Hi All:
Linked below is a video from the 18 Fathom and City of Houston wrecks off Wilmington North Carolina (USA) on January 5. Aquatic Safaris in Wilmington NC was the operator. This was my second trip with them and they have a GREAT operation.
The camera I'm using is a Sony DCR-VX2000 (SDV) in a Gates Housing with a Fathom SWP. I've received GREAT advice from folks on this board (THANKS) but I still had a bunch of noobie "issues" and head smacks on this trip (it was my first ocean dive with a video system):
Immediately after getting in the water, the red filter slipped down partially then fully in front of the lens and I didn't know it.
I didn't spend a minute clearing the port of bubbles, so the first 5 minutes of tape had "specks."
I had problems with the MWB controls on the first dive. I was shooting at F 4.8, 1/60 SS with MWB. One control impinged the MWB dial and I was unable to re-balance during the dive (hence the "dark" look). I eventually switched off the manual exposure control and the camera immediately overexposed a portion of the first dive (NICK, I really need to make your set-up for the Gates Housing!). On the second dive, I just started to get things working when the battery died even though the meter said 200 minutes (sigh). Viz on the first dive was about 50 FT, dropping to 20 FT on the second with moderate current.
Nevertheless, I was VERY pleased with the results. When I play the tape on a plain old 4:3 SD TV, it looks AWESOME. The dark shots are all deep blue but very clear and many of the fish shots look great. YouTube doesn't do it any justice.
The one thing that REALLY amazed me about this first experience was how task loaded I was shooting video. My focus was completely on what I was doing and I actually had to remind myself to check gauges, gas, etc. I was diving dry with doubles, probably not the best choice for my first ocean test but there wasn't much I could do about it. I didn't get to see any of the dive until I watched the video, LOL!
I threw together what I had in iMovie without really trying any timing transitions. I like the song and I had to stretch some of the clips a little long for fill. Transitions in 5 to 10 seconds or less really keep things moving and I like that. Hopefully, my skills will improve!
Anyway, it was GREAT fun and I really look forward to doing more. I'm HOOKED!
