pros:
mechanical: reliable, cheaper
electronic: controls most/all cam functions; easier to use
An advantage of electronic controls is that there are less intrusions into the housing, i.e. less points of failure/potential water intrusion. Also it's generally a little quicker to set up since you just plug a cable into your LANC jack, seal the back and go.
Disadvantages are that it limits the pool of usable camcorders since only Sony still provides LANC control.
Another advantage of electronic controls is that you don't have to remove your hands from the handles - just push a button. This results in less camera shake since you don't have to move your hand to a control, and in the process maybe bump the housing. In fairness to mechanical controls, the water does damp motion to a certain extent, that's also why slightly oversized housings are better.
I've even thought about velcroing my computer to my housing, invariably I turn my wrist to see it once or twice per dive with the camera running - makes for some interesting shots...
Also if your electronics quit working, you can still turn on the camcorder, seal it in the housing and go film. If a mechanical control breaks, you pretty much have to get it fixed first as it's more likely to be a seal/gland problem than a control rod breaking.
cons:
mechanical: controls few cam functions; harder to use
More potential points of water intrusion, correspondingly more maintenance on those points. Although I have no actual experience with it, I would also assume it's more work to adjust all the controls so they work properly during the initial setup.
electronic: prone to break down/malfunction (moisture, salt etc..); more expensive
While there were problems with electronic reliability it's mostly been overcome. Buy a housing from any of the quality mfr's. With your budget you'll have no problems.
I will be using the housing exclusively in hot, tropical places (thailand, indonesia, south pacific)
So you don't have fogging problems: The best trick I've learned is seal the housing at or near outside temperature and then dump it in the rinsetank for the trip out. This allows it to adjust closer to the water temp than if it's sitting in the shade - don't let it sit in the sun, that's almost guaranteed condensation when you hit the water - and also might indicate a slow leak while it's in the tank.
I'd also seriously consider getting an LCD monitor back no matter what housing you get.
1 vote for electronic....
Steve
(This post was edited by sjspeck on Oct 7, 2004, 1:28 PM)
