Considering S100 w/ Ikelite housing + AF35 strobe

[rickthompson]

I'm new to underwater photography and am considering getting a Cannon S100 w/ Ikelite housing and Ikelite AF35 strobe. Does anyone else have this system and provide feedback? I've heard mixed reviews about the image quality being sub par compared to the S95. I've also read a lot about battery issues. Does anyone have any expierence with the Ikelite AF35?

Thanks!

 

[chile7236]

i don't find any reduction in image quality between my S100 and my buddy's S95...the S95 seems to do macro better w/out using a wet lens, tho. no experience with the AF35.

 

[Interceptor121]

The S100 has a CMOS sensor the S95 has CCD sensor of the same size 1/1.7", CMOS is a newer technology of CCD and the sensor quality drives the quality of the image for than the megapixels. CMOS tend to have less dynamic range and more noise though this has been decreasing as technology develops
The lens on the S100 allows for close focus 3 cm versus 5 cm and wider angle 24mm versus 28mm
The S100 has also 1080p video
The S100 has got the NB5L battery rated at 1120 mAh whilst the S95 has the NB6L rated 940 mAh both are rated for 200 shots according to CIMA standards so no difference there

A factor you need to take into account is that the wide lens in water will actually be a disadvantage when it comes to wet lenses as there are none to date that can support a 24mm without vignetting

The Ikelite housing has got 67 mm threads with that you can get an Epoque DCL30 or an Inon UWL10028M67 both will vignette with an S100 as they are designed for 28mm lens and effectively you will need to step zoom in and that time you will have the same coverage of the S95 so from that point of view no advantages at all
I would recommend you look at a fisheye or recsea housing as there would be more options for your lens and you can look at fisheye lens from dyron or fisheye fix. If you don't want to spend that amount of money I would recommend you check the canon housing as it does actually offer the front control ring control whilst the ikelite does not
Strobe wise the AF35 is a toy, get yourself at least a Sea & Sea YS-02

I have gone through your same decision process and ended up getting an S95 which is now just discontinued I picked up a great deal of Amazon. The housing I have got was ex-display and with an adapter I could attach all the wet lenses I had for my Powershot A570IS which is still a full back up should anything go wrong with the S95

 

[grze11]

Hi Interceptor,
I just wonder what housing you got for this S95 rig?

 

[Interceptor121]

grze11 I have a recsea WHC-S95 (old version without the new door design) you can see the AD adapter mounted in another thread together with sample pictures in air

 

[flareside]

According to the manual for the Ikelite S100 housing, it does allow usage of the front control ring. http://www.ikelite.com/downloads/instructions/ULTRAcompact_pdf/Canon_pdf/6242.10CanS100RS.pdf

 

[Interceptor121]

It is not the front ring the problem that one is indeed accessible by both canon and ikelite
Is the rear ring that is not implemented so if you want to shoot in manual or use the wheel for exposure compensation you need to do additional 3 button presses to change the front ring to the required setting

---------- Post added April 24th, 2012 at 10:28 PM ----------

Actually just to clarify my position on the ikelite vs canon I personally would buy the canon for this simple reason
Ikelite housing with 67 mm thread + Inon UWL-H100 28M67 = $845
Canon WP-DC43+Inon LD mount+ Inon UWL-H100 28LD = $835

You spend $10 less and you have included
1. a bayonet mount instead of thread very useful for swapping lenses in water considering that the Inon UWLH100 are 370 grams negative in water
2. The inon mount for the DC43 has a cold shoe for a focus light that saves you extra money and potentially makes the camera good enough for macro without any strobe

So with the canon housing and inon mount you can take macro just using a half decent focus light and wide angle with manual white balance

Negative:
1. the canon housing only goes to 40 meters. Wow when did you last take a good picture below that depth??
2. Ikelite has got great customer service, that is true but you can actually breakdown the whole canon housing and even replace the button orings if you know how to

---------- Post added April 25th, 2012 at 06:14 PM ----------

But yes there was a type in my previous post, both ikelite and canon access the front ring and NONE of them access the rear wheel
I put my suggestions around canon vc ikelite somewhere else

 

[grze11]

Hi Interceptor,
very nice comparison of Canon vs Ikelite housing. I am convinced about this idea of a bayonet mount and not on a polycarbonate housing but on a special mount.
What is your idea about the best housing for Canon S95/S100 and still something like a sensible price?

 

[Interceptor121]

I think you need to look at housing with a number of considerations in mind which include
Access to all functions ?
How easy and effective is to connect a strobe
What options are there for wide angle or fisheye lenses

If you add all the extras you need to have a fisheye lens with a canon or ikelite housing the total cost is more than buying a fix or recsea and a fisheye lenses upright though you need to make an upfront investment
Also the situation differs if you have already lenses or start from Scratch
In my case I have a set of Inon AD lenses and I went for a recsea and canon S95 because the lenses would have not worked with the S100

If I was starting from scratch I would have got an S100 instead
for what concerns the housing it is a difficult call. The fix fisheye seems good value for money but my experience of changing lens in water makes me prefer bayonet mounts over threaded and I am concerned there are no lens caddies with a 52 mm thread which means once you jump in the water you will stay with that lens for the dive
There is no best housing it depends on requirements the only thing I can tell you is that the ikelite housing would not be on my list as it does not give anything more than the canon on my personal score that justifies the price difference

 

[chile7236]

got my inon W57 adapter for the ikelite housing today...much better than having a big, white blank there to mount the FO cable...now, i need to get my macro/diopter.