Amphibico Endeavor with HVR-V1 review and field test

Gyula

The V1 is a 62mm filter size

Sorry ,

It was my mistake. Here is the product link which was sent by Gates to me:

http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/C...84&IID=1007

62 to 72 mm

Why is it when putting a brand name on something as generic as a stepup ring can cost almost 5 times as much? I always chuckle and shake my head at that.

Step Up ring prices at B&H

The report has been updated to mention the incompatibility of the DR60 files with Apple Final Cut Pro. Sorry I forgot to mention that.

Why is it when putting a brand name on something as generic as a stepup ring can cost almost 5 times as much? I always chuckle and shake my head at that.

 

Step Up ring prices at B&H

So under separate cover, Drew, you discuss various multi-element diopters that are "thin", like the Canon D500. Given that I have the Endeavor with the OPWA port, what (if any) options would I have for using such a beast in my optical path for my setup? I am guessing there might be room to get the 62mm version and thread it onto the camera for dedicated macro dives (and by the way, what would that limit my max focal distance to?). Alternatively, it'd be great (but I am not overly optimistic on this one) if the right diameter 500D could be swapped onto the flip arm for the red filter. But I am guessing that with the OPWA, space is too tight for this to fly. Also fear that the 500D ring is what holds the multi-elements where they belong.

But again, any input or guidanbce much appreciated. I am trying to avoid a three-digit fishing expedition buying and tearing apart fancy diopters to figure out what'll work before I head to Lembeh around Halloween.

--Richard

Richard

In short, there's not a lot of space between the camera and lens. So you are limited to single element diopters. If I were you, I'd get the standard dome port for macro in Lembeh. You still retain some semblence of WA while having the ability to get in pretty close to anything over 4.5". No such thing as a free lunch.

But to get serious macro you need a flat port with diopters, especially with the FX7. The 20x lens is great for macro if you have a diopter for closeup.

Unfortunately I didn't measure the distance between lens and camera vertex so you'll have to check with Amphibico on that.

Hi Drew,

I placed this question elsewhere, but it is probably more appropriate here.

In your summary you mentioned "Knee Control" settings. I really don't know what this is, apart from getting knocking of the knees when contemplating a very strong current, and trying to slip that extra 10kg past the check-in desk

I don't seem to have a control for this on my FX7, so perhaps it is to do with progressive cameras.

Cheers

Roger

Roger

V1 has it, FX7 doesn't.

Roger, when are you getting your FX7 in the water ?

Your gonna love it. Set MWB and away you go.

Sorry Ron I missed your post until today.

Two weeks today we should be boarding at London Gatwick for Marsa Alam and a liveaboard to the Southern Egyptian Red Sea. I cannot wait to get the new kit in the water.

Fortunately flying with Astraeus and they have a VERY reasonable XS baggage allowance 25kg (55lbs) for £50 ($100) return for a 5 hour flight, and that is in addition to the 25kg standard hold and 5kg hand luggage.

My finger is already hovering over the MWB button

Cheers

Roger

Look forward to seeing some of your footage. Seems like I'm the only one using an FX7 here or on any of the other boards I hang out on. Interested to see if will be as happy with yours as I am with mine.

Hi Guys,

Back safely from the Liveaboard in the Red Sea. 3 hours of HDV on tape. The Endeavour worked like a dream. Something of a steep learning curve with so many buttons available to tweak, so I kept it fairly simple. The 94 degree port is amazing. The housing was neutral with all six counterweights in the extra salty Red Sea, it would float in front of me. I was using the NP-F770 battery. I kept all the settings visible on the monitor even if on auto so that I could see what the camera was doing.

The monitor was fine even in the very bright cloudless conditions. I got some reflections from my mask when close to the surface and facing the sun. My main problem was my mask correction lenses. They are ten years old and my eyes are ten years older! I will have to get a new mask with up to date near vision correction so that I can focus properly with the monitor. As a result I kept the camera on auto focus which worked extremely well. Most white balance was manual and on the sun at 10-15m. I did switch it to auto a couple of times when we were in tunnels in shallow conditions having balanced deeper in the open. The effect was really good producing very natural colours. I will try and include one of those clips.

Worked well at night too with my 2*10w Niterider HIDs. I keep the battery clipped to my BC and the lights are more or less neutral so there was no need to change the weighting. The only problem at night is my buddy (wife....) she shoots stills and uses my video lights to help with focusing, why do they make strobes recycle so quickly the flashes are like a mega thunderstorm

I will put a few clips together to show the range of the camera in the next day or two and post them, but I was most impressed. Any preference as to format?

