Underwater camera housing is essential for underwater shooting of nature programs and news shows. We, therefore, developed a compact, lightweight underwater housing dedicated for HDV which employs the recording standards of consumer-use HD cameras. It has downsized by about 1/4 in volume and 1/3 in weight, compared to conventional underwater housing for HD cameras.
Previously it had been difficult with conventional underwater HD camera housings to shoot in a narrow space or dynamic situations. The underwater housing development has not only resolved such issues but also brought major advantages in security and operational aspects; moving it on the ship deck and air transportation became much easier, owing to its lightweight.
We have succeeded in shooting the largest mammal in the world, blue whales in the sea by using it as an assistant camera. The scenes will be broadcasted in the “NHK Special － Big Blue, The Mysterious Waters of South Australia” starting in April 2007.

Table-1: Features