L&M Housing for Sony Z1U/FX1

Just wanted to start a thread on this housing in order to keep it all in one place.

This is a question from one of our members Erik.

Hi Guys, how big is the L&M Blue Fin for Z1? I have L&M Blue Fin for TRV950 and considering to buy a Z1, do you think housing will be too big for travels?

Anyone have a photo with housing together to compare?

Many thanks

ERIK

Thank you Mike, great idea :-) & Great moderator :-)

I'm considering L&M Blue Fin with Z1 or L&M Blue Fin with A1.

I will prefer Z1 for low light sensibility but scared about big housing, very interested to see together and consider it will be resonnable to bring it with me on a plane :-). For the moment my Blue Fin and TRV950 stay in a quite small bag :-), a normal hand baggage .... someone travelling with big housng could help us..maybe :-)

Many thanks

ERIK

HI Erik.

Haven't seen the L&M for the Z1 so not sure about sizing and weight. I have seen the A1 however. It is the exact same as the 950. In fact....you may be able to send it to L&M and have it retrofitted for the A1. But that is just a guess, you would have to ask them directly. Or our member of the board who is associated with L&M might chime in here.

I know my Phenom is a lot bigger than my old 950 housing and is an entire bag unto itself so not that easy for travelling.

Mike

ps...thanks for the great mod comment!!

Thank you Mike. But do you think it's possible to bring it on a plane like i do with my little one? Do you make some travels with it? And if yes, how are you organized? For me it will not be a problem for weight and space but it's really ver very big? The double? Some problems with check-in? Do you use it like hand-bag or not?

Thanks :-)

ERIK

Hi erik,

I just purchased the A1E for the very reason, of travel. I also used the 950 and used to wrap the Amphibico housing up in my BCD in my dive bag no probs. The A1E is lighter than the 950, ok not so good in low light as the Z1 but if you just intend to use it for non-broadcast, for yourself then I'd go A1E.

Saying that I just got a good response from the BBC about some freshwater fish footage i filmed in a murky quarry. The producer couldn't believe it was shot in this country with a TRV950. I can't wait to view my A1E stuff.

Unless you dive in real shitty water, and loads of money I wouldn't worry to much for now. I can't believe Italy's waters are that bad. Anyway Sony will come out with a better model soon.

Dive safe

DeanB

Hi Guys,

Here is a shot of me using the Light & Motion BlueFin FX1 on a recent trip to Komodo. Maybe this will put the housing in context.

Sure, the housing is big, but I was surprised how easy it was to handle, in and out of the water.

The official specs from the LMI web site are:

Weight:

The dry weight of the Bluefin HD will vary with configuration. A standard configuration (flat port, no lights, no external monitor) will have a dry weight of 26 pounds. Dive ready weight including the camera is 33 pounds with a buoyancy just slightly negative in water. Fully loaded Pro Travel Package (UWA adapter, pro lights, and remote monitor) will have a dry weight of 44 pounds and a bouyancy just slightly negative in water.

Dimensions:

Length: Along the Housing base is 14.75 inches (37.5 cm). Optics will extend this a bit.

Height: Housing (no lights) is 9.5 inches (24.1 cm). Batteries will increase this to about 10.75 inches (27.3 cm). An external, top mounted monitor will increase this.

Width: Outside of the control handles is 13.5 inches (34.3 cm).

This is a system that has to be checked on an airplane. Period. There is no practical carry on option like there is for the TRV950 or HC1 housings. Those housings are really nice and small but if you want to shoot FX1 then you're going to have to live with checking the rig. I'm OK with that myself. I know there is always a risk of a missing bag, but it's a risk I take. Oh, and one could argue that it makes the system lighter than a HC1 system in a way. Have you tried to carry around a 30 - 35 pound carry on case with no wheels from one end of the airport to another along with your camera bag, laptop, and aching back? Carrying my housing with me just weighs me down. I checked the FX1 and since the case has wheels, I just rolled it out of the airport to the car. Much lighter (sort of).

In reality, traveling with the FX1 housing was easier than traveling with my still rig. The whole system packs into a custom cut Pelican 1620 case. I packed the housing, lights, monitor, 2 lenses, batteries, chargers, etc and was well under the 70lb weight limit. (ok, I know this a little vague but I am used to going overweight on every bag I check so to get everything I need in the case with weight to spare is rare for me)

Basically, everything but the camera, batteries, tapes were in the one Peli roller case. One (good or bad) thing about a custom cut foam case it that there is a special home for everything and it very well protected, but when every hole is filled, there is not much room left over to fill it to the weight limit. I hate to waste free baggage allowance.

