DEMA 2006 Video Products Preview

With DEMA just next week, many manufacturers are preparing new video housings to be announced at the show. Wetpixel gives you a sneak preview of what is coming in housings and accessories before DEMA.

We will be covering DEMA “live” with updates straight from the convention center in Orlando. This year’s DEMA promises to be a great one for HD shooters, with a plethora of new housings to fit new cameras and some very useful accessories as well.

Amphibico

The video world was very excited when Sony announced the first small form factor 1080P camcorder, the HVR-V1 and the 1080i little brother the HDR-FX7. The Canadian-based Amphibico will be announcing the yet unnamed housing for those two currently unreleased cameras. The feature set will be similar to the Phenom housing for the HVR-Z1/HDR-FX1 and the acrylic port will be inherited as well.

The engineers at Montreal also have a Dive Buddy EVO HD housing for the HDR-UX1(DVD) and HDR-SR1(30GB Hard drive) camcorders. It includes a 3.5” LCD screen built into the back of the housing, eliminating the need for the housed external LCD monitor.

Gates

California-based Gates has been very busy indeed as their lineup will show. They are also announcing two new housings plus a few accessories. There’s a housing for the Sony HVR-V1/HDR-FX7 naturally, but in following with their product history, they will also have a housing for the new 3CCD Canon XHG1/A1 camcorders.

Gates will release a new high resolution 16:9 4.3”/110mm monitor called the EM43. It is powered by 8 AA batteries and auto PAL/NTSC and 1080/720 selection. For illumination, they have a new 50W HID250 lamp. This lamphead has a low temperature of 3800K vs normal HID which are over 5000K.

To steady all that new equipment, Gates also has a new tripod which has articulating legs that extend 7-18” so it’ll fit all Gates housings.

Light & Motion

The people from Cannery Row, Monterey have redesigned the Bluefin HC3 housing for the Sony HDR-HC3. They’ve added a clear side window and control to operate the menu functions including manual white balance, telemacro mode, super slow motion and other functions

Sea & Sea

Sea & Sea will be showing off two new compact housings, the VX-S1 and VX-S2. The VX-S1 fits the Sony HDR-HC3 and DCR-DVD505. The VX S2 fits the HDR-UX1(DVD).

The new halogen lighthead, LX-33 is a 33W lamp with adjustable intensity and a built in lithium-ion battery that provides up to 140 minutes of continuous lighting. It has a filter that changes the temperature from 3200K to 4500K.

Seatool

Seatool has a new aluminum housing for the Canon HV10. Nothing much is known about the housing but we do have a picture for those interested.

As you can see, there are lots of exciting products coming from the manufacturers, especially in the HD camcorder range. I, for one, am very excited and hope to give an in depth review of these products and more from DEMA. Stay tuned!

All information is provided by the manufacturers and the products are/will be listed at their respective websites. We are happy to accept additional product releases from manufacturers.