Amphibico Phenom FX1E Review & comments

Hi David

Ontario, long way away I've been there.

ice...... yikes not to much coral found there.

The macro dipoter that comes with amphibco is a screw in one. You need to get ones that go in the flip arm and they come from a different company, unless they sell them now. I did not get the ND filter. The second outside arm shows up in the shot worse than the first anyhow.

Send us an email for details on the diopters; wagsyatwestnet.com.au

The PRISM heads up display? Thats great to hear, what price did they say it will cost. I will get one as well. Nothing on their site yet.

Wags

I was about to purchase a FXZ1 Phenom housing until I read about the Vignetting. This is a big deal to me as I primarily shoot wide angle. Does anyone know if this has been fixed? If it has not been, why?

Thanks for the help.

I contacted Amphibico, and here is an excerpt from their reply:

"...About the vignetting there was nothing resolved with that.

Only you can resolve it by zooming in 10% or at editing. We are aware of the problem with the Phenom, but believe that the overall performance is within due expectations for its price and comparison to competitors. The problem you are experiencing can be easily corrected in the editing process, and it was considered an acceptable exchange for the added cost of a superior lense. The housing is SMPTE approved, and is a recommended practice for the motion picture industry which allows a 10% editing zone. Over 500 units of the housing have been sold, and only 10 responses related to your concern have been noted. The camera has been sold and congratulated by the likes of the director James Cameron, National Geographic television, The Discovery Channel, and many others.

The lens is an aspherical lens which has zero distortion. "

I am not an expert, but I find this odd for what appears to be the most expensive FX1 housing made.. What do you experts think?

Hi Dave, if you are thinking of the Phenom i would suggest reading this thread first.

White Balance Issues

Personally i find this a bigger problem than the vignetting

M

Add this to the list as well.

One guy had his electronics go crazy.

Another guy had his dome pop off in flight.

Another guy told me that the flip arms jam together at 60 meters, but work at 30 meters Okay.

Another guy told me his left focus wheel was not working.

Then the vignetting.

Screw in macro useless, replaced the macro for one on the flip arm (perfect.)

Now the EWB problem, but that can be fixed with a mod.

Apart from that, it is a very nice housing to use and well put together and I'm sure I will be collecting stunning images with it this year. Like all new products there is always bugs, but I will certainly be looking at other housings next time around thats for sure.

Howdy all

Here is yet another screen grab from the Phenom. This time I was in 14 meters, very dirty vis with the URPRO filter in, no lights and using my MWB mod.

Tried getting the same with EWB method........no way....

Wags

WAGSY,

WHAT DID YOU USE TO mwb? Slate? Chart? Fill frame with what you were shooting?

thanks

jim

Jim

I used the surface for that shot. Point the camera up at it till you have what you are after.

Slate, fill frame with what you were shooting sand, coral, surface are all different ways that can be used to get the WB one is after.

Wags

I can add another BUG. If you use a Z1, the back light button does not work. So for those "diver against the sun" - shots you'll have to do it manually. The reason why it works with the FX1 and not with the Z1 is because the LANC code is available for the FX1 but not for the Z1. On the Z1 you have to program the backlight function in the assign buttons. Those assign buttons are not accessible via LANC.

Amphibico is looking into the problem, but so far it does not look good.

I just love being a Beta tester.

I contacted Amphibico, and here is an excerpt from their reply:

 

"...About the vignetting there was nothing resolved with that.

Only you can resolve it by zooming in 10% or at editing. We are aware of the problem with the Phenom, but believe that the overall performance is within due expectations for its price and comparison to competitors. The problem you are experiencing can be easily corrected in the editing process, and it was considered an acceptable exchange for the added cost of a superior lense. The housing is SMPTE approved, and is a recommended practice for the motion picture industry which allows a 10% editing zone. Over 500 units of the housing have been sold, and only 10 responses related to your concern have been noted. The camera has been sold and congratulated by the likes of the director James Cameron, National Geographic television, The Discovery Channel, and many others.

