7070 housing help

[jbilicska]

I'm looking for a little advice. Due to health reasons I can't dive but my wife and I are very avid snorkelers ,hours everyday on vacation. I have the 7070 camera and my wife splurged and bought me the ikelite housing $450 at B&H online. When I saw the housing it was a lot bigger than I thought. I was shying away from the Olympus pt-027 because of the flooding problems I heard about in these forums. My question is does the Ikelite housing float, will it be able to be attached to my belt or do I have to constantly hold it? The Olympus housing seems much more manageable but do I still have to worry about flooding. My old camera was the Sea & Sea MX5 film camera which was no problem to lug around. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[hornetplt]

I have been using Ikelite housings exclusively with my Olympus cameras and am currently using with my C-7070. It is slightly negatively bouyant(Ikelite website may have exact specs) and although I usually hold onto it when I am diving, it is "attached" to me if I have to let go for a bit. You will be glad you went with the Ikelite!

 

[Wolverine]

Well, it definitely does not float. It is fairly neutral underwater so apart from the bulk, it is quite easy to handle.

 

[jbilicska]

So you don't think I'll have a problem snorkeling around with it attached to me?

 

[alcina]

Ummm, the other problem with your question is that you still need to think about flooding. It's not the housing itself in the vast majority of cases, it's user error

When I snorkel I have the housing attached to me by wrist lanyard or via a rope to my empty weight belt. I do not let the camera dangle, though, it's always in my hand. I can go hands free if I need to, but I wouldn't just snorkelling around!

 

[discrepancy]

Believe me, the C7070 inside an Ikelite housing does NOT float. On my first dive with this unit, the lightweight lanyard I was using broke during the backroll off the zodiac and the whole lot went straight to the bottom. Luckily it was only 50' down to a sandy bottom and I was able to go straight down and retrieve my baby camera. It could have been a 500' dropoff. After that sobering experience, I attached an eye-bolt to the base and since then the whole package always stays definitively clipped to me.

If you're a snorkeller you probably want to be more streamlined and not bother with clips, so you might consider making the complete unit positively bouyant. With a short length of electrical conduit tubing plugged and glued at each end and cable-tied to your housing, it will always float and you can snorkel away to your heart's content confident that if you let go of the housing, it will float.

 

[jbilicska]

:icon82: Thanks for all the great help. I used to clip my old Sea & Sea via plastic wrist strap to a brass clip on my weight(less) belt. I realize I'll have to try to come up with some other means of securing my ikelite to my belt and then see if it's still easy to swim without constantly holding the camera. If not I'll leave the camera behind on certain dives and then kick myself for missing some one in a lifetime shots !

 

[Dan Yuchnovicz]

We use the ike housing as well and it's slighty neg. (as you would want - neutral is good too). Learn to use manual white balance and shutter priority. You will get great shots with this combo.

My experience is that I know two folks who used a PT housing and they flooded. THe ike is robust but keep the o-ring clean. Since you probably have the flat port, you can buy an Inon or Epoque wide ange lens which will work well for you.

Also - NEVER, I repeat, NEVER jump in with your camera in your hand, even if it's clipped to you. Have the DM hand it in - that's why they are there. Besides hitting yourself in the face with the camera, you can force water past the seals with the dynamic pressure of the water...not likely but possible!!!
Dan