L&M Stingray II HD/ Sony HC7/9

Hi All-

I'm thinking of a new L&M housing with an HC 7 or HC 9 having recently seen one at a dive show. I'll primarily be shooting Great Lakes wrecks (dark - green). Is there a problem not being able to manually white balance? I'll also probably use the two 25 watt halogen lights that L&M sells after seeing so-so results with a filter and no lights.

Thanks for any help.

Chris

The HC7 is horrible if you can't get access to MWB, but with MWB it can been a great little cam even in green water. I found that AWB works well with HID lights, but this is really only viable for macro or very close up shots within 3 feet or so. Just my opinion, but I've done probably close to 100 hours underwater with the HC7 in all kinds of conditions and wouldn't recommend anyone buying a housing without a MWB function.

Cheers, Simon

I can't believe L&M's new Stringray housing doesn't have a manual W/B button!

I checked the site and didn't see anything about one on the new Stingray, but it IS listed on their new Bluefin housing for the HC7. We had a couple people on our recent Revillagigedos trip that had the new Bluefin HC7's but now the two battery pods stick way out past the front of the housing. They are the same battery pods from the older longer Bluefins. I have two older Bluefin housings, one for my PD100 (TR700) and one for our A1U (HC1) <mother of all low light under-performers> and manual W/B is essential. That's what drove us crazy at first trying to get the A1 to W/B. We found some tricks that helped here at the forum. The Bluefin HC7 would manual W/B, but see it with the light pods on it first. It is pretty half a**ed looking to me. Hopefully they will come up with pods to match the body of the new Bluefin and Stringray. John

The HC7 is horrible if you can't get access to MWB, but with MWB it can been a great little cam even in green water. I found that AWB works well with HID lights, but this is really only viable for macro or very close up shots within 3 feet or so. Just my opinion, but I've done probably close to 100 hours underwater with the HC7 in all kinds of conditions and wouldn't recommend anyone buying a housing without a MWB function.

 

Cheers, Simon

I'm not clear. How do you really feel???

I've been reading that the HC7 isn't all that good in low light. What seems to be

the HD camera of choice for low light? I also see that the HC7 doesn't have a manual

iris or if it does, it's hard to access. That would be a bad thing.

It doesn't matter what camera or housing, for underwater shooting, MWB is crucial IMHO.

Hi Chris,

While I agree that MWB is a very important feature, I understand if you don't want to spend big $$ for the BlueFin housing. More if you want to get lights too. Not everyone can swing it. But that doesn't meant that you shouldn't buy anything. There is a good housing for every budget.

Since the Stingray is a universal housing made to fit a variety of cameras (very cool), it can not have such specific controls as mwb and exposure. (believe it or not John) That's just part of the deal.

It takes a model specific housing like the BlueFin to do that. But it costs more and will only fit the HC7/9. Which is the better housing? The BlueFin of course. But if you can't afford that, you're still allowed to have fun shooting uw video with another housing. Lot's of people shoot Stingrays and Dive Buddies and get good results. (AWB only)

The HC7 is not the greatest low light camera every made, but it does well for what it is. I've seen good uw imgages from it and others of it's type. You'd have to step up to an FX1 camera to see any real improvement and again, that's big $$. (plus size, travel weight, etc.) It's not for everyone.

But according to your post, you're going to be in low light, green water most of the time, right? Well, that means that you won't have a lot of ambient light so MWB is not as important to you. If most of your light is artificial, then the awb will work pretty well. Embrace the green around you, it's a good color. And have fun shooting wrecks!

my $.02

Danb

Oh, and John, the extra pod length may look bad to you, but would you really want it shorter? That would mean a smaller battery and shorter burn time. That's not better.

Actually I think the reason the Stingray HD doesn't have MWB is that L&M can't figure out how to do it via LANC. Or not at that price. As far as I know the only one who does is Aditech with their Mangrove housing.

I'm guessing L&M is just re-using the electronics from the Stingray III with a new port. So no MWB.

Even the Bluefin does MWB mechanically with a control that touches the LCD screen through the port on the side. (watch the video..)

I see they're finally showing the Bluefin with the new monitor back on the website.

I think the majority here will tell manual W/B is essential. If you can't afford a housing that has access to it then at least you can make an informed choice. My surprise at LM's new Stringray not having it was because I've always liked their products and thought they would find a way to include it on their new housings. A ziplock will also fit a variety of cameras. Like the battery pods non solution, I just expected better from them (believe it or not DanB). The HC7 sounds like a good deal, you should try to find a housing that will get the most from it. John