Canon 590is

[Scotttyd]

Ok, well I think I have decided to go with the Canon a590is and ikelite housing, now I have to decide on what lenses are available to me. For the price of $100 I am not out much if I do not like it and if I do, I can have three for less than the price of the G series.

1. First before choosing Ikelite, are there any other housings out there other than the canon OEM housing? advantages/disadvantages?

2. The ikelite will let me keep using my AF35 strobe until I buy a better unit (which I should have done in the first place, but I did not know any better)

3. What WA and macro wet mount lenses work best for this camera? WA, I may add a dome converter as well to get the widest angle available. Can you stack macro lenses with this set up, which ones are available. FWIW I know absolutely nothing (well barely nothing) about add on lenses,

thanks for everybody help and hopefully I have not annoyed y'all to much with my rambling questions

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Hi Scotty. Here are some answers to your questions:

1. Those are the only two housings out for that camera..and likely will remain that way.

2. Yes you can continue to use that strobe set up.

3. You can use the Ikelite W20 threaded wetmate wide angle lens. You can also use the similar 67mm lenses from Epoque and Inon. For macro, you can use the Inon wetmate macro lenses.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Nemrod]

The 590 and Ikelite housing are virtually identical to those for the 570 that I have. Yes, you can use various thread on 67mm lenses. No special mount is needed. I built a one of a kind AD to 67mm threaded bayonet mount for use with the Inon AD lenses including their very nice macro. Overall I am very pleased.

Since you mentioned the dome converter then you also answered your other question, you will need the Inon 100 WAL Type II lens for the dome converter and 67mm port;

My homemade AD to 67mm adapter;

The Ikelite/570 with Inon 165AD fisheye;

N

 

[Scotttyd]

I have been meaning to ask you, wha is the attachment on the left side of the camera in the above picture? Is it a focust light?

 

[Nemrod]

It is a Sekonic Marine light meter. It is a direct reflected reading light meter (vs incident reading). Once upon a time people used meters, some people still do. It is all that remains of my Nikonos III rig. In this pic you can see my spare Sekonic from the back side. See the needle, it reads exposure directly. They have a cds photo cell.

The arm it is on including the bolts and spacers are homemade at XXXX Aircraft, Tool, Lawnmower, Kubota, SCUBA and Propeller Skunk Works, where all things are possible.

http://www.sekonic.co.jp/English/product/meter/pdf/L-164B/L-164B_E.pdf

BTW, the Inon D2000 has a focus light.

N

 

[fuggler]

The 590 and Ikelite housing are virtually identical to those for the 570 that I have. Yes, you can use various thread on 67mm lenses. No special mount is needed. I built a one of a kind AD to 67mm threaded bayonet mount for use with the Inon AD lenses including their very nice macro. Overall I am very pleased.

N

Nemrod, I'm trying to decide between the Canon A590 and the Sea & Sea HD1200. I've read a few threads here where you've strongly recommended the A590 for wide angle shots. I'm just wondering, if used with the Ikelite WA lens, how wide is it compared to other setups? Is it one of the widest or are there much better setups around the same price range?

 

[Nemrod]

I don't want to tell you to get this vs that. All I can say is that the Canon 570/590 series cameras in an Ikelite housing can do very good photography from macro to ultra wide angle, are compact, inexpensive and capable. I am in Ft. Lauderdale now inbound to home with a plethora of pics and some taken by professional photographers, same day and same place, mine are better, lol. Just ask my wife.

I would get the 590 and Inon D2000 and Inon 100WAL Type II wide angle and if you feel like you can afford it the dome port addtion is amazing. Also grab their macro lens if you like that sort of thing (macro, yawn).

The Sea&Sea is very limited, does not accept the wide angle lenses and without the Inon dome port on the 100WAL, I simply am not intersted in it even if it were solid gold. If it cannot shoot ultra wide, it is worthless to me. YRMV but you are not me so filter my recomendations with your own needs.

Taken by me at about 70 feet, Canon 570 on Av, Inon D2000 on auto, Inon 100WAL with dome. I was trying to maintain the natural lighting look but make the first few fish pop out with the strobe using it for close fill, exposing for the open water. The picture accurately represents what I saw.

The shark was less cooperative always seeming to come in from the sun making a good pic diffucult.

N

 

[fuggler]

The Sea&Sea is very limited, does not accept the wide angle lenses and without the Inon dome port on the 100WAL, I simply am not intersted in it even if it were solid gold. If it cannot shoot ultra wide, it is worthless to me. YRMV but you are not me so filter my recomendations with your own needs.

N

Hmm, I saw this on Sea & Sea's site: This wide-angle conversion lens covers a maximum field angle equivalent to approx. 19.3mm (35mm film camera equivalent) when used with the DX-1200HD.

I think that's good enough for wide angle. I just don't like how the 1200HD doesn't have manual settings. Then again, it's for my boyfriend who isn't super keen on photography.

 

[John_B]

Hmm, I saw this on Sea & Sea's site: This wide-angle conversion lens covers a maximum field angle equivalent to approx. 19.3mm (35mm film camera equivalent) when used with the DX-1200HD.

I think that's good enough for wide angle. I just don't like how the 1200HD doesn't have manual settings. Then again, it's for my boyfriend who isn't super keen on photography.

When people say "wide angle" they often have different expectations. For actual wide angle advice on SB, Nem and Adrian are the two guys here that I know are shooting true WA.

FWIW, when I go to Sea & Sea for the specs on the DX 1200 HD, they say the focal length of the camera is an actual 7.3 mm to 21.9 mm which they say converts to a 35 mm equivalent of 35 mm to 102 mm, and their WA lens translates to 19 mm (35 mm equiv.) but that's only 79^o (and 95^o on land) which isn't really WA at all. Not like the underwater WA shots you may have seen online or in coffee table books, etc.

Not trying to nitpick, because 79^o may be fine for what you had in mind, but its not terribly wide by underwater standards (but the manufacturers won't tell you that). At least with the 590is and Ikelite housing, you could buy the Inon WA lens that would allow you to add the true WA dome for something like 131.6^o underwater. Sea & Sea's WA lens, like most others, is a one-trick pony that you can't add a dome lens to.

If true WA is the goal, you'd be better served to look at the Inon combination (above) or maybe their Fisheye WA lens for the Inon AD bayonet mount, and then "back into" a housing and camera that would fit the lenses. The lenses are going to be the lion's share of the cost anyway, so it actually makes sense to start that direction from a compatibility perspective. Everything else tends to box you into a system that may not be as expandable as you might like it to be later.

HTH

 

[Nemrod]

Hmm, I saw this on Sea & Sea's site: This wide-angle conversion lens covers a maximum field angle equivalent to approx. 19.3mm (35mm film camera equivalent) when used with the DX-1200HD.

I think that's good enough for wide angle. I just don't like how the 1200HD doesn't have manual settings. Then again, it's for my boyfriend who isn't super keen on photography.

The Inon lens combination I am shooting above yields a FOV around 50% greater than the Sea&Sea combo. The FOV of the Sea&Sea WA lens is around 80 degrees plus or minus, the photos above I posted are in excess of 130 degrees FOV, my fisheye Inon 165 is 165 degrees or twice that of the Sea&Sea so called wide angle lens.

If you are gifting a bf I am sure he will be proud that you got him the Sea&Sea given that he is not "keen" on photography but don't kid yourself, mega pixels and all that are only part of the story, the Canon/Ikelite/Inon combo IMO is the better camera outfit hands down.

N