Sony HDR-HC3 and Gates housing review

I purchased a Sony HDR-FX1 HDV video camera for a project I was working on and also a Sony HDR-HC3 HDV video camera for the times I did not want to lug the FX-1 around – when shooting friends, family, picnics and other occasions where no high end FX-1 features would be needed.

One of the main reasons for getting a Sony HDR-HC3 was for underwater video of course. Weight and size restrictions for luggage, coupled with the fact that I prefer to take as much equipment with me as possible were natural factors I considered. So I bought the HDR-HC3 and then sat back and waited for housings to arrive.

The first few housings that were released for the Sony HDR-HC3 had electronic controls, including a couple of housings that looked real small and therefore very appealing. But I have a personal bias towards limiting electronics as much as possible in my equipment. Yes this is a rather parochial view, especially in light of all the other electronics all of us who dive carry, particularly when shooting photographs or video, but I just feel better when there is one less thing that can go wrong. (Though of course push button controls and external monitors due have many pluses also, but right now simpler and smaller meets my immediate needs.)

I have shot with Gates housings often and have owned one of their models for the last few years, so from the beginning I knew I was leaning to another one of their housings. Being anxious to get the Sony HDR-HC3 beneath the waves, I came close to buying one of the housings that were in release prior to the Gates housing, but held off until Gates released their model.

Gates Housings are designed with easily interchangeable port/lenses – there is a macro, standard and a couple of wide angle varieties for the Sony HDR-HC3 housing. I thought about saving some money and just purchasing a standard port, but threw caution to the wind and decided to get the Fathom WP25 Wide Angle Port (80 Degree underwater view, no distortion and no vignetting. Multiplication of ~.65). I knew I was going to dive Cenotes and a wreck while in Mexico. There are also Eagle Rays, Stingrays, Turtles and some other large marine life, so I figured the wide angle was the way to go. Though I never see many sharks in Mexico, I thought the wide angle would be nice to have in case I saw the nurse shark that periodically shows up.

As the Sony HDR-HC3 housing and the lens arrived my first initial impressions were good ones. Looking at and handling the housing reveals how well it is made. It is made out of machined aluminum (anodized) and has a very solid feel. The latching mechanisms, though easy to use, seal tight and secure and it was obvious they were not going to be disengaged, even accidentally, underwater. No relying on ambient water pressure to keep things tight, like I have read about some other housings.

The housing is basic in design with access to the major physical controls on the Sony HDR-HC3. The LCD menu items on the Sony HDR-HC3 are for the most part not accessible. It would be nice to be able access to the "one push" white balance feature of the Sony HDR-HC3. On the other hand, the roller control, which includes access to manual white balance shift, is easily accessible.

The controls are:

• On/Off
• Record
• Zoom
• Picture
• Access to the Manual Dial, which allows you to set Focus, Exposure and White Balance Shift
• Internal Flip Filter

The housing is designed in order to view the LCD monitor through the housing. Though other housings may be smaller, which is accomplished by using flip mirrors or by attaching external monitors, the Gates housing was still very portable even though it is designed to have the LCD monitor open.

I was able to pack my Pelican 1510, a carry-on size rolling case, with the Gates housing, the WP25 wide angle port, some video tape, handles, a Hartenberger Nano Light, Ultralight Arms plus an Ikelite 8080 housing and arm, an Olympus 8080, strobe and synch cord. Of course if you are just shooting video, there is a ton of room. Also to save even more room (or a couple of $$), you can just buy a standard port which is smaller in diameter and depth.

The size of the housing is as follows:

7.5" D x 5.5" H x 9.8" W (15" w/handles)
19 cm L x 14 cm H x 25 cm W (38 cm w/handles)

Above water the unit is about 7.5 lbs / 3.5 kg and beneath the waves slightly negative. It is also depth rated to 450 ft/ 137 Meters. The housing also comes with a 2 year renewable warranty.

As I arrived in Mexico and I began shooting photos the first day, but after that shot mostly video (expensive new toy syndrome). I brought along a couple of batteries for the Sony HDR-HC3, including a battery with 170 minutes of time (the housing has room for any battery) and a charger. This was my housing setup procedure:

• Place the camera on a tray and screw the camera to the tray
• Pull the controls out from the housing
• Put the camera in housing and open LCD
• Attach the back of the housing
• Test the controls to make sure everything is working, the battery is charged and run some shots as leader on the tape.
• Attach the handles to the housing

The whole process is quick and painless (took longer to write the steps then actually do the steps.) I used the housing for more than two dozen dives, and had only to reposition the camera once or twice when it did not line up properly. Gates includes a very straight forward manual for the setup and care of the housing.

