EOS Rebel XT Advice Needed (Lenses/Housing, etc.)

[alcina]

Congrats on all the new toys, Guys! Looking forward to your photos, gabyne!

The 15mm fisheye is a neat lens - again, you'll need two strobes to light it well.

cfelliot - so have you preordered your housing from Ikelite yet?? I wonder what the wait time will be?

 

[JackConnick]

Alcina's advice is great on lens choices, I would add the Sigma 15mm as a great wide angle for a budget price.

Another strobe choice is ahem, Fantasea Line's housing for the Canon 580 speedlight. It gives full TTL and lots of built in lighting choices with any housed Canon camera. If you need Nikon's 5 pin compatibility, Fantasea also sells a 6 pin to 5 pin adapter. The advantage is that you also end up with a great above water strobe as well. The Canon housing retails for $450, I sell it for $399, including a 6 pin sync cord.

Fantasea Line has a 350 housing available now. DEMA is in November and I would expect some new product announcements then, with shipping around the first of the year.

I'm happy to work with any SB members who would like mail order pricing on Fantasea Line, with "real-person" service! Just email me for a quote.

Jack

 

[cowboyneal]

Fantasea also says they will have a housing for the XTi (400D) in "6-8 weeks." This fresh off my email this morning.

 

[alcina]

No offense meant to Jack as he is a Fantasea dealer, but I wouldn't be using Fantasea housings for my cameras - do some searching around the place for information and then make your own decision, of course! You may find they have exactly what you need.

 

[cowboyneal]

...care to elaborate why?

 

[cfelliot]

...
cfelliot - so have you preordered your housing from Ikelite yet?? I wonder what the wait time will be?

See: http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/camcanchart.html

It says October release.

Just in time to leave ads and brochures around the house for when Santa cleans.


Chuck

 

[JackConnick]

No offense meant to Jack as he is a Fantasea dealer, but I wouldn't be using Fantasea housings for my cameras - do some searching around the place for information and then make your own decision, of course! You may find they have exactly what you need.

Alcina;

There were some problems with some of the first generation housings. You can't tell me that every manf. has had issues of one kind or another. We're now on the third generation of housings and they are being well received. Our new Oly 330 housing got a great review in UW Photography mag for instance. It features the new "airlock" closure system with no catches, just a pressure release valve, as does the Canon strobe housing.

And we take the guess work out of the decision with free DEPP flood insurance; Fantasea is the only manf to offer and stand behind their housings that way. If it floods the insurance buys you a new camera!

Are they made up to the standards and features of other much more expensive housings? Maybe not, but for the cost they are very nice, easily compete with housings at a lower price-point, have better strobe sync offerings, are smaller and more ergometric.

I've recently sold several 350 and D70 housings and the owners have had good results.

So please update your info before you bad-mouth something.

Jack

 

[alcina]

Sorry, wasn't bad mouthing - I clearly stated that they may suit some people perfectly.

I am just stating that I would not use them. If anyone wishes to see how I came to my decision of housing they can follow the pink link in my sig or ask me and I'm happy to go into it. My decision or the process I used to get there may or may not suit others, too.

The adding of automatic DEPP is certainly something other manufacturer's do not offer!

 

[JackConnick]

Ok, hugs and kisses.

I can confirm that the new housings should be out before christmas. Received this email:

We are now in the advanced R and D stages of the following housings due out this fall and well before Christmas buying season.
Nikon D80 and Canon 400D camera housings. Also, new housings for the Coolpix S7c, S9 and L6.
*
Fantasea has also seriously upgraded our Nikon FD 70 (now FD 70N) and FD 50 (now FD 50N) DSLR housings. The FD70N and FD50N now have full zoom lens controls, better optical view finder and improved ON/OFF and trigger assemblies.

The later are available now.

Jack

 

[bandit_TX]

The addition of DEPP insurance is nice for a new manufacturer to give people some confidence to purchase.

I will say that Ikelite, without insurance, fully backs all of their products to the hilt. If it floods and the housing is defective, Ike will make you whole. They also go far beyond typical warrantee service to make customers happy. This includes shipping loaner equipment to far off locations when necessary. I love my Ikelite housing for the 20D. I second the choice of the 60 EF-S macro for a first lense. It not only does fine macro work, it also is just right for fish portraits. I think it is a more versatile choice than the 100 Macro that I also shoot. The 10-22 EF-S is a fine choice for wide angle and is a nice topside lense as well. The Ikelite DS-125 paired with the Ikelite housing gives true eTTL-II flash control with power to spare. This can be the difference between getting shots and not getting them, especially for a new underwater shooter.