I recently switched from my Sea&Sea 1G and underwater housing to a digital video camera manufactured by Bonica, specifically for underwater use. Finally the long awaited moment arrived and the Bonica underwater video camera arrived.
Tony and some fish playing with his camera
Specifications
The camera is compact to say the least, and has a tight fitting silicone skin that enables you to snorkel and play in the pool without the housing as the silicone skin is waterproof to 3 meters. I doubt I will ever test this as what’s the point of having a housing and not using it?
The camera housing looks sturdy and robust, has three clips and a wide, deep-set O ring. The camera has strong specs, resolution of 8MP (3200 X 2400) for stills and 1440 x 1080 HD video. It has a 3x optical zoom and can handle 60 fps in HD.
Storage is on an SD card and it is claimed to be able to handle up to a 32GB SDHC card. I have a 4GB card and a spare which is plenty. Besides, the battery is only able to give about an hour and a half so a battery change can coincide with a card change. The screen is a 2.4 inch and I found it a little difficult to see clearly without a shield of sorts to prevent glare on the window.
Accessories
The accessories I have are a wide angle lens, this must be unscrewed and tightened underwater otherwise an air pocket remains giving you a line across the centre of your movie.
Tony filming a jellyfish at Long Beach
The camera also came with an orange filter for the ocean and a yellow filter for fresh water, an arm for the light and a single 6 diode light. The light has two settings allowing you to either use full power or a setting where you can dial the brightness up or down. It takes 8 AA batteries and I chose Hahnel 2800 NiMH rechargables. I always test batteries before I use them and these babies had my light burning brightly for 3 and a half hours with no sign of letting up. This was test enough. (Remember to leave any underwater lights in water while testing as they may overheat.)
I have attached the wide angle lens cover to the lanyard with a short string. This keeps it from getting lost and keeps it out of the way while filming. I also made a small plastic shroud as a lens shade to reduce the glare and enable me to see the LCD screen a lot easier.
The controls are really easy to use and switching from video to still is one button press. The power button is away from all the others so it is almost impossible to turn it off by mistake. I was a little puzzled as to why the camera comes with two remotes, but hey, I am not complaining.
The quality is exceptional, keeping the camera steady and moving really slow is going to give you really good footage and the auto focus is fast.
Dislikes
The housing hinge pin is showing signs of rust after a short time; this has also happened with every other camera I have. The answer seems to be to remove the pin from time to time, clean it and slide it back in with some silicone.
The swivel on the light arm broke after a few days and I removed one of the two balls it swivels on, as this is adequate for the required angles you my want your light to be at.
The microphone records all the sounds of the zoom and this needs to be fixed during editing. All you do is add a pleasant tune to the movie clip and its all sorted.
Tony filming fish
Verdict
Overall the camera is exceptionally good value and the quality of the footage is amazing.
Footnote
Windows Vista does not handle the file size very well. My computer has 1GB of RAM and this is barely adequate – it is recommended you have at least 2GB… But hey, that’s a Windows issue and not the Bonica.
I am a devoted Sony fan for compact digital cameras – my first (and only to date) digital compact camera was a Sony, and it’s given excellent service and taken brilliant photos over the last five years. Underwater digital photography equipment is very expensive – often in the case of DSLRs the underwater housing costs multiples of what the camera inside costs, and it can be very bulky. I can’t get a marine housing for my existing digital compact camera, and I have had no interest in taking my DSLR underwater – it’s just too big, and I can’t bring myself to spend three times the value of the camera (a Nikon D3000) on a housing.
Sony has been making marine housings for years, and they are small, light and – in the case of the newer models – incredibly easy to operate. Tony has one of the original ones, and I’ve done a few dives with it. On the digital photography dive for my Advanced course at A Frame, I actually gave up in frustration (and had to repeat the dive – first time in my life I’ve had to repeat a class!). We were diving in quite strong surge, and I felt as though I was trying to take pictures out of the window of a moving car. The original Sony housings also have a different button configuration to the newer ones – much stiffer, closer together, and harder to distinguish from one another. I kept turning the camera off instead of pressing the shutter release button.
"How the heck do you work this thing?!" Me trying to figure out the buttons on Tony's old Sony housing at A Frame
After a year of dithering, and wondering whether underwater photography is for me (land-based definitely is), I finally caved and bought a Sony Cybershot DSC-TX5 compact digital still camera with the corresponding MPK-THJ marine housing. I chose the DSC-TX5 partly because the camera itself, minus the housing, is waterproof to 3 metres – so you could theoretically take it snorkelling or in the swimming pool. This gives me a lot of comfort, because if the housing floods (generally not as dramatic an event as it sounds – it’s usually just a few drops of water that leak in, not the whole ocean), I know the electronics won’t necessarily be fried.
