Buy an Underwater Camera!

[Marg]

My husband just bought an Underwater Camera for me for Christmas. But before the pond freezes over I tried it. Canadian Tire ...was $99.00 and regular price will be $119.00. VivitarDVR 850W
(There are much more expensive ones in many stores.)

I wanted to see my koi up close and personal and thought this one would be Ok as it can only go down 10 feet. I was amazed how clear the picture was and how close I could get to them. There was not a lot of sunlight outside but there was sure enough to see the fish very clearly.

I held the camera with rubber gloves on for my first try. It was very noisy but I got good pictures of my yellow finger.:lol: So then I tried tying it to a wooden pole...much better. Now I have to learn not to rub on anything like a stone, my coat or such as it makes A LOT of noise! :banghead:I was talking to my koi and I could hear my voice through the water. I could not hear much of my waterfall which surprised me.

So I thought what a very easy way for anyone to check out their fish without having to really disturb them or even have to catch them!
You don't have to get into the water, especially if it is cold.

You can play this back over your computer or even better over a large screen TV. Now that's a closeup view if you want to check out any of your fish for diseases or colours or just to see them!!!!!!!!!

Great gift from Santa!!!!!!!!!:yup:

[philly]

Marg, can the camera be viewed say through a computer monitor live and is there a place to mount it so you don't have to hold on to it in order to see the fishies all the time ? :dunno: Great idea and sometimes does come early.:smile:

[Jackie Ramo]

A great gift Marg, I'm sure you will have fun with it.

Underwater cameras were quite the rage a few years ago, not sure if those folks still watch their koi or not. The main issue was algae on the lense but most left the camera in the water and watched on either tv or computer monitor. not sure how much light gets through the ice.... Bonnie's Plants used to stream her fish life over the internet.

[philly]

Might get one someday cleaning the lens is not a big issue I can handle that if you get to see the boys and girls through the winter time.:yup:

[Marg]

Phil, the USB cable links directly to the computer but the connection is inside the door to the battery compartment. That door is locked closed when underwater. If someone could invent an underwater camera with live feed that would great and $$$$$$$! The cable while attached to a computer is also a way of charging the battery. There is a plug in charger as well.

There is a place (screw hole) for attaching a tripod. Maybe that's the way to attach a pole holder. But!!!! the camera does not have a remote to start it in the water when you want to.
:frisbee:You have to start taping before you put it in the water as well as stop it when you bring the camera out. :frisbee:

The lens for the camera has no cover for protection...ie algae cleaning. You have to careful not to scratch it as well.

The camera couldn't stay in for the winter. Would be great eh??? It can only be temps from 40* to 0* F. That's why I was testing it now...not sure about putting it in ice water.

When you bring it out of the water, you can view your tape in the viewing screen, using the buttons. :frisbee:
If you want to see it on the computer or a TV, you have to wait till EVERYTHING IS DRY!!!!!!!!!!!4-5 hours for sure. If you open the locked battery door and any water gets in then it is a dead piece of junk.:censored:
We got a scare when I went to view it the second time....the screen was white ...no picture. :banghead:
When I pushed any buttons I could hear it working but could not see anything.:-?
I let it dry over a cool vent for the 4-5 hours and then everything worked.
I think all my noise on the tape was the rubber gloves as I moved the camera. When I carefully put elastic bands over it and the pole, it was quieter unless I rubbed my "Heron Fishing Lines".
Then it was Twangy Guitar!:lol:

This is an ongoing learning experience for me. I do wish it could be a camera that you could have underwater all the time with a live feed into the house...how ideal! They have Bird Cams...why not Koi Cams?

Jackie, I do remember seeing her live video somewhere ....I guess there is a camera that can be hooked up permanently. Should ask.

Oh well, beggar can't be choosers.
Marg

[Jackie Ramo]

Bonnie sells them and they are not cheap, I don't remember them being this much but I didn't search the net to find out

http://www.bonniesplants.com/BuyCamera.html

[philly]

Thanks for the site Jackie, but $325.00 US plus duty is not that cheap but worth it if you have the extra bucks to spare. :lol:

[carcha koi]

Always wanted to get a under water camera to hook up to the computer. I have seen some friends use when Ice Fishing. With very limited light the picture is clear.

[philly]

Don't you get first dibs on stuff that are seized. :grin:

[carcha koi]

I wish, no such luck.

[philly]

I guess you have to put in some overtime on your days off so you can buy one with the extra money. :)

[Rembrandt]

Pam and I bought one of the underwater cameras that also had infra-red. Colors fantastic and at night, it changed to black-n-white from the infra-red. I think that camera was around $275 US or so. Would have to dig for that invoice. We recorded hours and hours of video on vhs tapes of the fish. It was fun popping in an older recording just to see how much they had grown from the last videos. As the fish grew, I swear it seemed like they would play football with the camera. As algae grew on the lense, you could tell by seeing the fuzzy picture on the tv, run out there, pull up the camera by the cord and wipe the lense. Using a 'reacher' we would place the camera back in their pathway. It was neat getting to see the 'submarines' slowly pass over the lense. It is also a great way to see if you have any babies in the pond that are too shy to show themselves when people are around. We could also leave the monitor on (connected to the smaller tv in Pam's shop) and it would be great background material when we were out on the patio, entertaining, etc. Best part? NO commercials! When we get all of our present project stuff finished, we may get us another camera. We were known in our neighborhood as the 'high tech rednecks' since we had another camera mounted above the pond looking down in to the water viewing across the bridge. We were able to get both the underwater view and above water view by simply changing the channels. Everyone called it the 'Fish Channel'. If we were watching a show on TV and came to a commercial, we would click over to one of the monitors to skip the commercial and then after about an hour of viewing.... realized we had forgotten what we were originally watching.:lol:

Time for me to call it a day.
Remmy

[philly]

Really nice that you both can view your fish whenever you like, what make was the camera ?

[Jackie Ramo]

Well you guys really got your money's worth out of it. Takes planning to set it up and remember to tape it. good work.

[Marg]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:
I am sure there will be more ideas as more of us get one.
You are right though...we have been able to see our one and only baby without it hiding. It stays on the other side of the pond away from us. :banghead:

Football? I look forward to watching our Koi change as they grow!

I just enjoyed seeing my "36-50 inchers" on my big screen.:yeahbaby:!wow!!rofl
Marg

[Cinnamon]

Philly all my paperwork on the camera is out in my shop. I will look it up tomorrow. I went to Bonnie's website and the camera there looks exactly like the one we had.

[philly]

Take your time looking for it I'm not going to do too much in this colder weather now. :grin:

[Marg]

taken from my underwater video camera.
It doesn't seem as clear here, on the board, but really is clear on the computer.
Now that my pond is covered in ice...I can enjoy my video for a "Koi Fix" :lol:
Marg

[philly]

Really cool Marg, the gang looks in good shape and bundled up together. :grin:

[Marg]

They were moving some under the ice yesterday.
I am glad to be able to see through the ice too but that doesn't last for long.
I wish it was a video feed that could stay under all winter but it doesn't.
Marg

[Jackie Ramo]

Great shot Marg! Maybe I should ask Santa for one....

[philly]

Jackie, I noticed that Smith sorta looks like Santa Clause doesn't MRS Clause always gets what she wants. :HAHA:

[Jackie Ramo]

Yes, she might but Smith only looks like Santa, right now he is telling me to forget about Christmas there is no money.

[philly]

A few bucks more added on to the bill won't make that much of a difference after all he's paying the bill isn't he.. :grin: