G11 Setup.

[Ninji]

Hi, so my gf has the S90 with the canon housing (she is just starting to take pics) and was wondering what external strobe to get and if/any other accessories for u/w photography you would recommend?

I myself decided to get the G11. I used to have a canon sd870 with Ikelite housing and that worked really well and my first u/w camera was a Bonica something with the bonica strobe and even that produced really good images (1 or 2 perhaps 3 out of 24) , but I wanted to upgrade with a better camera.

I've read many threads about G11 vs S90 and it seems that most people tend towards the S90 (my gf is very about this...
but I myself is still not too sure what housing and set up to get for the G11.
Here is the main question: canon$-Ikelite$$-Fix$$$? Why? I know about the price issue...but
I will be in the Yucatan area (Tulum) this June and will be diving cenotes and going on a whale shark outing...I really would like to have a good Wide Angle on this setup and also, macro is always great to have.
I hear that u cant do both with the fix housing when the special dome in attached , but its the one with the best coverage without vignetting??

Wet lenses would be a plus, but I am not too familiar with all these rigging's.

Any suggestions with be greatly appreciated since I am waiting to get the housing and kit...

Thank you

 

[Nemrod]

Just get the G11, FIX housing with the expensive dry dome or the FIX with the S90 and 67mm adapter kit and the expensive Inon UWL100-67mm with dome.

Oh, and two Inon D2000 strobes.

Hope you got lots of money, lol.

Either of those will get your whale shark.

N

 

[slowhands]

...

I myself decided to get the G11. ... not too sure what housing and set up to get for the G11. Here is the main question: canon$-Ikelite$$-Fix$$$? Why? I know about the price issue...but I will be in the Yucatan area (Tulum) this June and will be diving cenotes and going on a whale shark outing...

I really would like to have a good Wide Angle on this setup and also, macro is always great to have. I hear that u cant do both with the fix housing when the special dome in attached , but its the one with the best coverage without vignetting? Wet lenses would be a plus, but I am not too familiar with all these rigging's.

Personally I think the Canon housing is just fine, but the FIX is much better for much more money. You can do well with either, or with Ikelite. You do not need a macro lens with this camera, it can already focus to 1cm from the end of the lens, that's practically inside the housing.

There are a lot of differing opinions about which housing is best, I'll leave that up to you to sort out. Here is just a list of what is available, with suppliers. Dust off your credit card, wahoo!

For the Canon housing, you can add the Fantasea Bigeye wet lens for this housing, $200 at Helix.
Fantasea BigEye Lens G10 Wide Angle Lens - Underwater Photography - Helix Camera & Video
It's not a super wide angle -- it just restores the apparent field of view of your 28mm lens, correcting for the magnification caused by water. To get wider, consider Inon 28AD adapter, and UWL-100 28AD.
INON Mountbase?[TOP]
I'm sure Reef Photo and Video carries this, but I can't find it right now.
[Hmm.. I jumped the gun. It's apparently not released yet. You could probably cobble a similar one, say for the G10 housing?]

For the Ikelite housing, you can add the wd-4 wet lens. This slides over the lens port and is reasonably priced. It is not super wide, it just undoes the magnification effect of water.
Ikelite Housing for Canon G11 Digital Camera - Optical Ocean Sales Underwater Photo - 800-359-1295!
Ikelite WD-4 Wide Angle Conversion Dome - Optical Ocean Sales Underwater Photo - 800-359-1295!

For the FIX housing, check it here:
FIX G11 Housing for Canon G11 [fix.g11] - $1,099.00 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros
you can spend more money and get the dome for wider angle.
FIX UWL-04 Fisheye Conversion Lens for FIX G10/G11 [fix.uwl.04.g10] - $549.00 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros
If you are just starting out, I would wait to spend the big bucks. The dome requires very careful handling on entry and exit.

For the 10Bar housing, check it here:
10Bar Canon G11 Housing - 10Bar Underwater Housings - Optical Ocean Sales Underwater Photo - 800-359-1295!
Aug 2009 Newsletter

 

[Nemrod]

Personally I think the Canon housing is just fine, but the FIX is much better for much more money.

For the Canon housing, you can add the Fantasea Bigeye wet lens for this housing, $200 at Helix.
Fantasea BigEye Lens G10 Wide Angle Lens - Underwater Photography - Helix Camera & Video
It's not a super wide angle -- it just restores the apparent field of view of your 28mm lens, correcting for the magnification caused by water. To get wider, consider Inon 28AD adapter, and UWL-100 28AD.
INON Mountbase?[TOP]
I'm sure Reef Photo and Video carries this, but I can't find it right now.

For the G11 DC34 housing there is no Inon adapter for wide angle lenses to get the whale shark photo.

N

 

[Ninji]

Thank you for the quick response Nemrod. It is much appreciated. I will be analyzing the info carefully Slowhands before deciding.
I don't own a money printing machine...yet , but I'll for sure factor in the price.
Much obliged
-Ninji

 

[Ninji]

Has anyone used 10bar housing for G11 with the W/A plus Dome set up before? Looking into this, was wondering if the w/a +Dome causes vignetting and what is the angle of coverage.

 

[Nemrod]

You might ask Mr. jack at www.oceanopticalsales.com. He may have some info, frankly, so few people probably have a 10Bar housing you will not find much info. Why spend the money on a 10Bar when you could get a FIX or Patima?

The least expensive wide angle option is the FIX90. Yes, the Canon DC-35 is possibly a contender but to get ultra wide you have to get the dome unit for the Inon 100-28AD at which point you are into a 800 dollars lens.

There is no cheap approach to underwater photography when you start requiring more than shooting macro, which is why everybody loves macro--lol.

The way to look at this stuff is from a "system" approach. What if the S90 came built into the FIX90 case as a modern day Nikonos III from Nikon? It would cost 1,400 dollars so such a deal that you can buy the FIX90 with camera for only 1,200 but then you have to get a lens adapter so then you are back to----1,400 dollars. Imagine that.

N