Canon G12, choosing housing and lenses

[gkyetes75]

Hello, I bought a Canon G12 and I need a little help to find the right housing/lenses combo. Please I would love to read all your comments and suggestions.

Option 1:
Ikelite #6146.12 housing
Ikelite WD-4 dome #6430.4 to restore 28mm FOV underwater
Ikelite 67mm adapter (#9306.82) to be able to use any 67mm macro wet lens
This will allow me to shoot both macro and wide angle on the same dive... right?

Option 2:
Ikelite #6146.12 housing
Dyron Short Port M67 for Ikelite housing
The Dyron port will allow me to use any 67mm macro wet lens. However, I've a doubt: being the port shorter, how will this affect macro posibilities?
And about the wide angle lens: which one is the widest, sharpest and higher quality available for this setup?

Option 3:
Patima PDCH-G12 housing
Inon UWL-H100 M67 Type 1 + Inon dome unit II
Any 67mm wet macro lens
In this case, I'm not completely sure about being able to swap lenses underwater.
Also, I'm worried about the short Patima port: will I be able to shoot macro while the short port is installed?



Which option would you choose? Which modification would you make to the setup? Which lenses would you choose?
I'm intrested in the widest wide angle and also on macro. And I want to be able to switch lenses underwater.


I'm not considering the FIX G12 housing nor the Recsea because of the high price. But if the benefits of choosing either one of these are truly worth the investment, I would certainly go this route.


Thank you very much

 

[PatW]

I have a Canon G11. I have been using the Ike housing. I have not gotten the 28 mm wide angle restoration. I do have the Inon 165 macro wet lens (which I got through Backscatter). The Canon G11 has a macro option but that only works at the wide end of the zoom. Sure you can get a good macro shot if you get REALLY REALLY close to the subject. If the subject is at all wary, it isn't going to work. The Inon 165 lets you shoot from the longer end of your zoom at about 8" range and still get a pretty nice macro shot.

As I have gotten experience with shooting underwater, I find myself wanting to get closer and use the wide end of the zoom as much as possible. The closer you get to your subject, the sharper the shot and the better illumination you get from your strobe. With the 35 mm effective wide end I have now, I really can not get as close to other divers and large fish as I would like. The way I feel now, the wider angle you can get the better.

 

[SeaDragon69]

I have a G12 in a Patima housing. I only recently bought the Inon UWL-H100 M67 Type 2 + Inon dome unit II but so far very happy with it. My decision was based on the depth rating of the housing (Patima 120m over the Ike @60). On the negative side it is a very heavy housing, but the plus is it's bulletproof.

 

[gkyetes75]

Hey thanks for your comments.

SeaDragon69: can you remove the inon wide angle lens and the dome while being underwater and replace it with a macro lens? How well does a macro works without being able to fully use the zoom when the short port is installed?

Thanks!!

 

[SeaDragon69]

The WA lens is a wet lens, so yes it can be removed underwater. The dome is assemnbled onto the UWL-H100 M67 so it comes off with it. I havn't had a chance to try Macro out with the short port so can't comment.

 

[ling.yang]

I got exactly as same as the Option 1. There are two tricky things need to be aware:
1) you may bring both WD-4 and 67mm adapter with Inon 165 Close-up lens underwater together with at least one in your BC pocket and change them according to the subject you shot. you NEED swap right lens under the water;
2) Inon 165 close-up lens with 67mm adapter need you zoom in quite a lot to reduce the black corner caused by adapter, that means you relatively narrow the view of the object. and also you need be quite close to the object to get right focus, I will say about 10-15 cm close to the target. Get steady and shot.

 

[Wantonmien]

gkyetes75,

Why not go for the Canon housing ` look after the oring and it wont let you down.

I use a G12, with Canon housing, and Inon D2000 strobe - and think the biggest problem with my photography is my own eyesight .

Have a look here - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ph...rip-sep-9-13-some-words-pics.html#post6058268 some nice pics of mine, albeit some a little over exposed as I had just put a diffuser on the strobe and was playing around with settings.

cheers

 

[ekoast]

Hello, I bought a Canon G12 and I need a little help to find the right housing/lenses combo. Please I would love to read all your comments and suggestions.

Option 1:
Ikelite #6146.12 housing
Ikelite WD-4 dome #6430.4 to restore 28mm FOV underwater
Ikelite 67mm adapter (#9306.82) to be able to use any 67mm macro wet lens
This will allow me to shoot both macro and wide angle on the same dive... right?

Option 2:
Ikelite #6146.12 housing
Dyron Short Port M67 for Ikelite housing
The Dyron port will allow me to use any 67mm macro wet lens. However, I've a doubt: being the port shorter, how will this affect macro posibilities?
And about the wide angle lens: which one is the widest, sharpest and higher quality available for this setup?

Option 3:
Patima PDCH-G12 housing
Inon UWL-H100 M67 Type 1 + Inon dome unit II
Any 67mm wet macro lens
In this case, I'm not completely sure about being able to swap lenses underwater.
Also, I'm worried about the short Patima port: will I be able to shoot macro while the short port is installed?



Which option would you choose? Which modification would you make to the setup? Which lenses would you choose?
I'm intrested in the widest wide angle and also on macro. And I want to be able to switch lenses underwater.


I'm not considering the FIX G12 housing nor the Recsea because of the high price. But if the benefits of choosing either one of these are truly worth the investment, I would certainly go this route.


Thank you very much

I can reply to the first two of your set up questions as I dive with a permutation of the two. I have the G12 in the Ike 6146.12 housing. I bought the Ike adapter that fits onto the end of the Ike's standard flat port. This allows me to screw on the M67 UCl-165 Macro wet lens. This would also work for the Dyron UCL M67. With this configuration, you can switch between the macro wet lens and the WD-4 dome wet lens. The WD-4 does restore the camera's original wide angle underwater. But be aware that it is not a true wide angle lens. However, the Dyron DY.UAL67 14mm dome provides 130 degree wide angle of coverage. This dome needs to be used with the Dyron short port you mentioned instead of the stock flat port.

Two things to note, when you use the short port, you cannot zoom in more than about 3 clicks. Therefore, it is not good for macro as you need to zoom in at least half way to avoid vignetting If you go further, the lens will hit the short port and retract. Therefore, the short port really should only be used with the Dyron dome and not for macro. With the short port on, you cannot change the lens underwater. So I make a conscious decision to dive either macro or wide angle before I dive. This isn't a problem as they are two very different mind sets and carrying a dome around under water is not ideal. I have the C1 and C2 program buttons set up for macro and wide angle settings respectively. That way I never have to play with the zoom underwater. It automatically sets it up for me and I can still adjust aperture and shutter speed in manual mode.

I learned a lot of incredibly helpful information from the underwater photography guide about both macro, wide angle, various options and strobe positioning: http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/ I also bought the Dyron dome and short port from Blue Water Photo. Scott Gietler is the owner and incredibly knowledgeable: http://bluewaterphotostore.com

I took the liberty of embedding both a macro and wide angle shot I took with the M67 UCL 165 macro wet lens and the Dyron 14mm dome and short port respectively. Hope that helps!
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