Camera Topdown box?

[Spiderwoman]

This is where I ordered mine from.

How do you like yours?

I just ordered one from scott. I received it last night and tested it and it leaked. I sent him an e-mail and am now waiting for a response. I hear scott is a good guy and will make it right. I'll keep ya posted.

make sure you have them test it before it goes out.

AC-Kevin

Dang, that was a long way to have it shipped to begin with. I'm not that far from him (3h drive) and mine should be coming in tomorrow.

I will test mine without camera for sure. Thanks for the info.

 

[vetteman]

I like.......

 

[Aloha Corals]

scott made it right on my leaky TDB.

AC-Kevin

 

[Brad Syphus]

He just got out of the hospital today from gallbladder surgery and pancreatitus. Before that he went to Arizona to visit his family. I'm sure he will get in touch with you once he gets back on his feet.

 

[revhtree]

Yea he's a great guy for sure! Wish we had him here hanging out.

 

[rarelyseriousb]

il try and ask him when he s here for the conference if he will stop buy around here.

 

[Spiderwoman]

il try and ask him when he s here for the conference if he will stop buy around here.

This has already been solved on previous page

I just heard back from him and he has indeed been in the hospital since Monday and had an operation. He is going to finish the box this week.
I did order another one earlier today from the link I mentioned so now I'll have 2 and can see which one works the best for me and my setup. I'm sure I can get rid of the extra box later.

 

[WWC]

I don't like the bracket on the top of Melev's, seems like you can't angle the box forward, you have to be right on top of the coral. Aquarium Specialty's looks like it doesn't have anything on the back to brace you to the tank, but it might just be the angle of the picture and you can't see it.

I would like to see somebody make one with a glass bottom as acrylic just scratches way too easy.

-Jacob

 

[gparr]

Maybe I need to try one of the Melev's units, but those things make me nervous. I always feel like I'm just one slip away from filling the box with saltwater and getting to buy a new camera. I would agree with Jacob in that a quality optical glass bottom would be more scratch resistant and deliver sharper images. I'm just not convinced that these boxes are a good solution for quality images.
Gary

 

[Spiderwoman]

What do you use?

 

[gparr]

What do you use?

Nothing. I turn off the flow, mount the camera on a tripod with the lens face parallel to the water surface and shoot. I'll admit that these days I cheat a bit because I have a horizontal arm that allows me to extend the camera over the water surface. Before I bought that, I leaned the tripod against the tank and extended the column. Corals had to be fairly close to the edge of the tank, but you have to do that for the most part to avoid light reflections.

I'm not opposed to the camera boxes, they just seem like one more thing to manipulate and I've seen very few sharp images come out of them. Plus, I like my camera on a tripod. And I can be grumpy and old-fashioned when it comes to photography.
Gary

 

[Tomasz]

Nothing. I turn off the flow, mount the camera on a tripod with the lens face parallel to the water surface and shoot. I'll admit that these days I cheat a bit because I have a horizontal arm that allows me to extend the camera over the water surface. Before I bought that, I leaned the tripod against the tank and extended the column. Corals had to be fairly close to the edge of the tank, but you have to do that for the most part to avoid light reflections.

I'm not opposed to the camera boxes, they just seem like one more thing to manipulate and I've seen very few sharp images come out of them. Plus, I like my camera on a tripod. And I can be grumpy and old-fashioned when it comes to photography.
Gary

Right now I am looking to buy one of the arms. What would you recomend?

 

[gparr]

Here are two options. I own the first one. Takes a large, sturdy tripod to hold these.

Option one

Option two

 

[Tomasz]

Here are two options. I own the first one. Takes a large, sturdy tripod to hold these.

Option one

Option two

Aree they the same thing, but one can mount multiple cameras?

 

[gparr]

Correct. More flexibility with the multiple-camera arm but, for 90% of the applications, the less-expensive one will be perfect. I use the arm for photography other than top-down shots of coral.
Gary

 

[Tomasz]

Correct. More flexibility with the multiple-camera arm but, for 90% of the applications, the less-expensive one will be perfect. I use the arm for photography other than top-down shots of coral.
Gary

Thanks Gary I think you just saved me $40.:wink:

 

[Spiderwoman]

I finally received a shipping notice from Marc that my topdown box is finally on it's way. YAY! I'll get it on Tuesday. Then I'll be able to do my comparison between the 2 different camera boxes.

 

[Nu2ReefVA]

i make these all the time in the shop i work in ive lately been building ones that are big enough to fit your camera and your hands inside of as well as using the camera on a tripod for macro and still being able to control the box. Ill talk to my boss about making some to sell to some of you guys on line. ill probably have them on our new site were setting up. Ill post back here when i know more.

 

[Supreme Reefs]

I finally received a shipping notice from Marc that my topdown box is finally on it's way. YAY! I'll get it on Tuesday. Then I'll be able to do my comparison between the 2 different camera boxes.

yes please let us know what you think about those 2

i just ordered my topdown box from Melevs hopefuly i can get it soon