SKIN DIVER MAGAZINE1992

U/W HOUSING

AMPHIBICAUNIVERSAL V-80

LSFORWVDEOGRAPHER

Amphibico's V-801 operates using a different concept in video nousings—electronic controls. Because no mechanical controls touch thecamera, you don't have to worry about damaging delicate camera con-trols or aligning the control knobs. There is also less chance of flooding.

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHYBY JACK AND SUE DRAFAHL

One of the drawbacks to housingcamcorders is that each camera

control has to align with a gland in thehousing in order to utilize the camera'sfull capability. There is a chance of dam-aging delicate camera controls, as wellas a potential for flooding, owing to thenumber of through-housing glands. Am-phibico's answer to these problemscomes in the form of a different conceptof video housings—electronic controls.

Using the remote control jack found onmany of the newer cameras, Amphibicohas created a housing that has no me-chanical controls that touch the camera.The camera and housing are joined by asimple plug-in connector. Using thiselectronic control, the housing now be-

44 SKIN DIVER JANUARY 1992

comes as versatile as the cam-era itself.

Speaking of the camera,the Sony CCD-V-801 of-fers new tools to the un-derwater videographer.With this Hi 8 camerathe reproduction quality isexcellent. Another plus is thatyou can put a time code on the originalmaster cassette. This becomes usefulwhen it comes time to edit as you canedit direct from the master. Usually youneed to make a copy of the master witha time code for editing, consequently,this unique feature will save you onegeneration.

Another feature of the Sony CCD-V-801is the 10x zoom on the camera. This al-lows for maximum magnification in thoseclose-up images. Enough said about the

cam-era, let'stalk about thehousing that takes it tothe depths of the ocean.

AMPHIBICAM UNIVERSAL V-801This compact white housing has a

unique bayonet lens mount system,which includes a high quality wide angle

adapter, optical dome port and extendedlens hood. If you need to remove the lensassembly, pull slightly and turn it to theright. Once the assembly is removed, youcan grease the O-ring or attach a differentlens assembly.

The front of the main aluminum bodyalso has two smaller ports for externalsound and an audible moisture alarm.The external sound mike is electricallyattached to the camera and eliminates

Above: The lens assembly is easy toremove—simply pull and turn it to theright. Right: The external mike iselectrically attached and eliminatesthe sounds of the camera. Below:Video lights are easily mounted onthe housing's handles. Atop the cam-era is an external monitor housing.

the sounds of the camera operating in-side the housing. The optional audiblesound alarm is attached to a separateelectronic system inside the housing andwill detect the slightest amount of water.A standard moisture detector comeswith the housing and displays a fastblinking red light through the plexiglassport on top of the housing.

Two lightweight handles are bolted tothe side of the housing. Each of these us-es a single bolt and an interlocking slot toensure a solid attachment to the housing.For shipping, these handles can be re-moved easily with an alien wrench, sup-plied with the housing. The tops of thesehandles also serve as platforms formounting external video lights. Each han-dle has a very comfortable anatomicalgrip, allowing easy handling of the hous-ing and access to the camera controls.

In front of each of these handles youwill find two camera controls. They aredouble O-ring sealed through the hous-

ACCESSORIES

Video Light PAC II $875Video Light PAC I $595Close-up Kit $349Surface Umbilical Cable (100')...$315Flat Port $218Nikonos Mount $94Audible Moisture Alarm $92Nikonos Strobe Mount ...$39

ing walls and connect to a circuit boardinside the top of the housing. Activation ofany of these controls causes an electron-ic signal that goes through the circuitboard and then through the remote ca-ble, attached to the remote jackon the camera.

Depressing the top control near theright handle activates the camera. A redlight will blink once through the plexiglassport on the top of the housing. Depress-ing the lever a second time starts the

camera recording. The red lightwill continuously blink as longas the camera is in the recordfunction. Depressing the leveror pulling it back will instantlychange from record to standby.If you leave the camera instandby for more than oneminute, it will turn off to con-serve battery power. To turn itback on, simply depress thelever twice.

The bottom right control al-lows manual focus. Pressingdown on this control focusesthe lens closer, while lifting upon it allows focusing on moredistant subjects. This control iselectronically disconnected

KEY FEATURES

• Full electronic control of camera• Compact aluminum housing• Bayonet mount lens system• High quality optics and ports• Moisture detector• External sound recording• Quick disconnect handles• Both manual and autofocus• Accepts four types of Sonycamcorders: CCD-V-801 Hi Band,CCD-V-101 Hi Band, CCD-F-77and CCD-F-55

when the camera is in autofocus.The top lever on the left side of the

housing controls the zoom function.Pressing forward on the control zoomsthe lens to telephoto focal lengths, whilepulling back on it turns the lens towide angle focal lengths. A speciallocking device can be attached tothe control so you can zoom the lens

(Continued on next page)

SKIN DIVER JANUARY 1992 45

AMPHIBICAM

into macro function. When the cam-era is in the macro position, autofo-cus is automatically disabled.

The bottom control on the left side per-forms several tasks. Pressing down al-lows you to switch from autofocus tomanual and back again. In the manualposition, you use the bottom control onthe right side of the housing. Pushing thelever up allows you to select white bal-ance for indoor and outdoor situations.

The housing's back plate is attached

securely with two stainless steel catchand strike latches. The main housing hasa sloped O-ring surface, so maximumcontact is possible. A variable focus mag-nifier is mounted to the back plate, allow-ing full frame viewing.

