Cold water considerations

[sschlesi]

I'm looking to get into underwater photography. I've done quite a bit of reading in these forums, and am currently considering a Canon A590 (replacement of A570) in and IkeLite housing, and a D-2000 strobe.

Today I was playing with an A590 and thought that manipulating the controls of the camera in manual while wearing a moderately bulky set of dry gloves (my gloves and liners are similar to ~3mm neoprene gloves) would probably be quite awkward. I'm not sure if the IkeLite housing would make this task easier or harder. Can anyone share their experience of using IkeLite compact housings while wearing dry gloves?

My second question is related to battery life. I have quite a bit of experience shooting on land in temps below freezing. When the batteries get that cold their life is dramatically reduced. Both the camera and strobe I'm considering use AA batteries, what experiences have people had with AA batteries in cold (~42F) water?

 

[spt29970]

I don't have experience using an Ike housing, but with my Aquatica housing it is a little awkward to press the buttons with dry gloves on. I sometimes accidentally press two. It takes a little practice, but is quite doable. My old PT-015 housing for the Oly 5050 had staggered buttons heights, which made it much easier to operate with gloves on. For the life of me, I don't understand why dSLR housing vendors don't do the same. As far as battery life is concerned, I use 2700 mAh NiMH AA batteries in my strobes and focus light, and they last all day, even in cold water. Check out my Channel Islands and Alaska photos at:

Channel Islands Diving - a set on Flickr
and
Alaska Diving - a set on Flickr

 

[sylpha]

have a look at these gloves, i'm not sure where you would find something similar over there, but i keep them for winter over here and in 2007 i was north of the arctic circle in November i had a pair of the very thin ski undergloves underneath the 3 fingered ones, my hands were toasty warm and i had no problem operating my camera.

O'Three - O'Three

 

[ScubaSteve]

I have had a tough time wearing bulky gloves and operating my Ike system. I have never used any other housing but think that depending on the glove, you will initially have problems with any housing (everything is made to be compact meaning buttons very close together. As spt29970 said though, it can usually be overcome. I would say there is likely a couple housing out there that are better for that reason specifically. Plus the battery life can really suck in very cold water. I could not get two dives on a single battery (only a handful of pictures taken). But strobe life was fine.

 

[spt29970]

I should probably have pointed out that I use the DUI Crushed Neoprene ZipGloves, which are about as bulky as they come, which is why I sometimes have trouble pushing the buttons. Other gloves are much thinner and are probably easier to use with a camera.

 

[sschlesi]

Thanks for the opinions everyone.

I also got a PM from someone with an A640 in an Ikelite housing who said that the buttons are at slightly differing heights, and workable with their cold water neoprene wet gloves. So it should be good with dry gloves.