Ok, so you asked how this compares to housings for the TRV950 or HC1. It is definitely bigger, but not so bad as to make you question the effort of lugging it around. In the water however, it handles much better than the smaller BlueFin.

The weights in the BlueFin FX1 can be adjusted so you can dial in the bouyancy. I tweaked it a bit to get it just the way I wanted it. The there are weights on each side of the housing that slide front and back so you can adjust the pitch a bit too.

Essentially, I made it dead neutral with a perfect level. Nice! In contrast, the smaller HC1 housing is a bit negatve and there is little you can do about it. I've never had a problem shooting it but some people have complained about it. If you switch from an HC1 to an FX1 you'll get a bigger housing, but a lighter weight and better balanced one.

If you look at the photo of me you'll see that I'm holding it with one hand with no effort. (reg in right hand) It was always like that. It was a dream in the water.

Of course the poor Indonesian crew members on my boat didn't like it very much. It took two of them to carry it from my camera station to the tender boat and back. That's why it has two handles on top. But for the record, I had no trouble carrying it anywhere myself. I never had to ask anyone for help :-)

Sorry to ramble on, but you asked for it. I've done two Indonesia trips with my FX1 housing now so I feel like I've got it dialed in and working for me. I can pack it all in one roller case, it's under the weight limit, and I have no problem checking it.

Dan

Hi DanB this is DeanB speaking,

Were you by any chance using the international flights for your large size luggage transportation.???

Our little Europe flights have a limited weight restriction 15 - 20 kg being the norm but some offer 25kg. I suspect that the FX1 plus housing would take that up on there own. Then again looking at those monster lights you'd need a extra seat for those babies.

I was told that some people were paying more in excess baggage than the cost of the entire holiday when transporting Z1's and FX's...

The set up looks cool though

Dive safe

DeanB

Yes, that is a definite plus with the bigger housings, they are sooooo nice underwater. My Phenom is a lot easier to film with than the 950. Very steady.

I have travelled to Guam with the Z1U and housing. Once in the box it was 53 pounds. But although it is a 50 pound limit they let me get away with it. Like Dan, i was not worried about checking it in. I then hand carried the camera itself.

As Dan said, the L&M comes with its own Pelican case, that is a nice thing. It has its own custom luggage and that makes life very easy. You just need to cut down on useless things like clothes....

Hi DeanB,

Here in the U.S., most domestic flights only allow 2 free checked pieces of luggage no more than 50 lbs. each. They will allow heavier bags for a fee, but it varies from airline to airline. United for example charges $25 for an overweight bag up to 99lbs. But I would not pack one that heavy.

Most international flights from the US will allow free baggage up to 70lbs each. This is better than 50lbs, but many airlines will not accept any bags heavier than this. Even for a fee. So 70lbs is the heaviest I ever pack a bag.

Singapore Airlines for example will let you check as many bags as you want, but with a limit of 70lbs each. No overweight allowed. I should say they let you check as many as you want, but only 2 for free. Extra bags are $109 each. I pay that with a smile.

Jet service is one thing but some smaller flights have even tighter restrictions. This is where it can get messy. You need to look carefully at every leg of your journey to make sure you can take all of the gear that you want with you. But this is true for all of us, no matter what you shoot, not just us FX1 shooters. There are a lot of housed SLR shooters pushing the limits as well.

The real problem with baggage comes when you encounter a flight that will not allow any extra bags OR overweight bags. If there is a hard limit on your weight then you may be in trouble. Now I'm not saying that I have money to burn, but I don't mind problms that a little money can fix. Sure, if I want to take all this stuff half way around the world, then I'm happy to pay a few hundred dollars in overweight baggage. I plan ahead and factor this into the overall price of the adventure. It's just part of the deal as far as I am concerned.

But, when no additional baggage is allowed, for any price, then I'm bummed. Luckily this has only happened to me once, and I was aware of the situation before I traveled so I could adjust and pack properly. But had I showed up at the airport overweight, there would have been trouble.

Bottom line. Always, always check on the baggage allowance of every leg of your trip. If you can go over and are willing to pay, then do it, but still stay within their upper limits.

Danb

The airlines are getting ridiculous with their luggage requirements. I can understand have some rules and guidelines, but things are out of hand.

I'm a small guy. I weigh 150 pounds, but still get charged if one of my bags weighs over 50 lbs. On a recent international trip, my carry on bag was weighed. They decided 12lbs was ok for a carry on. Seriously, how much did they think it weighed ? It was a small back pack.

Give me a break. It is one thing to have weight restrictions for safety reasons, but this appears more like a way for the airlines to make money.

