G10 Housings

[jimorus]

I recently bought the FIX from REEF and just posted this on Wetpixel the other evening

"I recently purchased the FIX housing, This is only my second housing and the first was an Oly so I have only touched plastic housings before this.

My wife and I did extensive 35mm and medium format shooting for several years so I have used good equipment and noticed something different on this housing than even on Hassie, Contax, or Bronica medium format land products. The tripod mount is not centered on the center axis of the lens but is two 1/4 20 holes approximately 1/3 from either edge of the housing. Maybe this is normal with the better housings but isn't something I had ever seen.

The off sets made fitting it on a tray with a centered mounding hole a bit challenging to get the handles mounted properly to allow for a comfortable grip and to easily reach the shutter button and to keep the symmetry that to me adds to the ease of balancing it in my hands. The holes in the housing are helicoiled which makes for a stronger set of threads than if they were just cut into the aluminum. If you have ever stripped a 1/4 20 bolt in aluminum you have an idea of how nice this really is. The actual thread strengh into the aluminum is alnost the same as a 3/8 bolt would be, so pulling out the threads with the thumbscrew should be nearly impossible.

I bought an S tray from Jack at opticaloceansales.com. I trimmed a bit off the left side of the tray and then had to add an additional hole on that side of the tray for the second mounting bolt for the left arm. He also provided a new-slighty used ys110 and some relatively inexpensive fiber and ends for the fiber. I did need an additional washer under each of the bolt heads to keep the supplied bolts from extending about half a turn through the thickness of the tray and arm assembly.

I haven't had it underwater yet but have been shooting with dual ys110 strobes and a small focus light around the house, basement and yard to get used to the controls. Other than the control wheel dial being a bit stiff all the controls work well and work just as they do on the camera itself.

If you are plannig on using the less expensive fiber with no ends plan on buying adapters for the connection to the housing. The adapter on the camera has the option to connect two S&S connections or something else that is about an eigth of an inch in diameter. Another call to Jack got me some Fantasea adapters that mounted to the raw fiber and allowed it them to plug into the housing's S&S adapter nicely. I had purchased the housing from Reef and was a little surprised when they had no suggestions on what to use. I can't be the only one that had this problem. It stemmed from buying my first ys110 used and using the less expensive fiber with the velcro connections on my OLY and wanting to use my current flash equipment on the new housing. There was not enough room by the flash window to use two of the fancy velcro mounts. When I mentioned needing a second ys110 Jack offered one from stock at a less expensive cost than the used one I was going to buy. Yes it is old stock but it was where I was going anyway so another thanks to Jack at Optical Oceans for quick shipping good suggestions and reasonable pricing."

jim morus

 

[NTSilver]

Not only should push you all the buttons when having the housing submerged in water, but also when you drying it. There is water which gets trapped and by pushing all of them, you can bleed that water.

I too have an Ikelite digital housing for my Powershot G10 and though I've had it for less then a year, it shows no signs of rusting or even tarnishing anywhere.

The can of air idea is a good one, but still you shouldn't have to go such lengths to prevent rust. Especially on an Ikelite housing which is known for its durability.

I agree with you on the final bit Spending the extra money on an Ikelite housing, with the intent of it being a durable, reliable product and then only for it to have rust issues must be disheartening. I have not heard any experience even remotely close to your own when dealing with Ikelite housings, but it still raises concerns of longevity on my own housing.



I went through the same debate in my head and eventually settled with the G10/ Ikelite housing. Its a happy middle ground between economical and expensive. The only problem is that a SLR camera, plus lens, will run you at least double the price of the G10 and then on top of that the cheapest housings available for such systems are atleast 1200$ plus options going all the way up past 4000$ for the most expensive.

There is no "real" photographic comparison between an SLR system and a G10, but when shooting in low ISO's and proper accessory lenses it can come very very close.

Frank - thanks for the further advice on the drying. There was a specific timeframe for the hardware rust situation. Once ikelite realized what was going on they switched manufacturers. The rusting happened very quickly and they had no issues discussing it with me. Hopefully yours was manufactured after the fix.