 

The lens is an aspherical lens which has zero distortion. "

 

I am not an expert, but I find this odd for what appears to be the most expensive FX1 housing made.. What do you experts think?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Dave,

nice to see you here as well.

Peter

I have spent literally well over $300,000.00 on professional HD gear. As an owner of the Sony F-900 HDcam, Amphibico HD housing, Fuji lenses, and accessories from every manufacturer that you can imagine, it has occurred to my-that I am always a 'Beta-Tester'.

I also own the Phenom Housing along with the Z1U and I'll be honest with you all, the small amount of flaws with the housing is minimal compared to it's advanvantages. I was one of the first owners of the F-900 camera and was told by Sony about several features that it would have. Well, once delivered, to my surprise....it didn't, but I dealt with it, adjusted, and shot. Professionals in this industry are used to this.

The Phenom's price CANNOT be beat. Learn what it can and cannot do and adjust. This is film-making 101. Yes, it vignettes, but it is still wider than the flatports that the other manufacturers send standard with their housings. I have an $8,000.00 matte box for my 4.5 wide lens and wouldn't you know...it also vignettes. Don't let it stop you from shooting. A true artist can adjust, get a feel for his gear, and make beautiful pictures. The F900 stops grabbing white balances after 10-15'. So, I've learn the art of color manipulation in camera and color correction in post.

I commend some of the talented individuals whom have modified and advanced the features of the Phenom. Most professionals who understand their gear (yet cannot manufacture it themselves) do modify and change things that the manfacturer hasn't. Heck, spend some big bucks with Sony and see if they will answer your calls or play the violin for you when you bitch about their product flaws. Everything i own has some sort of modification. You think that IMAX housings have all the bells and whistles? Nope.

No housing on the market ( regardless of the price ) is 100%. But I know several operators whose skill and talent are so exceptional that you would think that they are shooting with something really special. Spend the time that you would be complaining about the things that are wrong and maximize that time to perfect all that is right. Your pictures will change and your skills will become extremely valuable.

Seawasp,

I appreciate your input. A couple of thoughts for you. Your post does not seem focused on addressing issues but rather as an Amphibico promotional pitch (sorry to be blunt). Much of what you say is true but none of it explains the issues the the Phenom has presented to users. White balance, vignetting, quality dome, levers that don't lock, etc are all basic features of a professional/semi-professional housing. Other housing manufactures are able to address these concerns. It seems that justifying sloppy quality control, corner cutting or just outright oversights on the part of a manufacturer with "no housing on the market is 100%" or the "price cannot be beat"...(well actually it can) is a cop out. The people on this thread have much better things to do with their time than bash manufactures for the hell of it. These are real users (and quite experienced) that are seeking to help other users solve important issues. In addition, these users want the manufacturer to take their concerns seriously and deliver the quality product that their historical reputation warrants. Furthermore, post production should be used to fix that which cannot be achieved in real time (hence post). If a housing promises features that suggest far less post requirements, then doing more post is a loss of valualbe time and money to the user (nothing beats getting it right the first time). Finally, your statement "Spend the time that you would be complaining about the things that are wrong and maximize that time to perfect all that is right" really undermines the incredible amount of time and energy these folks have put into trying to resolve the issues with the Phenom (work the manufacturer should have done)...in effect they have been acting as alpha/beta testers when none of them signed up for this job.

Overall, I assume you felt that no one was stepping up to Amphibicos defense and felt that you should say something. That sentiment can surely be appreciated. Obviously all of the Phenom users have invested substantial time and money into the companies product ...and for that matter continue to do so. This kind of honest, in-the-field feedback is some of the most valuable input a manufacturer can recieve. To discard as "complaining" is a shameless waste of invaluable information.

