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I first learnt to dive back in the 80's, but it wasn't until I persuaded my wife Chris to try diving in February 2005, that we started to dive regularly.
As Chris became more involved with underwater photography, I found that my role as her dive buddy was becoming a case of "twiddling my thumbs" underwater, while waiting for her to take photos.
I therefore decided to invest in a small underwater video camera so that I -
1. Didn't compete with her, and
2. Had something to do while waiting
My primary requirement was a small, compact video rig that was lightweight and easy to handle underwater, while still providing a reasonable image. To this end I first used a Sanyo Xacti C6 camcorder in an Epoque housing.
As I became more competent at shooting video, I became frustrated with the lack of quality I was getting, compared to other videographers shooting in high definition.
I therefore upgraded to my current rig which is a Panasonic HDC-TM200, recording to SD memory card. I have a Mangrove housing, and I have recently added Mangrove LED video lights. This setup still falls into my original mantra of keeping the rig as small and manageable as possible.
If the challenge of shooting the raw video footage isn't enough, I am continually trying to master the various computer video editing programs that are available.
Underwater videography, and all that it involves, is an all consuming hobby for me, and a welcome contrast to my normal day job.
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