 

[Osseous]

At the risk of getting hammered on this thread I'll throw out my opinion anyway as it's just one mans perspective.

Keeping in mind the Canon G10 is a point-and-shoot camera, albeit a good one, spending approx. $1000. on a Patima housing + another 500 to 1000 for one or two strobes seems out of proportion for a point-and-shoot camera. If you have almost 2k to spend on a housing and strobe(s) shouldn't you be buying a DSLR camera? There is no comparison in picture quality difference between the two.

What on earth are you basing that last comment on? There's tremendous comparison- it's going on all over the web right now. The G10 and the Panasonic LX-3 are opening a lot of eyes and imaginations with their picture quality. The software (the dummy pushing the buttons) is gonna play a much bigger role than the hardware when you compare the G10's images with those of a Dig SLR rig~

 

[jbb]

I won't hammer you (I love your photograhy way too much for that) ... but I will disagree.

So far I've got about $4K into my setup ... that includes the G10, Fisheye FIX housing, WAL, macro port, dual S&S YS-110a strobes, focus light, and strobe arms.

For a DSLR setup, that's about what I'd pay for a good housing.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

But then think...getting the shot that your point and shoot would have missed because it was thinking for an extra second...Priceless That's not a fair housing comparison. I see Aquatica makes a $1800 housing sans port for the D90 with Ikelite at $1380 sans port.

I have the old g7 and a canon housing, one Inon z240 and two Inon 165 macro lenses. I would seriously consider a D40, D60 or D90 with a 60mm macro lense if the economy wasn't in the crapper. What would hold me back is the added bulk and weight for travel as well as needing some device to download and view RAW images on between dives. Yes two strobes would be preferable. I guess I keep seeing people with great images with the G series cameras so that's my excuse to continue working with what I have until I'm really sure I've out grown the system. Heck I can't even justify a focus light that would really help my g7 in that respect.

 

[Gilligan]

What on earth are you basing that last comment on? There's tremendous comparison- it's going on all over the web right now. The G10 and the Panasonic LX-3 are opening a lot of eyes and imaginations with their picture quality. The software (the dummy pushing the buttons) is gonna play a much bigger role than the hardware when you compare the G10's images with those of a Dig SLR rig~

I'll stand by my statement. I don't think any point-and-shoot camera can stand up to a DSLR.

 

[Nemrod]

I'll stand by my statement. I don't think any point-and-shoot camera can stand up to a DSLR.

I think what is missed here is that some people don't care, the fellow wanted to talk about his G10. I hope he enjoys his camera. Everybody understands that a SLR has more capability and ultimately more imaging quality. It is also much larger, much more expensive, and since one would buy such a rig to be at the top tier of imaging quality you will need to buy another next year to remain at the top tier. N

 

[caileon]

I am a fairly new UW photographer. I basically started with a g3 and a canon housing. But I have taken some great photos that would rival and DSLR/strobe set up. Unfortunately I took my camera to 150' in a housing only rated to 130' and it warped the housing. So, I have upgraded to a g10, and will try the canon housing once again. It only cost $175.00 for the housing, so if it stinks I will just junk it. I guess my point is, it doesn't hurt to start small and work your way up. You can get great shots without a expensive set up and strobes. Then as you learn to use the camera, you can add, 1 and 2 strobes. Try various settings on the camera and you will be surprised how great you can do. Going to Bonaire in a week, I will post some pics, with my basic set up when I get back.

 

[jlw]

I'll stand by my statement. I don't think any point-and-shoot camera can stand up to a DSLR.

Thats a bold and silly statement. Light is light. Sensors are sensors. The CCD/CMOS in the G10 or the one in the G9 (where I can speak from experience) is the same quality and could even be the same sensor used in a dSLR. Its all about the optics of the lens, the sensor used to record it and how your RAW was written (assuming we're shooting RAW here as thats the big G10/G9 draw.)