One other thing you may have missed: all of the Phenom users on this thread have expressed strong desire to work with Amphibico to resolve these issues. Moreover, most of them are currently working with the company to improve the product. What greater commitment can a company ask from its customers. This is perhaps a testment kind of company Amphibico is and the quality of relationship their people have developed with customers.

Hi Shawn and underwaterboy, liked your posts and would love a F900 in a housing

Just some update information. I have sent a bracket to other guy in the tropics to try out and Amphibico have done tests themselves and will post that info along with the results from the other guy soon.

In the meatime it looks like the EWB does indeed work fine on the Phenom and is not flawed, giving a look of what it is exactly down there, but with the MWB method one can achieve more over vivid contrast colours and can blue up the water even in green looking water just like some people can get on their normal Mini 3CCD DV rigs.

"A true artist can adjust, get a feel for his gear, and make beautiful pictures". Hey thats what I'm doing by making the MWB mod.

I know every new product has bugs and only when it gets out in the real world do people find them. Look at software and computer games, no amount of testing in house can find the bugs, and I have a friend who just brought a very $$$ merc, probs with the gear box.

Its also important for those that film day divers and sell them DVD's to be able to get a good vibrant colour look when they shoot to save time in making the customers DVD. Shoot it, suck it in, music, graphics, endcode, burn easy and not have to mess around adding colour/rendering etc when editing.

Wags

Wags,

Great follow up. One thing on the EWB issue...I am not sure it works fine. All of my Bahama's footage (clear blue water) came out green with the EWB. Speaks to me of not really working well. Thoughts?

Shawn

(Sorry, a little off thread.)

Underwaterboy, could you give us a comparison between the F900 and the Z1? I would like to know your likes and dislikes with both cameras. Not really concerned with comparing the housings, just the underwater footage. I would also like to know if well shot Z1 footage looks reasonably close the the F900 footage, and if you mix the footage in your productions. I have handled the big Amphibico HD housing with a Varicam once, unfortunately it was for someone else on the boat. Big heavy beast out of the water, would have loved to try it in the water. Thanks.

Hey underwaterboy are you actually an Amphiboco dealer? I have heard the same line from other dealers. Is this now the 'corporate line'? Be honest with us......

Shawn

Send me some blue water grabs with details and I will put them up on the page.

wagsy@westnet.com.au

I can make you a bracket if you like to try shawn.

I'm getting a huge amounts of traffic to that site. 73 GIGs of traffic so far this month and my podcasts XML page has been hit 6125 times this month....

In shallow water you can get it looking kind of okay and I'm still being nice about this as well.

Just waiting on a few more people to do the mod to back up my claim but we cannot all be WBing wrong.

Have also been picked by the AUS ABC TV here to make 20x5 min clips each fortnight. They are sending us a HDV A1 camera, mike, tripod, carry bag, bat, and tapes to make the clips which by the way we get to keep . We will be on National TV/WEB each forninght and there will be 5 teams of people from around Australia doing the clips. Going to give us huge exposure...... I will also be able to compare the quality between the A1 and FX1, may have to get a housing for it, now what brand shall I buy........

Stay tuned....

By far the F-900 surpasses the Z1U in in resolution and compression artifacts. My personal preference is the F-900. Yes, it is big and heavy-however, until I can get a pint size camera with full (1 to 1) lens control....I'll stick to shooting with it. The Z1U (I must admit) gets way closer to a white balance than the F-900. The F-900 stops at 9.5k, and after that -are painted in-camera or restored in post. It is not a 'point and shoot' system.

I have several housings from several companies...all with their own pros and cons.

Working with 35mm today.

Hi underwater boy.

I took some Jap guys out and they had a F900 and FX1 underwater. The F900 does shoot better thats for sure. His lens was $30,000 US........

Have you a site so we can see what you do.

Did you win Lotto, rob a bank, drug dealer, sleeping with your bank manager or are you just a guy with $$$$$$$.