Taking the digital dive

From the Jacques Cousteau documentaries of the Sixties to the Titanic live-shots of today, audiences have long been fascinated by the undersea world. Combine that fact with the proliferation of documentary-oriented cable networks and the accessibility of underwater housings for affordable digital camcorders, and you have what video professionals call a business opportunity.

Understand from the outset that shooting underwater footage requires an understanding ofand healthy respect for-what is, in fact, a very dangerous environment. Anyone planning a serious underwater shoot should be scuba-certified, professionally trained, and fully aware of what they're getting into.

That being said, let's take a look at some of the underwater housings that are available for Sony's DCR-VX1000 DV camcorder. Although not "officially" a professional product, the VX1OO offers better-than-Betacam images at far less cost. VIDEOGRAPHY has reported on the professional uses of this camera in several past issues (not to mention this month's "Affordable Documentary Production: DV in the Snows of Aspen," page 118), and on the Canon XL 1, which has further redefined the new level of price-performance in digital video acquisition.

Getting Down

The request was simple enough: A dive/kayak tou operator friend of a friend in Hawaii wanted some inexpensive, high - quality footage promos, training, and cable TV spot. It was also a perfect opportunity to test out five of today's most innovative underwater housings for the VX1000.

During the flight over from California I pondered the scope of the underwater production opportunity. In addition to the market for documentaries on undersea life there's also marineresources documentation for federal and state agencies, underwater insurance hull surveys of yachts and ships, the production of instructional videos on scuba diving, kayaking, surfing, and other water sports-the list goes on.

The last time I had used an underwater housing I was in the U.S. Navy maneuvering a bulky Betacam housing. I learned back then that getting great images underwater has as much to do with the camera operator and his or her swimming abilities as it does with location, lighting, discipline, skill, and serendipity. Although that part hasn't changed, the gear has gotten much easier to use and the Mini-DV format of the VX1000 offers a full hour of recording time.

Gates PVDV-1000

The people at Gates Underwater...