Do you know of any underwater DSLR housing manufacturer in the Phils?

[edzville]

Hi everyone,
I'd like to solicit recommendations from you if you know of any manufacturer of underwater DSLR housing in the Philippines? I would like to explore the idea of having a custom made dslr housing because i can't afford the commercial ones that is four or five times the price of my dslr. I have photography as a hobby and i got hooked recently with diving so i'd like to explore this opportunity.
I'm just wondering if this is possible or i'm just dreaming. I hope someone can help.
Thanks a lot in advance! =)

 

[shugar]

Hi everyone,
I'd like to solicit recommendations from you if you know of any manufacturer of underwater DSLR housing in the Philippines? I would like to explore the idea of having a custom made dslr housing because i can't afford the commercial ones that is four or five times the price of my dslr. I have photography as a hobby and i got hooked recently with diving so i'd like to explore this opportunity.
I'm just wondering if this is possible or i'm just dreaming. I hope someone can help.
Thanks a lot in advance! =)

definitely no local manufacturers that i know off but i seriously doubt it'll be any cheaper to make a one-of housing... consider:

polycarbonate plastic - the cost of the mold alone will cost serious $$$ hence the cost of plastic housings because their runs are only in the thousands vs. millions for other polycarb stuff like cellphone shells and stuff...

aluminum - a solid block of aluminum will cost serious $$$$ and you have to consider the milling/ machining of the block to what you can take u/w...

acrylic - your best option but my guess is the best you'll get is cheap-but-useless... "useless" in the sense that you won't be able to control anything on your camera and for a photog that'll suck large lemons... like having a sports car but unable to steer it

control buttons - each one a potential leak... you'll have to make them seal and the o-rings fit yet allow you to diddle the controls...

other attachments - will it sit on a tray? firing strobes? slave or ttl? fibre optic or voice activated? so many options and each one has to be considered...

i saw a really cheap polycarb housing in aquaventure that will fit over 500 p/s cameras... of course if i saw it right it will give you exactly 2 control options: "on/off" and "click"... better than nothing but see above on acrylic.

get a canon or oly housing - probably your most practical option since you're a photog...

if you want to just take pictures u/w i would suggest an intova w/c comes to about 16k WITH housing and also allows you to control it... available in digital studio in greenbelt 3-4 walkway

personally unless you got the $$$ to spend on getting a housing done right you don't want to risk the electronics you'll house in it

hope this helps and welcome to the PPD!

pd:

Jag

 

[edzville]

@shugar / Jag,

Thanks for the detailed feedback, i really appreciate the insights related to having a customized housing for a DSLR camera. I guess i was just into that newbie shock when i searched online about underwater housing systems. A complete UW system would normally fetch over US$3K while my DSLR only cost a small fraction. *lolz*
I saw the complete Intova system kit when i visited a local dive shop in Manila and i think the price is reasonable and i am actually thinking of buying a complete set. I just need to research a little bit more about the quality and feature of the camera and the performance of the entire system.
Thanks for the welcome and kudos to you, your feedback is very helpful. =)

 

[kwhkg]

just as aside you can buy point and shoot either canon or nokon with case, canon ore fantasea for under 30k peso

 

[Karl_H]

@shugar / Jag,

Thanks for the detailed feedback, i really appreciate the insights related to having a customized housing for a DSLR camera. I guess i was just into that newbie shock when i searched online about underwater housing systems. A complete UW system would normally fetch over US$3K while my DSLR only cost a small fraction. *lolz*
I saw the complete Intova system kit when i visited a local dive shop in Manila and i think the price is reasonable and i am actually thinking of buying a complete set. I just need to research a little bit more about the quality and feature of the camera and the performance of the entire system.
Thanks for the welcome and kudos to you, your feedback is very helpful. =)

Yep - unfortunately the cost of a good dSLR housing will be a lot more than even a top of the range dSLR camera body, and that's before you add on the strobes, arms and housing ports.....

If you're looking for something cheaper the best option would be to got for a semi-dSLR like a G10 or similar, you can get a camera, housing and external strobes for a lot less than just a dSLR housing alone.

One word of warming though, to get the best out of your dSLR underwater you'll need to use quite a few settings regularly - this will mean you need some control buttons through the housing and this is a big leak hazard. Making your own would be a great pass time but is highly likely to flood as after all it will effectively be a prototype and in almost all floods you will need to either buy a new camera or pay close to the camera cost for repairs - especially if the CMOS sensor gets wet.....

I'd certainly not recommend taking a dSLR underwater unless you're very confident with your housing - that's why they are so expensive I guess Sadly housings do flood, it's just one of those annoying facts of life! I've got a Hugyfot dSLR housing and was convinced it's invincible with the Hugycheck pressurisation system - I then saw one flooded a few weeks back (not mine - phew :wow - I'm now back to being paranoid about using mine again aranoid:

You can get great pictures with some point and shoot models and even better with the semi-dSLR features range - I'd go for the Canon powershot and Canon housing if I were you, this would be much cheaper than a typical dSLR housing and a lot safer than a home made one If you really get hooked you can then sell on the powershot and housing set-up and upgrade to the dSLR housing. Just make sure you get strobes and arms that can be used on the upgraded housing also...

Karl