Submited By: Jim P. on 02/13/2011
Got this for Christmas, and really enjoy it. I had the older 30fps version, and upgraded for Christmas.
The newer camera is great--60fps at 1280x720, which means that even fast moving fish end up sharp. The focus lock helps prevent the camera switching focus between two subjects (anemone and anemone fish).
The video is saved in a .mov format, which is a minor inconvenience. You need Quicktime to view them, and editing on a Windows machine with free software usually requires converting the clips to an avi or mpg first. Maybe a Mac would be a little bit easier here? Using professional grade software, however, such as Adobe Premiere or Avid makes the file format a null point.
The camera mode is unimpressive. If you want to take pictures, get a camera. The autofocus for taking pictures is sllllooooowww, resulting is blurry pictures most of the time.
The housing is robust and easy to use. The design of the system itself is nice, with the small video camera slipping into a waterproof silicone case, which then goes into the plastic housing. This way, if the housing leaks, the camera isn't trashed. The buttons on the back of the housing actually press buttons on a remote control inside the housing, whose signals are relayed via a fiber optic cable to the front of the camera. Kinda neat--this gives you a few more functions than pushing the buttons on the back of the camera!
The rest of the package is very nice. The wide-angle lens does just what it is supposed to, with the edges coming out sharp. I have yet to use the pink filter, but the orange/red filter is very effective in blue water. The light is very bright, with a wide throw and little hotspot. Since it is wide, however, the distance is limited. It does greatly improve video, and I have used it for photos as well.
Everything fits into the camera bag, which is the size of a normal camera bag. The inside dividers are movable--they velcro to the inside. This means you can adjust the inside, as you add or subtract gear. I don't have the second arm or light, but I have no doubt that they will fit inside.
All in all, this is a very good beginner's system. For someone looking to go pro, the camera lacks features such as manual zoom, settable white balance, etc. For someone looking to learn underwater video without dropping 2+ grand on a system, this is for you!
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