Help! external mirror reversing issue

[tom rasor]

I have a problem with the external mirror on my 6038.24 housing. Used with the Sony DCR HC26 camcorder.The display is reversed. When I'm trying to follow a fish or anything else viewing thru the external mirror the direction is reversed. It is amazingly difficult to think in reverse. I end up moving the oppisite direction and missing the shot. This has to be a correctable situation. Please help me correct this problem.Tom :confused:

[Jonathan Bird]

The Ikelite housings mostly have a little black box inside them which plugs into the Lanc connector on the camera. By pushing the button on the box (using a control provided on the housing) the electronics reverse the image in the LCD screen, so when you see it on the mirror, it is in the correct orientation.

Some housings do not do this because the Lanc system does not allow electronic control over the image in the LCD. Many Canon camcorders have this issue.

I see from the picture on the Ikelite webpage (http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/sony_hc24.html) that this housing model does not have the "black box" and the mirror is listed as optional. Both of these point to the camera not having Lanc control over the image in the LCD screen, so it looks like there is no fix for it. Sorry!

Jonathan

[Jonathan Bird]

P.S. I have to admit, Ikelite is not very good at all about pointing out which cameras can have the image flipped and which can't. I have a friend who bought a Canon HV-20 after much deliberation and my advice, only to discover that they can't flip the image on that camera either. The viewfinder blows, and it makes it very hard to use underwater.

[Daniel]

Why would they even sell a product that does not function as it should?

Something is amiss!

[Jonathan Bird]

Why would they even sell a product that does not function as it should?


It functions fine. It keeps water out, provides access to operate the camera, a lens and a viewfinder (not LCD screen) to view the image, although it's small. Not all cameras can have the image on the LCD screen flipped electronically so you can use a mirror. This is Sony's fault, not Ikelite. The problem is that nobody thinks about that when they buy the camera or housing. They just assume it will, and you need to do some research before you buy a video camera. My complaint is that Ikelite could be better about explaining on their website which models won't really work with the mirror.

Jonathan

[tom rasor]

I have a problem with the external mirror on my 6038.24 housing. Used with the Sony DCR HC26 camcorder.The display is reversed. When I'm trying to follow a fish or anything else viewing thru the external mirror the direction is reversed. It is amazingly difficult to think in reverse. I end up moving the oppisite direction and missing the shot. This has to be a correctable situation. Please help me correct this problem.Tom :confused:

To:Tom,Thank you for using Ikelite products. You can purchase our #9290.3 Reverse Image Circuitry ($100.00). The problem is that you do not have a control to turn the circuit on/off. If you do not care about turning the circuit on before you seal up the housing, then you could use this #9290.3. Your housing does not have the touch screen rods for the white balance, so once loaded and turned on, you would not need to turn it off. The circuit would plug into your video out port.
This can be ordered through any authorized Ikelite dealer or direct with us by calling our Customer Service at 317-923-4523. We accept Visa or Mastercard and orders are plus shipping charges.

[Jonathan Bird]

Say what??? They offer it but don't include it? That's odd. I would insure that the camera works with it.

[tom rasor]

Say what??? They offer it but don't include it? That's odd. I would insure that the camera works with it.

How might I find that out without buying it? What is the Lanc system? A plug on the camera? Can you tell me why the words white balance keep popping up? Is this related to the reversing issue? I'm assuming that the little black box fits in the housing were there is room. Then a short cable plugs in to the camera via video out. How "out" gets in to reverse is beyond me. Now this little box must be powered by the camera and have a little switch on it. Turn the camera on, switch the box on and wala, you have a reverse image on LCD. My setup has no way to turn on the box so you must turn on the camera first before you close the housing. If you turn the camera off during a dive the box is shut off and there's no way to turn it back on without opening the housing.
If you can expand my knowledge on this issue I truly thank you.
I really appreciate your help on this issue and as you suggested. next time if there is one, I'll get better advise first. unfortunetly I had no idea a company would allow an issue like this materialize. Sony does'nt sell there cameras for underwater but ikelight sells housings for that purpose and this housing is allmost useless without the mirror image.

[Jonathan Bird]

How might I find that out without buying it? What is the Lanc system? A plug on the camera? Can you tell me why the words white balance keep popping up? Is this related to the reversing issue?

Hi Tom,
Lanc is a system used by Sony, Canon and others. It is a protocol which allows external electronics to control various functions of the camera via a serial interface. There is a three pin mini-connector on the camera which looks like a headphone jack except a size smaller.

The black box which flips the image is literally a little box about the size of a small box of matches with a wire coming out and a Lanc plug on the end. When you plug it into the camera, it is powered by the camera. The box has a little button on the side. When you push the button, it flips the image in the viewfinder as that is the only function it has been programmed to control via lanc. (Other lanc controllers can control the zoom, focus, etc.)

On my camera (Sony HVR-A1), when you plug the black box in, then install the camera in the housing, the black box automatically flips the image when you turn on the camera. If it is the same with your camera, you would be able to install everything in the housing, close it up and leave it off, then when you turn it on during your dive, it will fire up in the correct mode that you can see things correctly in the mirror.

The problem comes if you need to use any of the controls to push the "buttons" on the screen, such as white balance. The buttons don't work when the image is flipped, because the "hot zones" on the screen are not in the right place. So if you want to take a white balance with that camera (which doesn't have a stand-alone WB button) you would need to flip the image back to normal by pushing the button on the black box, take a white balance, then flip it back to reversed so it looks right in the mirror.

My camera will not power down with the image flipped. So if I want to turn the camera off underwater, I need to flip the image back to normal with the back box, then turn the camera off.

My advice is to send the whole housing back to Ikelite and have them mount the black box inside, and add a control to push the button. Not too expensive and much more functional. They will probably charge you about $100 for the control, and well worth it.

Be glad that they can add it. My friend has a housing for a Canon HV-20 and Canon apparently doesn't have a Lanc function to flip the image on that camera, so the black box won't work at all.

Jonathan

[tom rasor]

Thanks and wish me luck. Next I need to find a whale shark or two. This may make the camera issue seem like a piece of cake. Happy filming. Can I say filming with a digital? I think recording is better! Thanks for all your time. With out your blog, life was getting complicated.