Housings with no viewfinder, monitor only, opinions ?

That rules me out...

C'mon Sony where's the Z2 with HDMI output, 60p and a sexy little Hard drive... You KNOW you want to!

In email correspondence with the folks at Amphibico, I was told that if the monitor is powered by lithium ion AA's (I'm assuming 4) it will be good for 50-70 minutes in 'good' conditions.

I had the Sea & Sea VX2100 with monitor back. It too was powered by 4 AA batteries. I'm not sure how long they last exactly. I was using recharables and they made it through 4 dives a day between recharges....

Man, that's harsh...

 

I had the Sea & Sea VX2100 with monitor back. It too was powered by 4 AA batteries. I'm not sure how long they last exactly. I was using recharables and they made it through 4 dives a day between recharges....

3- 3.5 hours continuous on at half brightness using 2100 NiMH batteries was my avg.

Guys let's not judge before we actually test the product. It's 2 mths from release and many things can happen. So let's not be too rash or gloomy about anything.

I hear you Drew,

But as usual we are only going off what we hear and see and also people are getting impatient at the long wait.

Well im not, I haven't even got the V1 yet ...or maybe not..I haven't decided. Got to wait for the housing and by the looks of it....SEE there i go again

Dive safe

DeanB

Over on Scubaboard, someone has a Amphibico HC7 housing.

"the housings 2700mAh batteries lasted only 60mins as I had to surface and change batteries just after I dived in. The housing has a low battery warning light but its inside the housing, they could have put a external light. "

I just got off the phone with Amphibico, talked to Joe one of thier sales guy,, and he confirmed that with fully charge 2500mAh Sanyo rechargables you can get upto 3.5 hours of burn time on the monitor rear?? I also called one of my buddies who just purchased an Amphibico Dive Buddy EVO HD with monitor back for his SR1, (harddrive camcorder) and he also confirms in getting about 3 hours with a fresh set of 4 mAh batteries. So I think thier is something up with your battries or the rear monitor??

Cheers

Over on Scubaboard, someone has a Amphibico HC7 housing.

 

"the housings 2700mAh batteries lasted only 60mins as I had to surface and change batteries just after I dived in. The housing has a low battery warning light but its inside the housing, they could have put a external light. "

Thats sounds better...But the viewfinder option would be better. maybe with a magnifying piece on it...

Not happy with someone monitoring my rear though... But then again...

Dive safe

DeanB

I was on the phone with Joe at Amphibico this morning aswell to clarify the initial e-mail I had received. He stated that the previously quoted battery time for the monitor on the A1 ELITE housing was based on alkaline batteries (50-70 minutes). With NiMH batteries, however, the useable time is increased to approximately 3 hours. He also confirmed that the QM71 battery for the camcorder will fit in the housing so the life of the monitor batteries will basically match the life of the camcorder battery during normal use.

Not happy with someone monitoring my rear though... But then again...

Better than them putting a viewfinder in it

I've had worse...

Ahem...back to the real world of monitors and viewfinders...

Dive safe

Dean(walking like John Wayne)B

The Endeavor monitor will have zebra. Amphibico has resourcefully managed to hack the software for zebra but unfortunately not peaking. The V1 can use both zebra and peaking at the same time, a welcomed feature from earlier Sony cameras.

I almost never use a viewfinder on my cameras. I use the Ikelite housings primarily, which have larger mirrors on the side to display the LCD screen from the cameras. More often than not, I have developed a sense for the pointing of the cameras, and don't often use the mirrors either. The viewfinders are so small that I can't keep up with what's going on in front of the camera through them. Now, I also don't have perfect vision, which makes it more difficult to use the viewfinder, but I do have perscription lenses on my mask. I like the idea of a monitor on the housing, but of course that adds to the cost of the housing in the long run.

Max

a new HC7 and Amphibico user on scubaboard just reported good usage out of the LCD screen (3+ dives).

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2...mp;postcount=29

Sorry guys but IMHO it really is not the way to think of going forward. Monitors don't have the required resolution to take the place of viewfinders for the most important aspect, critical focus. As for composing without looking through the viewfinder I consider that the same as driving down the street with your eyes closed!! The effects of both would be disastrous.

I guess it depends what kind of results you're after.

Cheers,

Mark.

Mark, that's why getting peaking to show up on the monitor would remove that problem. Thing is Sony and most other manufacturers are pretty cryptic about that sort of code for outsiders.

Maybe the Canons and Pannys may have better luck.

I just took my brand new Amphibico Housing for my HC7 to Fiji. I tested it before I left and the monitor worked, but it didn't when I arrived...it sucked doing 22 dives with it and guessing the angle the whole time and not being able to do anything by wide.

I just took my brand new Amphibico Housing for my HC7 to Fiji. I tested it before I left and the monitor worked, but it didn't when I arrived...it sucked doing 22 dives with it and guessing the angle the whole time and not being able to do anything by wide.

A little lateral thought & self help would have made a world of difference to your holiday.

All you needed to do was use a phillips head screwdriver and remove the internal workings of the monitor back and you would have had a clear view of the cameras viewfinder.

Not a perfect solution but much better than shooting blind.

Very true Drew but in an Achromatic macro mode when trying to focus down on the rhinophores of a Nudibranch or the eye covers of a Crocodile Fish I prefer the tried and tested eye stuck to the viewfinder approach. Peaking lines can be enhanced for the WA stuff but for Macro, I'd hope the lines didn't block out the very target of our focus requirements??

darrylsc - better pack a tool kit too. This is not a ribbing. Get used to the potential for equipment failure in the field. There are solutions if you stop and think about them. Like posting to WetPixel for ideas even when on vacation for starters!!

Sorry to hear of the kit failure,

Mark.

Ah, hind-sight a gift for the few...

Still does not excuse poor goods and the bad taste of a spoilt holidays filming...

But we all live and learn..I'm buying a laptop to keep in contact with my fave bunch of video tutors...

No not you lot

Dive safe

DeanB

Ah, hind-sight a gift for the few...

 

Still does not excuse poor goods and the bad taste of a spoilt holidays filming...

 

But we all live and learn..I'm buying a laptop to keep in contact with my fave bunch of video tutors...

 

No not you lot

 

Dive safe

 

DeanB

We had plenty of tools on the Fiji Aggressor II -- nothing we tried worked...either the LCD or the board is fried...there was signal coming through the AV out onto the board, and there was power on the board...

I didn't think of removing the board/LCD but don't think it would have made much difference...there's a good amount of space between the back of the HC7 and the back of the housing -- I believe it would have been impossible to see anything.

As for Internet connectivity...connectivity options were gone, meaning we were too far North East of Suva, by the time I noticed this unfortunate situation...and trust me we tried many times...talk about frustrating!