The camera also has a respectable optical zoom (4x – I switch off digital zoom because it just degrades picture quality), and a 10-odd megapixel sensor. The LCD is a touch screen, and absolutely massive – very easy to see what you’re focusing on underwater.
The housing is small enough to fit into a tiny Woolworths cooler bag before and after dives (to prevent it from fogging up in the temperature change), and weighs just enough to feel substantial but not too much to feel bulky. It’s quite comfortable hanging from my wrist or a clip on my BCD if my hands are otherwise occupied. I can hold and operate the camera with one hand, which is super if you need to hang onto a rock or piece of kelp for stability with the other!
A still taken from one of Tony's videos, of me and my new Sony DSC-TX5 in its marine housing - note the lever shutter release under my index finger
I’ve used the camera on three sea dives (the first one to 30 metres – a baptism of fire!) and once in a swimming pool so far. It’s a dream. The buttons are responsive and easy to use, even when I am wearing my thick gloves. The shutter release button isn’t actually a button, but a lever that makes it very simple to depress. There can be no confusion with the power on/off button which is great! There are dedicated underwater still and video modes which boost the red, and several white balance settings depending on the water colour – blue, green, etc.
It focuses quickly, and works very well in low light. I am still figuring out macro mode – the camera doesn’t like to be zoomed (4x optical!) and then asked to focus – it prefers to acquire a target, and for the zoom to be activated subsequent to that.
On the deep dive, the flash did cause a fair amount of backscatter – visibility wasn’t great to begin with, and there’s not much light at that depth. But it’s a powerful little flash with a diffuser built into the housing, and the camera battery lasted for approximately 250 photos over two successive dives (in cold water) with the flash firing for every single one, plus about another 50 I took of whales from the boat. The recharge time for the flash is very quick.
Sea anemone on a very sandy dive at Fisherman's Beach - not National Geographic quality yet, but passable!
The only annoyance I have had so far is that I can’t figure out how to switch off the automatic preview after I’ve taken a picture. I generally want to fire off a few shots in succession, not wait around while the camera shows me what I’ve just taken – particulary in the underwater environment, if you miss the shot then it’s gone. The preview also chows battery! It’s not clear whether you can deactivate this feature without going into burst mode, which would deactivate the flash.
I’m looking forward to taking a zillion photos in Sodwana!
So I am sick in bed today while Tony enjoys the sea and southeaster with students. In the absence of my diving fix, I have to rely on the Internet to feed my currently short attention span. Enter Twitter.
To me, Twitter incorporates my favourite feature of Facebook – constant stream of bite-sized news and views – and leaves out all the other guff (Farmville, Zombie Vampire Slayers, Are You Feeling Hot Today?).
It’s not all about socialising and keeping up with your online friends… It’s also useful for news, activism, and informative updates from individuals and organisations whose work interests you. If you want to beef up the list of users you’re following, check out our “followees”!
Make sure your very expensive roller dive bag is suitable. Some of these bags weigh 6 kilograms… empty. I was very proud of this bag when I bought it: huge volume, two detachable back packs, handle, wheels and strong lockable zips… But on my first trip I discovered it weighed 6.2 kilograms empty, was useless as a head rest while waiting for a train, and did not fit in the boot of the midget budget car I rented.
Wheelie dive bag for travelling... rather heavy!
I have lost a fair amount of equipment to baggage handlers in my time so what I do now is usually cable tie everything together. I have a little bag for everything, I then cable tie my Reg’s to the frame in my bag and then cable tie my toiletry bag to this and link all the small little bags to one another and so on. This just makes it harder for someone to slip something out of my bag and pocket it… Its no guarantee for the hardened criminal, but it does reduce the loss.
Cameras, dive computers and other expensive gadgets must go in your hand luggage. If you must check your camera in then attach everything together as you would underwater, cable tie your torch to the strobe arm kit and so on. Never separate the items as its hard for a criminal to hide a camera housing, arm and strobe as a unit, but easy for them to slip the camera into their pockets undetected. Many airlines will allow a camera or laptop bag in addition to your regular hand luggage, which makes things easier.
There are divers around the world that will – and do – happily dive from all sorts of vessels. In some parts of the world diving takes place from reed rafts (Lake Malawi), from mokoros – similar to a hollowed out tree (some places in Mozambique), from canoes, jet skis, house boats (Lake Kariba), various hard boats and of course the most popular, rubber ducks. Their real name is semi rigid inflatables. People also use fold away inflatables with smaller motors in many places: these boats can be stored in your boot, inflated at the dive site, loose floor boards placed inside and a small outboard attached. All of this takes less than an hour and you are on your way to a dive site of your choice with a few buddies (only a few as they are small boats).
