E-300 Housings: Ike vs. Oly?

[rcolman]

I actually own an Ikelite #6853, but not a PT-E01. Someone asked about the comparison, and I thought that I might pass on the following thoughts. Perhaps an actual PT-E01 owner might clarify?

Here were the issues:

Ports
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Only one dome port available for Oly and it is advertised for 11-22mm lense only and costs $800! Ike has large selection of dome and flat ports available, some with manual focus, and they are cheap.

Strobes
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I see no provisions for dual strobes on the Oly housing. Also, the only strobes supported are FL-20 and FL-36 in a separate housing. I use a FL-20 with my C-5060. It works OK, but it is low output. Housed strobes are a pain to maintain from my experience -- another set of two O-rings to service and another housing to flood.

ViewFinder
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Ike has "magic eye" magnifier which helps make the viewfinder a lot easier to use. Do not know if Oly housing has such a device.

Housing Build
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Have not actually seen a PT-E01 in the flesh, but have owned a couple of PT-020. The Ike housings are much heavier and studier. I can see dropping an Ike housing and surviving, don't know about the Oly. The build quality in terms of details and fit might be a bit better in the Oly housing.

Rick Colman

 

[stu_in_fl]

,.....would be interested in the comparison from anyone in th know (as I am contemplating taking the plunge into the expensive world of DSLR)....

...couple of questions for you Rick - what strobe are you using on your Ike housing ?
...and what was the approx cost of the Ike housing and port compared with the Oly one ?

thanks in advance

 

[rcolman]

...couple of questions for you Rick - what strobe are you using on your Ike housing ?
...and what was the approx cost of the Ike housing and port compared with the Oly one ?


I am using a DS-125 on one side, and a DS-50 on the other.

I paid around $1250 for the Ike housing with dome port. I suspect that Oly is significantly more expensire, particularly with the Oly dome port.

Really, Olympus, what is all this flat port stuff when everyone knows you need DOME ports for everything except Macro.

Does anyone at Olympus actually ever dive one of their setups??

Rick.

 

[ReyeR]

I have the E-300 but no housing yet.

The Olympus dome (PPO-E04) is actually for the 7-14 and proposed 8mm Fisheye. The specs of the PPO-E04 indicate that it is made from optical quality glass, which I imagine will produce superb images with the 7-14. The cost of the 7-14 is more an issue for me than the dome.

TBH I'm not sure if I would want the 14-45 or 14-54 behind a dome. And I would probably skip the 11-22 altogether for UW use. I would much rather that Olympus produce a 1:1 macro lens with a supporting flat port in the near future.

You can use dual strobes with a dual sync cords (manual trigger only) from mike-dive.de. He has both PT to Sea and Sea and PT to Ike cords. He is also working on a replacement Nikonos bulkhead for the PT-E01.

Just my 2 Bar.

 

[rcolman]

I have used my E-300 with Ikelite housing, using the 14-54mm zoom behind a dome port, on 12 dives. Images posted at photos.divebums.com.

One of the biggest improvements was going from my 5060 with flat port to a dome port on the E-300. I can go from 28 mm (equiv) wide-angle to 108 mm (1:4) macro. It is a good all around rig, which I will augment with a 50mm macro and flat port once my wallet recovers from the shock.

Super wide angle lenses like the 7-14, or fisheye, require really good clear water for effective use. Maybe I would use it once a year in the tropics, but hardly anywhere else in California. Also, getting close enough to a fish to photograph it with one of these lenses is a skill that I have not yet acquired.

Best,

Rick