Due to its size the unit was easy to get in and out of the water. It's easy to roll into the water, have the housing handed to me, clip it on the BCD and go. This is one big advantages of the Sony HDR-HC3/Gates combo. Underwater the housing was balanced and easy to handle, with a lot less strain/hand fatigue then carrying around the photo rig. Prior to the dive I had small reservations about the handles on the housing, due to the positioning the left side is slightly ahead of the right side, but once I actually used the housing I never noticed it. The controls were easy to use and reach, and worked smoothly and responsively. The only thing I had to be aware of was my left hand (which is big and clunky). Sometimes it would hit the zoom control when I was diving, but it was not a major issue for the most part.
The housing was extremely easy to handle and maneuver with. No adjustments to make, weights to add or other modifications needed to make the unit "divable." It was fine straight out of the box. I never felt it pull or roll, nor did I have to otherwise compensate for carrying it.

And the lens held up all promises - it's sharp and clear. I took a laptop and an iPod on the trip with me and made some quick movies after each day of diving. Even with the compression to fit the movies onto the iPod, then outputting to the television from the iPod, it was obvious that the lens was sharp. Going over some footage at home, I noticed a shot that I took from 55 feet down up to the surface, with the camera at its widest setting, and I was able to see a dive flag clearly on our boat. Below is a section of the footage, cropped from an exported frame, which is about 1/6th of the total frame:
Along the lines of how sharp the lens was - the footage could be enlarged in Final Cut and hold very good quality. Of course artifacts can occur with scaling, but on many clips I was able to enlarge sections to the "real" size to compensate the wide angle multiplication of ~.65.

One issue I found was that the lens seemed to be slightly prone to having bubbles from time to time, at least compared to my other housing, but after the first day of becoming more accustomed to the rig, it seemed to be less of an issue. (I am still going through footage but the first pass looks good so far.)

I was a bit concerned with having a wide angle in case I saw small critters, but that is always a dilemma about which port/lens to bring on a dive. Though even with the wide angle lens I was able to zoom in and getting close and nice results. Not true macro, but good enough that I was able to get some memories.

The only other issue I ran into was that the camera (and the recording light) sometimes would reflect into the lens from the inside (at least it seemed so). Remember to turn off the recording light, especially when diving in real low light.

One downside of the trip itself was mother nature. There is usually great sunlight and about 100ft something visibility when I dive in Mexico. This time it was a lot more overcast, and often we were in water that had poor visibility and very green.

As mentioned above I knew I would be diving a wreck and in Cenotes, so I needed a good light system. In the past I carried some UK D4s with diffusers (good budget item), but wanted to get smaller and lighter equipment. The concept of hauling yet another battery pack for lights to attach to the housing did not appeal to me, so I looked for units that had internal batteries. I purchased a smaller light designed for video/photo modeling. (The Gates housing easily accepts Ultra Light arms via a ball adapter which screws right into the top of the handles.)
This light was a bit larger and heavier (1.3lbs/0.6kg on land and about 0.4lbs/0.2kg water) than another brand I looked at (mostly due to its metal construction, as oppossed to plastic), did not have an infinite amount of variable light via a dial (only four settings) and in theory did not have as long of a battery life as the first light. But those items which gave me pause went away quickly.

The light seemed to have longer battery life than it was rated, was easy to control/lock/unlock with the switch (though sometimes I had it positioned upside down so had to reverse my hand movements) and charged very quickly. The LEDs were positioned on the back of the unit, as were the controls, so they were always facing me and immediately visible to see what was going on.
Another big plus for the Hartenberger Nano Light you do not have to open the unit up and remove a battery to charge it. It is designed so that the charging contacts (female plugs, shown below) are on the back of the unit and all you do is remove the excess water and plug the connections from the charger right into the unit without opening a thing - come back from the dive and plug the light in. Done. No fuss or mess. (Of course there is the charger, which is not a huge wall wart, but not small. ) You can also store replacement bulbs in the top of the light itself.

The burn time for the light with a 20w lamp (which seemed a lot brighter than my older 18w lights) is rated as follows: Power Time 50% 130 Minutes 75% 100 Minutes 100% 65 Minutes 125% 50 Minutes Double the times for 10w Lamps.

I am very happy with the Gates and the Sony HDR-HC3 - the overall price/size/performance is a great balance. If I could change anything on the Gates, it would be to add the ability for one touch white balance, and perhaps add stiffer handles. The handles I had on my older housing were stiffer and I became very used to them.

One last thing, the still photo control was a bit inconsistent, it seems that has to be positioned fairly precisely. Not a huge deal - though the camera can take stills when shooting video (up to 3 stills between starting and stopping recording) I found myself not using it much. If I am taking photos, I take my photo gear. If I am taking video, I take my video gear. For the most part you can get the stills captured later by playing back the video in the camera and pressing the photo button on the camera. I did capture some stills that way later on. The Whale Shark photo in this article was "taken" via this method.

And if you are looking for a small video/photo light have a serious look at the Hartenberger Nano Light. My only possible criticism is that the handle could be slight smaller or detachable. But ultimately that is not a real issue.

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