The bottom of the housing has twosizes of tripod sockets, slots for weightsand four small rubber legs so you can setthe housing down without damaging thesurface you set it on.

INSTALLING THE CAMERACamera preparation requires remov-

ing the lens hood, cover, magnifier andthe camera's accessory shoe. A small

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clamp furnished by Amphibico is at-tached to the zoom macro, so the cam-era can be continuously zoomed fromtelephoto to macro without making anychanges. Attach the external sound jackto the front of the camera and the re-mote jack to the rear.

A large metal plate is then attached tothe base of the camera. The camera andbaseplate slide into a slot in the bottom ofthe housing. A small latch at the back ofthe camera plate keeps the camera inplace. Electrical connection is tested bypressing the power lever on the right sideof the housing. If you have a red light, youare ready to close the back of the hous-ing. After placing the back in the correctposition, you close both clamps at thesame time.

LENS OPTIONSAmphibico's V-801 housing comes

with three possible lens options and twotypes of lens ports. The 120 and 100 de-gree three element lenses are for wideangle subjects and are used with the highresolution dome port. The .6x close-uplens should be used for subjects only afew feet away and includes the extendedflat port with a +1, +2, +3 diopter set.

UMBILICAL CONNECTIONSIf you want to use the camera on an

umbilical cable, you can order cables upto 1,000 feet long. This cable is attachedto the housing via a bulkhead connec-tor.(Keep in mind that the housing isdepth rated to 350 feet.)

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OFAMPHIBICAM V-801

For quick and easy use we found youcould set the camera on autofocus, zoomto wide angle and then press to record.When you find fish you can't get close to,you can zoom to telephoto and set thecontrols to autofocus. If you are swim-ming through kelp or soft coral, we foundthat turning the autofocus off and usingmanual worked much better. If you wantto pan from a diver to a close-up in oneshot, you leave the autofocus on with thelens in a wide angle position. As you panfrom a diver to a close-up, slowly zoomfrom wide angle to macro. When the lensgoes into macro, the autofocus turns off,so the focus can't drift. For general usewe found that the record/standby switchon the right and the zoom control on theleft were the most accessible and themost commonly used controls.

CONCLUSIONSA key feature of the V-801 housing is its

electronic camera controls. Because nomechanical controls touch the camera,you don't have to worry about heavy'hands damaging the camera or aligningthe control knobs. The housing is com-

46 SKIN DIVER JANUARY 1992

fortable to hold and the viewfinder is easyto see through. The quality of the SonyCCD Hi 8 camera, combined with theprofessional look and feel of the housing,create an excellent tool for the underwa-ter videographer.

Amphibico has recently introducedan external monitor housing that can beinstalled in minutes on the top of anyAmphibico housing. The use of a moni-tor greatly assists in achieving correctlight balance, subject bracketing andfine focus.

For further information about the Am-phibicam V-801 contact Amphibico Inc.,9563 Cote de Liesse, Dorval, Quebec,Canada H9P1A3; (514)636-9910. w>

ADVANCED DIVING(Continued from Page 18)

than normal•Questioning if you ate some bad foodat the last meal

• Having trouble assembling yourusual equipment

If any of these symptoms occur, then itis time to catch yourself and ask "What'sreally going on here?" You are clearly not insync with the pre-dive activities. Some-times all it takes is being aware that you arefeeling rushed or uncomfortable. This al-lows you to "take 10" and regroup. Figureout what is bugging you, change the situa-

tion if possible or decide how to bettercope with what you cannot change.

If you brought some angry or unsettledfeelings with you from home or work, men-tally isolate those thoughts. Once you real-ize you are feeling rushed and crabby be-cause your boss chewed you out at theend of the work day, it is easier to putthose feelings aside and consciously re-place them with positive thoughts aboutthe pleasurable dive that is upcoming.

Level with your dive buddy about thestress you are feeling. His/her commentsand support may interject some humor andsympathy. Once tuned in to your anxiety,your buddy can be supportive—plus it mayreduce his or her stress, especially if he/shehas been on the receiving end of your cut-ting comments. Talking out problems with asympathetic friend often puts the issue inclearer perspective. Dealing with self-stressbegins with your own intellectual recogni-tion that things aren't right. It can be nippedin the bud by taking actions to change theirritant or answer the doubt.

When diving with a group, peer pres-sure can cause stress. The competition toget in the water first or catch the biggestlobster or dive deeper or longer or make itthrough the biggest surf can be intimidat-ing. You can play the game or you can bean individual. Sometimes standing up forhow you want to dive, especially when itconflicts with the group, is the mark of a

leader who sets the standard and earnsthe respect of his/her peers. Enlist yourbuddy as an ally in stating what you're go-ing to do when there is pressure to exceedyour personal limits.

Sometimes the other parts of your lifeare admittedly stressful. Family, job andmoney worries can make you want to getaway from it all and going diving is a tempo-rary escape. That's fine—if you can com-partmentalize the problems, thus leaving awindow for some untroubled time.

If you ignore the pre-dive mental andphysical stress messages and enterthe water, then the in-water multipliereffect begins. The liquid environmentand dive gear compound the situationand a domino-like effect can begin.

IN-WATER STRESS SIGNALSFollowing are some common signals

that a scuba diver is experiencing stress:• Hard breathing or feeling as if youaren't getting enough oxygen

•Feeling as if your stomach is tied ina knot

•Pounding heartbeat•Cramps for no apparent reason•Trouble clearing your ears (if this

is atypical)•Wetsuit constriction coming on duringthe dive

•Darting eyes making it hard to focuson the intended activity or failure to

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