Jonathan J's Uber-Bitchin' 16mm Water Housing

Hello again Paul!

Here's a wealth of pictures featuring my custom 16mm camera housing I built years ago. I completed this rig around '97, and it has provided some awesome footage in both slo-mo, and regular speed. It was built to be adaptable...to go from a hand held rig, to a full on back harness mounted point-of-view cam! Needless to say, George Greenough was a huge inspiration in the development of this camera rig. I took a lot of design cues from pictures of him, probably taken by you, or Harold Ward, etc...

The B&W pics are from the later stages of the cam's development. It was built in the traditional fashion, with fiberglass laid up over a male mold. The various bits of hardware were either custom made or, scavenged from old Ikelite housings I'd find at flea markets. The hemispherical dome port was found at a marine supply...it's basically a replacement lens for a compass. I was using a Century fisheye lens and thus, it needed to sit up close, and be well-protected! You can see the housing incorporates a million fasteners. When it's all bolted together, it has to make for a super strong enclosure. You can imagine the beatings I took, all in the name of a good tube shot (as I'm sure GG would agree!)

1/2 of housing open, exposing Kodak K100 16mm camera.

Side door of camera open, showing film path. Dig the snug fit!

Camera rig set up for POV filming. Not as uncomfortable as it looks...especially in a wetsuit.

This is the "trigger" that trips the shutter. ergonomically designed to be comfy, yet rugged.

Being a career machinist, you can tell I'm sort of a perfectionist!

Hot Santa Ana winds are howlin' tonight! Maybe they'll hold up till morning? I know there's some swell too!

Take care, JJ