Problem with Gates HC 7 Housing and Fathom 110

Hello,

I´m back from a great Malpelo Trip last week and I made good Footage. Problem is, that on most of my Footage what I made with my gates HC 7 Housing with Fathom 110 Degree Lense, I find Reflection from the Camcorder HC 7 in the Video. That looks not nice.

Anybody knows this Problem and has a Idea what I can do.

Best regards

Michael

Can you explain "reflection" a little more clearly.

Do you mean a constant red reflection ( tally light left on ) or is the issue only occasional ?

Did the problem happen with all ports or only the Fathom ?

Was it only in the shallows or ar all depths ?

Hello,

the Reflection is mostly in shallow Waters or with good Light. The Reflection is from the Camera not only from a light.. Refelection from the Camera Body Front.

I have only the Fathom Lense, but in my Light&Motion HC 7 Housing I dont have this Problem.

Thanks Michael

Disclosure: I work for Gates Underwater Products

From what you describe this is a reflection from the silver band around the front face of the camera lens. The easy solution is a black marker or electrical tape to mask the silver band. There are others as well, so if you contact me directly we'll see to a suitable resolution.

Sincerely,

John

I had a similar problem with an older Gates housing that I used strictly for filming piranha in the Amazon. I was shooting very shallow(only a few feet) with the cam aimed upwards. When viewing my footage I could see the entire focus ring and the reflection of the lens itself. Unfortunately, I was not able to shift positions to make sure the sun was behind me, but if I had been able to, the problem might never had existed. Never had that problem with any of my several Gates housings. I do not think it was a fault or problem with the housing itself but probably a matter of light refraction with the sun bouncing off the lens and then reflecting off the inside of the housing port. John may be correct that using a flat (not glossy) black tape may help but that would not alter any reflections off of the cam lens itself. If you are shooting shallow and upward, if you can, always be sure that the sun is behind you.

Steve B)

I noticed a similar problem with my HC-7 Gates housing in shallow water. I think it is actually light entering the viewfinder window and reflecting off the silver barrel and then reflecting off the lens port. If you hold the housing (with camera inside) up in bright light and look through the front port, you can see the reflection off of the barrel. I remedied this problem by folding a piece of black paper so that it rested behind the LCD viewfinder and blocked the light entering from the back of the housing. I also screwed in a black 37 to 52 mm step up ring from my old EWA housing and this also blocked light from the back of the housing. I am not sure which fix was most effective, but after implementing both, I never noticed the problem again.

Pat

Michael,

I think I know what you mean. I have the same housing and WP25 Fathoms port (80 degree FOV) and not the SWP port.

Does the reflection look like this?

I put some black matted tape around the front of the HC7 lens front and that seems to have solved the problem (haven't noticed it in any of my footage so far).

To darken up the silver of the HC7 barrel that was showing up thru my SWP25, I used a Sharpie Rub-a-Dub Laundry Marker. I only needed to cover the inside bevel, since that is all that shown thru. And it won't wash off if I flood the housing