Sea&Sea VX HC1 PRO short review

Apart from the problem i got wit the S&S x.35 lens (see specific post) I am quite happy about the housing but I can't say it matched my expectations. The picture quality is even better with the standard flat port and the supplied wide angle adapter (a Sony mount on lens). The camera slide in on its rail perfectly (just remember tu pull out the assign button !) and all the manual commands reach perfectly the buttons on the camcorder; I like the combination of electronic and manual commands combining the smoothnes of the zoom buttons with the reliability of the manual commands.

In general this housing seems to be well engineered.

I use a A1 camcorder and can MWB with the assigned button nevertheles even in crystal clear water and sunny days I could not get a white balance under 10 meters but this is more related to the HC1/A1 low lux performance, plus no flip filter is provided and no way of external filter on the big x.35 lens. I tried a screw on UR filter on the camera but and MWB on shallow water but I got pink/reddish pictures at depth (?)

I have mounted an external monitor 2,5" from sea and sea which is just fine for assessing if your subject is within the frame; with sun in the eye it becomes nearly impossible to sea anything in the small screen. It improves with the supplied monitor hood which on the other hand tends to be filled up with your bubbles (unless you make a big hole in it or use a rebreather or a mistral regulator :-). The monitor connects to the composite video plug but I could not find the way to output the onscreen icons therefore you always shoot with the nightmare of standby...I personally have done a spectacular mantaray fly over and over me again just to discover at the end that I was in stdby mode !

You get some manual command but strange enough the engineers at S&S have put the expanded focus but not the Tele/Macro button. I would trade in the back light button for a tele/macro button.

In water the housing with flat port and the camcorder with standard battery is basically neutral but unbalanced: you get bottom up/nose down.

Add the X.35 lens, the external monitor and it become very very negative.

Add lamps (I have 2 FA&MI power led 90W lamps) and it becomes extremely negative. I have attached to any free room on camera and monitor some floater (from adval) but still all the stuff is negative.

Ciao

Alberto

Modified by your friendly neighborhood moderator to add links

Thanks Alberto (or grazie). Immagini e video, per favore.

There is a way to switch the display to show all the functions on the LCD monitor. First you have to make sure that 4:3 marker is OFF. Then under camera settings, there is a control for display output. Switch it from LCD to V-out/LCD and it should work. I'm working from memory and there may be a few more settings but I think that should work.

I was also working on a machined part to by-pass back exposure for tele macro. I'll let you once I talk to my machinist again. He's out in Asia though so it'll have to wait until I get back out there.

Alberto, sorry to tell you this but telemacro doesn't work with the lanc control circuit box from S&S. Seems that is the reason why they stopped making them just after 5 mths.

When lanc is active in the housing, telemacro did not work.