I have now ditched my Prem Pro as it really didn't do the business with DVD production. Adobe are appalling whenit comes to support especially now that they have the new CS3 packages. I have bought Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate, for a cheap package (£70 in the UK) it works extremely well. It uploads to the PC with scene detect, renders on the fly, and more importantly for me it produces a good DVD from HDV and uploads HDV to tape without a lot of long encoding. It doesn't have all the very sophisticated tweaking facilities, but more than enough for an amateur with white balance and colour correction adjustments, PIP, second video track etc.

Cheers

Roger

Hi Roger - glad you made in back safe and sound with Astraeus as the last time our dive club used them they ended up doing an emergency landing in France after the cabin depressurised! Someone else I know of has flown with them 4 times and only reached their destination once - so you did good by all accounts!!

Glad to hear you go on well with the new set up and I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing some video!

Cheers, Simon

I will have to get a new mask with up to date near vision correction so that I can focus properly with the monitor.

In my opinion the manufacturers tend to put the monitors too near to the user, especially considering that the average user of the more expensive rigs is no spring chicken. There's not much wrong with my eyes - I don't need glasses for reading or computer work, but I definitely find it a struggle to focus comfortably on the external monitors that I've used Wags says something similar on his other thread.

Looking forward to seeing some footage Roger.

Hi Roger - glad you made in back safe and sound with Astraeus

I'm glad you didn't tell me that before I went

Actually our previous flights with Astraeus have been OK too, reasonable legroom, and fairly comfortable seats. Only 1/2 hour late taking off and that was due to ATC (but they would say that wouldn't they)

Roger

In my opinion the manufacturers tend to put the monitors too near to the user,

I was a bit stupid I did all my playing and fiddling, after getting the housing, at home using my most recent bifocals - I didn't think of trying my mask

With my new specs I can focus on the screen in air at 6-8inches, with my mask at arms length With the u/w magnification just a little better. I shall also use a black mask, my current one is blue and yellow (very pretty so no-one would nick it or be seen dead in it) but too reflective.

Will Windows Media files be OK for streaming video?

Roger

WMV is OK and you can embeded in this forum. Alternatively there are loads of sites that will encode to Flash video for you. I like Brightcove. Veoh.com might be quicker and easier and can be embedded in this forum.

I'm glad I didn't see that you were flying with them before you got back safely!! Seriously though I doubt they could be as bad as I've heard, or they wouldn't be flying out of the UK, just some bad luck I guess...

I also wear lenses to correct short sight inside my mask, which does occasionally cause some problems with focusing, but it's not nearly as bad as trying to correct reading distance sight underwater (My mother-in-law can literally not see a thing smaller than her hand). However it's definately worth always trying to use manual focus wherever you can, as especially with HDV if your shots are not in focus or there is a lot of focus hunt then it really shows up.

Cheers, Simon

Hi All,

Here is the footage from the Endeavour/FX7. It is the first time I have uploaded a video using Veoh.com. It doesn't really do it justice in definition and it seems to have scrunched it up to 4:3 The original was a 150mb *.wmv file for just under 3 minutes!

This is all "as shot" with the 94 degree port, MWB with the rest on auto. I have tried to add a range of footage from bright open to enclosed caves. I also included a shot where we went through a tunnel at 3m having MWB'd at 15m with the CC filter. I switched from manual to auto WB leaving the filter in place. I was impressed with my wife's "knees bent" fin action that did not stir up the sand The night shots were with a pair of 10w Niterider HID lights, on AWB.

Does anyone know how to upload in 16:9?

Cheers Roger

[veoh]v1284514cKtzTPCS[/veoh]

Great demo clip Roger. It shows the great color and lighting range of the camcorder. I really liked the shots with the sunlight rays penetrating the water column and the wide angle shot of the wreck was cool. That Amphibico lens should serve you well. The switch between AWB and MWB was nice for people questioning if they need MWB.

Glad to see another happy FX7 owner. They are going for around $2,500 USD now. Add a quality Amphibico or Gates housing and you have a combination that is hard to beat.

Veoh streamed the video fine. I like Stage6Divx for high resolution. I use the Dr. Divx program to convert my raw m2t files to divx files. Only trick is to change the m2t extension to mpg so Dr. Divx can recognize it.

The stage6divx site streams very well with my cable internet connection.

Good work Roger.

That water looks nice and blue.

The camera certainly shoots underwater well by the looks of that.

Encode a clip out like 320/180 or 640/320 and make sure your pixel aspect ratio is set to 1.1 on the encoder and then they will look like 16.9.

Yes the Phenom port really does a good job, most of the time I'm locked off on full wide as it has a very good focus range when your fstop is towards the high end of the scale.

If you like, PM me and I'll give you some FTP details to load up the large wmv to my server.