonathan,
:) Thanks very much for the comments. This is a pretty interesting decision to make for me as I've become so used to the trv-950 for all these years, and frankly, the world of HDV is a bit overwhelming at the moment. I know I have lots of trial and error time coming. I don't think I've ever spent as much time on the web looking at stats, etc. as I hav trying to figure out what I want.

Housing size (and cost) is a major factor and thats why I'm leaning towards the a1u. After your comments it's at the tops of the list, and the Amphibico housing is smaller so I can use the smaller housing.

I'm also getting the Canon xh-a1 for top side shooting as everything I've read and everyone I've talked to about this have very good comments on the camera.

I produce a tv series shown only on Guam and it attracts a pretty sizable audience here. I notice that quite a few videographers are now using vimeo to post some of their work on and the quality is obviously better than youtube. Are there other sites that I can post good resolution videos at that you know of?

Again, thanks for the comments. Pete

[Jonathan Bird]

I'm also getting the Canon xh-a1 for top side shooting as everything I've read and everyone I've talked to about this have very good comments on the camera.

That's what I use topside. Best picture in any camera in the price range.

[David White]

Pete,
When Stage6 shut down I started migrating my videos over to www.vimeo.com/oceanview since it seemed to offer the best alternative quality to the DivX codec. At present I am involved with the beta testing of Vreel.net which is bringing back the awesome DivX quality.

I concur with your choice for the A1U. You can probably find a Pelican style case that will allow you to take it and your housing as carry-on. The airlines levy excess baggage charges every time I take the Phenom and Z1U anywhere near an airport.

[peteguam]

David,
Thanks. I'm kind of experimenting with uploading the videos. So far I've added 3 at http://vimeo.com/user539429/videos. I read the tutorial and the h.264 setting but I think I'm gonna try a few others.

Your videos look great.
Pete