I shoot a Nikon D3 on land and its a fantastic camera -- but I specifically own and shoot it (mostly) with my Nikon 14-24 F2.8 lens and a few other bought-for-a-purpose nikon lenses (70-200 f2.8, 300mm F2.8, 50mm f1.4, etc.) that is does very very well with. I shot a D200 for years before I had the D3 and a D70 before that. I have just as many excellent, salable images on the D200 as I do the D70 and fewer on the D3 as its new.

I also have some salable, wonderful images both above and below water with the G9 I shoot. Knowing the ranges within which the lens performs well and the best settings to get the most from the sensor/allow me to edit the photos the way I choose and the shots are excellent. I can get tack sharp, bright and wonderful colors on the Canon almost as well and as easily as I can with the Nikons (only limitation is I hate the Canon UI and love the Nikon.)

While the UI complaints are real -- for UW work I find the G9 to be fantastic and simple. The workflow of Canon is OK by me underwater as its so different than land-based photography.

Regardless the UI -- if you know what you are doing and use the equipment right you can get the same quality images from either, P&S or dSLR. My favorite picture ever was with a disposable I picked up from a street vendor in Beijing. Crappy lens, crappy film -- but everything else lined up right.

 

[wiseguy1]

Frankpro1
Underwater the Ikelite housing was not particulally heavy itself, but the twin Ikelite strobes that my buddy had were far heavier than the S&S YS110a strobes that I was using. You do have complete control over all of the features (see Gilligan's post). You are right regarding the lack of TTL. I shoot full manual, so this is not a factor for me. I suppose, like anything else, after using the housing for a while, one would get used to the position of the levers and buttons. It just seemed to me to be poorly laid out and not intuitive (IMHO). The compactness of the case coupled with the price point seems to make this a better choice (for me) than the Ikelite.

 

[FrankPro1]

Frankpro1
Underwater the Ikelite housing was not particularly heavy itself, but the twin Ikelite strobes that my buddy had were far heavier than the S&S YS110a strobes that I was using. You do have complete control over all of the features (see Gilligan's post). You are right regarding the lack of TTL. I shoot full manual, so this is not a factor for me. I suppose, like anything else, after using the housing for a while, one would get used to the position of the levers and buttons. It just seemed to me to be poorly laid out and not intuitive (IMHO). The compactness of the case coupled with the price point seems to make this a better choice (for me) than the Ikelite.

Definitely agree that twin Ikelite strobes with Ike arms will be heavier than twin YS100's with Sea&Sea arms. I have handled the D125's and the YS100's at a local shop and there is some definite weight difference. If your concerned with weight issues when using either housing you can choose to use the lighter strobe system.
Adding the Ikelite strobes to the already bulked up Ikelite housing will create a hefty system, but if weights a big issue Canon's housing is the better option.

After reviewing Gilligan's post, you do have control of all the features with the Canon housing, but it takes more time to setup a shot "No TTL, No focus wheel". Time is something us underwater photographers have little of, especially when trying to get that perfect pose out of are marine life friends. I know you can bypass the focus wheel by using the button combination for changing aperture and shutter speed, but can you still accurately use manual focus?

I was seriously considering the Canon housing when purchasing my G10 setup. The high end housings were out of my price point, with the Ikelite just at the far end of it. Before this I was using an Olympus 550 zoom with an Oly housing. My buddy has and still is using an older Powershot with a Canon housing. When comparing the Oly housing to the Canon housing, I noticed the Canon's cheap plastic buttons and thin casing. The Oly on the other hand had nice metal buttons and a thick walled case. After comparing the two, I just couldn't put my brand new G10 in a thin plastic case. I'm a Palos Verdes shore diver, we deal with steep rough cliffside trails and slippery boulder ridden entries. I need a housing with some major durability and strength. So my only option was the Ikelite. For my uses the Ikelite was the better choice, for others with weight, size and further financial constraint the Canon would be fine. Its just not for me