The new Sony HDR-CX550

Hey guys,

I got my Sanyo Xacti 1010 about a year ago, and all the time I'm not really satisfied with the performance of autofocus and manual white balance setting.

Today I found out that Sony is releasing a new camcorder HRD-CX550 and XR550 (for those that prefer no internal HDD).

Check out the specs - it starts at 29mm wide ! That seems really nice especially for close-up shots of wrecks and divers.

Would love to see whether it works with Equinox HD 6 case, as it comes with 0,46x wide lens. If anyone is planning to get this camcorder, please share some results.

I would like to buy Sony XR550 too with Light and Motion Housing. As I am new to the underwater video taking, appreciate if there is advice of the port of Light & Motion. Will the port of Fathom 65 wet good enough to shot Humpback Whale? Or shall I need to buy Fathom WP90 in which is more expensive? Thanks!

Hey guys,

 

I got my Sanyo Xacti 1010 about a year ago, and all the time I'm not really satisfied with the performance of autofocus and manual white balance setting.

 

Today I found out that Sony is releasing a new camcorder HRD-CX550 and XR550 (for those that prefer no internal HDD).

Check out the specs - it starts at 29mm wide ! That seems really nice especially for close-up shots of wrecks and divers.

 

Would love to see whether it works with Equinox HD 6 case, as it comes with 0,46x wide lens. If anyone is planning to get this camcorder, please share some results.

I would like to buy Sony XR550 too with Light and Motion Housing. As I am new to the underwater video taking, appreciate if there is advice of the port of Light & Motion. Will the port of Fathom 65 wet good enough to shot Humpback Whale? Or shall I need to buy Fathom WP90 in which is more expensive? Thanks!

The new generation of camcorders (I'm using a Panasonic SD700) are proving to be a blessing and a curse in terms of their wider angle lenses. It's a welcome move for the manufacturers to finally offer a decent FOV on the camcorders at the wide end...but now the problem is how to match them up with a housing and a WA underwater lens.

My favourite WA lens of several years won't work with the new Pana (and I suspect with the Sony XR550)...the vignetting is just too much to compensate by zooming. The same is probably true across the range of lenses from different manufacturers. They worked well before with the older camcorders...but be careful and check if they'll work with the new ones. I can confirm that the Fathom WP90 vignettes badly with the Pana TM/SD700...I'd hoped to use it with the housing I'm building for myself.

To cut a long story short, I've opted to use a high quality Pana .6X converter inside the housing shooting through a Subal dome port... So far, so good.

I just joined this forum, do not buy an Equinox for your camera. I did and it is a mess- vignetting on the upper corners, green effect on the video, and when you are close to the surface and try to shoot- you do not see what you are shooting- you see your reflection instead. Equinox sent the housing to me without an On/ Off control,(which they fixed) and now are saying that you cannot use the autofocus with their housing. I think the red filter lens is also sub-par.

I am now researching other housings and see that the rest do not use a dome port, the camera lens is closer to the port, and they seem to shroud the lens so you don't get your reflection back.

They don't seem to get it that some people are not in the water all the time and that it is expensive to go on a dive trip and have these problems. They are refusing to give me back my money.

They have an F rating with the BBB-no wonder.

Hope I am not too late to be of use to you.

Sue

I just joined this forum, do not buy an Equinox for your camera. I did and it is a mess- vignetting on the upper corners, green effect on the video, and when you are close to the surface and try to shoot- you do not see what you are shooting- you see your reflection instead. Equinox sent the housing to me without an On/ Off control,(which they fixed) and now are saying that you cannot use the autofocus with their housing. I think the red filter lens is also sub-par.

 

I am now researching other housings and see that the rest do not use a dome port, the camera lens is closer to the port, and they seem to shroud the lens so you don't get your reflection back.

 

They don't seem to get it that some people are not in the water all the time and that it is expensive to go on a dive trip and have these problems. They are refusing to give me back my money.

 

They have an F rating with the BBB-no wonder.

 

Hope I am not too late to be of use to you.

 

Sue

We would highly recommend the Bluefin from L&M. It is very nice (lots of money) and the macro capability is extremely cool. You can see a video that was shown at the San Francisco Ocean film festival shot with it at

www.blueviews.net

Bill

The new generation of camcorders (I'm using a Panasonic SD700)...

I thought you are using hacked GH1s for everything? No?

susaninvirginia has been contacted by one of our technical support staff and to date our technical support person has not heard from susan. We believe in working through any issues that customers have via email or phone and not in a forum setting, so this will be our last communication on this matter. To date we have sold 146 HD6 housing for this camcorder and this is the only issue we have heard regarding this set up. We have kept communication open and continue to assist the customer.

Eric-I want it made clear that you and your technical department have made it clear that your housing cannot support the auto focus function on the camera. This is surprising since the housing does not have a means to operate the manual focus. So anyone buying your housing should be aware that they cannot use the camera as designed and frankly, many people like me buy a camera for the auto capabilities of focus, exposure, lux, etc. Further- you have not fixed the problem with the vignetting and the issue that the red filter hardly makes any difference.

So far you have suggested that I not use auto focus, but the problem I am having is not that the camera is focussed on particulate in the water.

I should have realized there would be big problems when you failed to put the on/off control on when it was originally shipped. A rookie mistake if ever there was one.

I don't know why it isn't working - there is an assumption that if you say you can house the camera- it will work in the housing. Your company is not meeting that minimal standard and I should get my money back while you work out your issues with this series of Sony Camcorders.

Sue

Sue

Very sorry to hear about your problems. There are a few workarounds to a few of your issues.

Using a dome port is actually a good thing. It overcomes the effects of refraction to bring back wide angle. However, using a dome port without proper spacing etc can make for bad images. Another manufacturer had issues with their dome ports with EX1 housings.

To work around the focus issue, I suggest you go into manual focus and prefocus to 1.5-3ft with the wide angle lens. With a 1/3" or small lens sensor, the DOF should take care of focus for everything behind it. That's for wide angle. You can also zoom in a tad until the vignetting is gone.

Red filters are miracle workers. It merely lowers the blue/green channels so that the red channel can look like it exists. However, to maximize its function, one has to manually white balance. Not sure if the housing allows that. Also it's most useful down to about 45ft, then light absorption makes it harder for the filter to work.

A possible workaround for that is to put WB in daylight mode. Then you can just color correct in post.

These steps aren't the easiest to use but at least you'll get some function out of your camera while you deal with Equinox.

Just realize that crap happens to the best of us. A reputable store recently told me they lost an item I sent for repair but forgot about, but when I asked about it, they said they thought they sent it back but have no shipping records to prove it. Perhaps I'm just too Cali boy but I just find the energy to get mad at them. That item is no long in production so they can't replace even if they wanted to. It's an object and the worse case scenario is you let your credit card handle this. They are pretty decent for disputes like this where they take the item and work with the manufacturer.

Good luck.