Welcome to my Video Web Page.

I've been a scuba diver since 1992, but I have been shooting underwater video only since 2004. All my work so far has been in Cozumel Mexico. I started with a very simple, and relatively inexpensive camcorder and housing, and as I have gotten more experience, I have worked my way up to ever more costly rigs.

You are invited to view my Quicktime files by clicking on the blue links below. I would welcome any comments or salutations that you might wish to send via email at uwvideo@chuckwilliams.com

Sony TRV19 - I used this camera to shoot diving videos during the years 2004 and 2005. I housed it in an Amphibico Dive Buddy Mini, a very small rig that I could let go of and allow to dangle by the wrist lanyard. I used Apple iMovie to edit the movies, and had a good time with it. I kept telling myself not to worry about the image quality issues, and just have fun. But As time went by, I lost my grip on reality, and started lusting after one of the new generation of hi-definition camcorders.

Sony HC7 - This was my first hi-def camera. The single CMOS delivered an excellent image when used in bright lighting. I used the camera in an Amphibico Dive Buddy Elite housing, who's controls failed on the third dive. I sent the housing back to Amphibico, and in the meantime became unhappy with the underwater image quality that I had gotten from the HC7. The problem with the housing turned out to be a slight quirk that many of the Amphibico housings share. If you don't turn on the camcorder before you put it in the housing, it will work, but it can eventually cause the controls to fail. The image quality issue that bothered me involved a greenish cast and a nasty sort of posterization around the highlights. So after only three dives with the HC7, I purchased a Sony A1, and Amphibico upgraded my housing to one that included a button on the right side that could be assigned to the manual white balance.

Sony A1 - In June of 2007, I went to Cozumel and stayed for six weeks. I dove every other day for a total of twenty diving days. I made a lot of progress in my desire to produce pro level video, although I have no intention to make a living with it. The quality of the video shot on the last few days is far and away better than that of the first few. I learned quite a bit more about UW video in that six weeks, than I probably ever would have, had I only come down for a week at a time. The largest improvement came from figuring out how to set a manual white balance at depth. In many cases this removes the blue color shift that occurs under water, and the result was truly amazing. I still have quite a bit of great footage that I have not edited, so there will definitely be more coming online in the future.

Sony FX1 - The CMOS chip in the A1 does a very nice job under water, in good light, but showed an unacceptable amount of noise in low light situations. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that the housing did not give me the ability to control the exposure, so when the light got low the camera would crank up the gain until the noise level was off the charts. I had a lot of otherwise great footage that was ruined by this... so I went completely insane and bought a Sony FX1 and an Amphibico Phenom housing. I also upgraded my editing software to Final Cut Pro. On the 19th of December I came back down to Cozumel and rented an apartment. My web design work has kept me very busy so I'm only just starting to use the new rig. So far, I can tell you one thing. This thing is large. But, my main objectives in buying this camera are proving achievable. The low light response is great, and the housing lets me control almost everything on the camera. Also the large mass of the housing tends to smooth out my movements. So far I'm happy.

But, why am I doing this? Spending so much money, moving to Mexico? All I know is that I am driven to do something creative underwater. I still have a long way to go, but I'm getting there. So, stay tuned for more.