I will focus on the rubber ducks we use most often in South Africa, but most of these points apply to any type of vessel.
Much of the diving in South Africa and in many parts of Mozambique require a boat capable of taking 12 to 14 people and all their gear, and then being rugged enough to launch and return through rough surf, and then be able to withstand beaching. A dive boat with 10 divers, 10 sets of gear and all the safety gear can weigh around two tons. That’s a lot of weight when the boat is slammed onto the beach at a speed suitable to ensure it comes to a stop high enough out of the water so you can just step off.
Pushing the boat into the water at Ponta do Ouro
There is a lot to a dive boat, irrespective of whether it is a hard boat, a huge live aboard or a rubber duck. They require maintenance, and this can easily be managed if divers just have a little respect for them. Sure, the owner/operator must be held responsible, but with a little attention to the small details they offer us as divers years of good service.
It goes without saying that you expect a boat to have all the necessary safety gear, life jackets, flares, first aid kit, emergency oxygen, tool kit etc. I believe you will find most operators following the law here. Just as motor cars need to pass a roadworthy test, so boats need a seaworthy inspection and to pass this there is a list of requirements to be met. Having met this, passed the inspection, mostoperators will usually comply, as a rule.
Be gentle
Almost all boats have a wooden or fibreglass deck. Tossing your gear around and dumping weight belts on the boat, all contribute to the damage sustained by operators, but often it is your foot, your regulator or pressure gauge or perhaps your expensive air integrated dive computer that gets damaged when someone tosses their weight belt on board. Always hand things up to the people on the boat, never toss them up.
Pontoons are tough and designed to withstand much abuse. However, the wire ring you used to fix your zip, the sharp edged cable ties on you gear, the rough edges of your cylinder boot, and your dive knife, all pose danger for the pontoon. Think about the pontoon when you drag your gear on and off the boat, and think about the grooves created by dragging kit over the pontoon time and time again.
The console up front usually houses all the electrical connections and switches for the boat’s electrical system, and just shoving all your belongings in there is not the way to go. Ask the skipper where you should put things as he/she will have a place for everything.
All skippers have a specific place for everything on their boats. Respect this as it makes it easier for the skipper to produce things for you on demand when you want them. Another important consideration is that it may be the place the first aid kit is kept and in an emergency it is annoying to a skipper to find their first aid kit has been replaced with a camera, cell phone and towel.
Loading the boat
When your gear is being loaded:
make sure you know where on the boat it is placed;
make sure you place your fins close by;
make sure your mask is there, either around your neck or in your fin (not on your head!);
make sure your weight belt is loaded and that you can recognise it;
and make sure you are kitted up and dressed ready to go when the boat leaves
Divers climb aboard after pushing the boat into the sea at Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique
Launch times
Respect the launch times! You may be doing one dive and have all day, but there are others doing the next dive that are going to run late if you hold the boat up.
When the boat leaves the beach or the jetty, stay seated, feet in the foot straps and hold on tight. This is not the time to be walking around the boat passing the skipper your keys, glasses and cameras. This unbalances the boat and makes it harder to negotiate the surf or other boat traffic. This is also the time when you would fall off and blame the skipper.
Before the dive
At the dive site, follow the basic rule: be opposite your gear, and don’t expect heavy dive gear to be passed around on the boat. When the skipper comes round to put your gear on your back, make sure you are ready with the straps extended, the clips done or undone as you require, your air turned on, and that you have your weight belt on, right hand release. Don’t expect the skipper to do everything for you as it’s unfair on all the other divers who kit themselves up and are ready to roll two minutes after the boat stops, only to have to wait 10 minutes for you because you are on the wrong side of the boat, can’t find your mask, forgot what colour your fins are, etc. Finally, when you are all ready, the skipper will count you down. Go on the word “go” (or whatever word the skipper tells you to roll over on) – if you hesitate stay on the boat, or you may land on the person next to you and injure them.
Divers preparing to descend after rolling off the boat
On the surface
At the end of the dive, signal you are OK once on the surface, then watch the boat as it approaches you. Don’t stick your face in the water and expect the boat not to run you over. Hand up your weight belt, camera, torch etc when the boat is alongside, but make sure the skipper has a firm grip on it before you release it. Just shoving it in his or her direction is no guarantee that the item won’t end up on the bottom.