Erik, I have a Bluefin HD FX1 housing, and used to use a Bluefin V900. The Bluefin HD is an amazing piece of equipment, and is in a whole different league from Bluefin 900/950/HC1/A1. DanB said it very well. BTW, hi DanB from DanD, haven't seen you at the shows in a while. The adjustable balance, and the extreme stability of this housing make shooting underwater HDV a pleasure instead of a pain. Can't forget the excellent controls either. Here's some various pictures I took when it arrived. Get the travel pack for easy transporting, and I don't think you'll regret it. I would never switch to a lesser camera or housing, especially when traveling to an exotic location.

Thank you guys for help and extremely accurate descriptions :-), especially DanB :-)

I like very much Bluefin HD FX1 ora Z1 :-) My last question will be: it will be possible, for weight and dimensions, to bring it with me on a plane like an hand-baggage or is very big and too heavy? My idea it to always keep equipment with me....is arrived the only time that my equipment was boarded like baggage to lost it :-(.

How big is the Pelikan case fro Bluefin HD FX1/Z1? Like the Bluefin case? I think it will be bigger.

Thank you all :-)

ERIK

Hi Erik, you will not be able to pack it in a case for carry on. The case is something like 60cm x 40cm x 30cm and will weigh in at a little under 25kg with the housing inside.

Suppose you could just try to carry the housing on with no case. Just make sure it doesn't look heavy when you carry it!

ok so if really quite impossible to bring it with me ....maybe i will decide for Bluefin and A1 but someone knows if sony will arrives with new HD cam like A1 maybe with 3 ccd and good low light sensibility? it will be so bad if a lot of peolpe buy a A1 and than suddenly sony put out a news little HD cam with better specifications :-)

Thanks :-)

ERIK

If you can incorporate the excess baggage cost into your financing then it shouldn't be a problem. If like me you pay it all yourself on a budget go for the A1E.. I was complemented on the steadiness of my shots using the housed 950 un-weighted in a drift. So as long as you have a good buoyancy technique you should be fine. You can also custom weight you gear at anytime.

Dive safe

DeanB

Thanks :-) Buoyancy is not a problem :-) at all, but i don't like to send my precious baggage around the world alone :-) I will prefere to have with me :-). A lot of times i saw friends and people losting lagguages on travels and airports, expecially with internationals flights :-). Tu make an insurance for this, to pay more for extra weight ect...will be too complicaded :-)

I will take an A1 i think, in any case thank you veru much :-)

ERIK

Lost or missed placed luggage is a problem. But these are, I think a minority. O.K if you have set out to do some filming in a far location and your cam goes walk about its a shitter. I was coming from a expense point of view. I've only tried my A1E above water and the footage, I think, is superb, compared to the 950. You won't be disappointed. If costs are not a problem, go for the Z1. The A1 is (maybe) going to be my second / Underwater cam. For above stuff I will probably go for a Canon HDV. Though I'll wait for the upgraded version to come out.

Can you give me any idea of good diving locations in Italy. My girlfriend does not dive, but we want to try your beautiful country for a holiday. So something to suit both of us will be a plus.

Cheers Erik

Dive safe

DeanB

Hi DeanB thank you for answer. Costs are not a problem but i'm scared to buy z1 and housing and to use it only in Italy, differently the most interesting footage will be maked in tropical seas :-), Read Sea, Maldives ecc.

In any case in Italy there are a lot of very good dives and spots. I'm an instructor and i really like ISOLA d'ELBA in TOSCANA but a lot of good places are availables ex: SARDEGNA, SICILIA, LAMPEDUSA and more. If you are interested i cand give you web links.

But returning to our thread how do you thing about FX1?

Thank you :-)

ERIK

To be honest Erik, I did'nt really look at the FX.. As soon as any camcorders come out, I wait for the PRO versions. Having jumped to buy the 950 two years ago and later discovering I could have gone for the the PD10.

Maybe some of the members experienced in this field can give you a better idea. I think its very much the same argument as in the HC1 vs A1E..

Came you drop me as much info about Italy as possible. We usually like holidays around August - sept time. Nice scenic diving maybe a wreck or two (I am british after all)..!! As my girlfriend is a non diver topside scenery is a must...Car hire, cheapish hotels etc..

Cheers Erik

Dive safe

DeanB

DanB,

Looks like you have the wide port on you Blue Fin HD housing. If so, how wide is it? Also, looks like LMI has provided decent protection for the lens with the surrounding port sheild. I would be interersted in your perspective on the quality of the lens and how well it is protected. Also, did you see any vignetting with the wide lens?

Shawn