When you hand your BCD and cylinder up, make sure your BCD has some air, but is not totally inflated. Make sure you give it a shove from the bottom and most of all, if possible give the skipper a chance to tie it down before you demand a hand-up. Once on the boat take care of your own kit, roll up your SMB, tuck your regulators away, and place your fins and mask out of harm’s way, preferably inside or close to your BCD. Make space for others to get into the boat, or better still, give them a hand. Don’t scatter your gear around, as a deck littered with fins, masks and cameras becomes a difficult place for a skipper to work and things will get broken… Your things!
After the dive
At the end of the dive make sure you collect all your gear as soon as possible. The boat may need to be loaded for the next launch and if you first get undressed, have a snack and then stroll over to the boat, it is likely your gear will be mixed up with the next load of divers’ gear.
Imagine this…
The boat arrives at the dive site, a few people are sitting at opposite ends of the boat to their kit, gear is passed around and a mask is crushed, someone starts bellowing, someone else drops his mask in the water as they are trying to rinse it while fully kitted up (rinse your mask first), they start whining, someone else who does not service their gear has a faulty regulator, they swear blind it was okay on the beach but you can see clearly the hose has been torn for months and is badly cracked, someone says “oops, I forgot my fins in the car”, so the skipper hauls out all the spares he has, gets everyone sorted out and you all roll back into the water.
Someone hesitates, and lands on another diver, gashing their head open with a cylinder, so the diver is hauled out of the water. The gash in their head requires bandaging, yet at the same time five hands appear next to the boat all demanding cameras. The skipper usees all his psychic skill to ensure everyone gets their own camera, then observes that a few divers are struggling to descend. The skipper hauls out the extra weights, sorts them out and down the divers go, all but one – ”I forgot to put my weight belt on!” So they get sorted out and descend.
Twenty minutes into the dive someone pops out of the water like a cork, and gets hauled out of the water. As a safety measure the skipper administers oxygen. Their buddy surfaces a few minutes later, swims up to the boat and tosses their weight belt on board, landing on their buddies head.
These thing happen, fortunately very very seldom, but every diver wants to have a good time, a good dive and a pleasant boat trip, and if we all follow the instructions of the skipper, the Divemaster or Instructor and basic dive safely protocol, these things will not happen. Plan your dive and dive your plan.
On a typical day a skipper can easily see between 20 and 40 different people. It is not possible for the skipper to remember what your weight belt looks like, what colour your fins were and what gear you are using, so make it easier by being responsible for your gear. If you have rental gear it will often be numbered: remember the numbers, remember the colour of your fins and mask, so keeping all your kit together in one spot on the boat will make this easier.
Driving a boat is easy?
Boats look really easy to drive: a steering wheel, a control box that puts the boat in gear and accelerates all at the same time, no clutch, no hand brake, no turn signals, wide open expanse of ocean to drive in – it stands to reason it must be really easy. And it is: on a nice calm day with flat seas, no wind, and no swell, it is real easy to place a boat precisely in the spot you want it, run it up next to the jetty and come to a stop millimeters from the side.
Launching through the surf at Ponta do Ouro in Mozambique
But on a day when the wind is humping, there is a big swell and lots of other boat traffic it becomes a little more challenging. If you are asked by the skipper to sit down, keep your feet in the foot straps and hold on, then do so, as he/she probably knows better. A skipper doing surf launches needs to concentrate only on the boat while launching and beaching. Don’t walk around, shout at them or hand them things as they are reading the water, the swell, and the gap that is forming out at the back line and making a decision to go or not to go. Your safety is their primary concern. Once committed to the break in the swells it is not easy to change your mind.
Beaching the boat after a dive in Ponta do Ouro
In a nutshell…
Pay attention to the boat briefing as the skipper has the responsibility for your safety. Make it easy for him to keep you safe. In an emergency you will expect the skipper to produce a first aid kit in a flash, produce pure oxygen in an instant and radio for help in an extreme emergency. This will happen, and your emergency will be dealt with expertly, if the skipper finds his first aid kit accessible, his oxygen set at hand and his radio functioning. But if you shoved your bag in the console and ripped wires out of the radio, dumped your personal bag of clothing on the first aid kit, moved the oxygen somewhere else on the boat to make space for your camer – when these things happen all they do is delay the reaction time of the help that you the diver need.
Pay attention to the dive briefing. Chances are the dive master has been there many times before and is speaking from experience. If you are unsure of something, ask – there are no stupid questions, and the only stupid mistake is not asking if you are unsure.
Many divers have done hundreds and in some cases thousands of dives, all incident free, all enjoyable and all conducted safely and this is largely due to their own exceptional skills, and exceptional skills held by skippers and divemaster coupled to a level of boat etiquette we all have or should have. This is just one more reason to dive, to enjoy the wonders the ocean never fails to deliver.
