G15 and Ikelite limitations

[Deceter]

I'm about to purchase an Ikelite housing for my G15. I've come from using an Intova IC12 with WA lens and ISS 4000 strobe from which I've had limited success.

What I'd like to know is:

1. What are the limitations of the Ikelite housing?

2. What accessories will I need to achieve a similar set-up as I had with the Intova?

3. Well there's usually three things but I haven't got anything else.

I was considering the Fantasea but it won't be out in time for my trip.

Thanks for any advice/opinions.

 

[oly5050user]

I'm about to purchase an Ikelite housing for my G15. I've come from using an Intova IC12 with WA lens and ISS 4000 strobe from which I've had limited success.

What I'd like to know is:

1. What are the limitations of the Ikelite housing?

2. What accessories will I need to achieve a similar set-up as I had with the Intova?

3. Well there's usually three things but I haven't got anything else.

I was considering the Fantasea but it won't be out in time for my trip.

Thanks for any advice/opinions.

Cannot come up with any limitations here. Only positive attributes..Like true ttl when using a sync cord to an ikelite ds strobe,( preferably a 160 or 161..). You paid for a camera that can do that, and paid again by using a ikelite housing, why not be able to use this feature by using ikelite strobes? Also get the dome and sa100 arm/sync cord package available from ikelite for the housing and you are set.
Just sold that exact package to a woman traveling to Thailand about 3 weeks ago. She has since returned and was pleased with the results.

 

[Deceter]

I did intend to buy a 161 at a later stage, so it is a sync cord and arm that I would need to link the two?

I don't know why but I get really confused when it comes to U/W photography equipment until I actually get to handle it.

What options for wide angle are there? A quick search reveals much confusion. Basically I want something similar to the Intova's set-up/

 

[mjh]

A complete system would look something like this, of course you can upgrade to the 160 strobe: Manufacturer :: Ikelite :: Housings :: Digital Compact :: Ikelite Canon G15 Housing & Strobe Value Package -

Other additions would be a wide angle lens, Ike has a couple of options and diopters for Macro.

 

[oly5050user]

housing will not accept a wide angle lens that has a 67mm thread. That is what the dome is for. Camera already has a fairly wide lens on it and the dome works well ..The dome from ikelite fits over the lens port on the housing.

 

[Deceter]

So are you talking about adding a wide angle lens to the housing or the camera? - this is where i'm failing to understand it.

 

[mikepeluso]

the ikelite housing for g15 WILL accept 67 MM thread lens, but to achieve this you will require the wide angle port ( Wide Angle Port 9306.35)

The WD-4 is okay, its just a dome, so all it does is correct for the magnification you get underwater from refraction.


i just started putting together a g15 set up with a ikelite housing.
i am going to go to play with it a lot with the stock housing before i pick any lens routes. i heard the stock lens port is pretty good also. so i am trying to not spend a lot of money before i can test things out.

 

[PatW]

I used the Ike housing with a Canon G11. It is a good functional housing. It also accepted a macro wet lens which was really helpful. The macro on the G11 only works on the wide angle setting which means you have to be so very close that macro sort of ceases to have much meaning.

The problem my set up had was the widest functional wide angle I had was 35 mm full frame DSLR. It said 28 mm but with the water refraction, there is an adjustment. I found with large subjects such as turtles, stingrays, dive buddies, etc, I needed a wider setting to get good functionality. Long range in underwater shooting is 5' and you really should be closer. The lack of a serious wide angle (20 mm or shorter) became more and more vexing as I gained experience. Of course, if you want to shoot only medium sized fish and macro subjects, you will not need a wide angle. So I don't know what your needs are.

The TTL capability is something that is pushed but I found it not that useful. I soon went to full manual setting. A ranging shot would give me my needed exposure. I could adjust iso, strobe position or strobe setting to compensate. The area where TTL would have really been nice was in a spot where it was no help at all. If you are shooting at something on a sand bed like a stingray or a jawfish, you get a bunch of light bouncing back into the camera giving you horrendous over exposure. The TTL does not compensate for that. At least, not in my experience.

As far as strobes, I like the 160 and the 125 for my DSLR. But I did pretty well with a pair of 51s for my G11. I feel having 2 strobes gives you more control over lighting. Having two also tends to greatly reduce that terrible shadows you can get from one strobe. The 160 and 125 have better batteries though. On the downside, they are large and tend to be far more cumbersome.

 

[rks]

I've got a G15 in an Ikelite housing that I used in Hawaii earlier this year and will be taking out to micronesia in June. No limitations that I can think of, except one gotcha. The control for the zoom doesn't self center so if you zoom in or out all the way and don't manually recenter the control you won't be able to take pictures or push other controls because you're holding down the zoom lever on the camera. You just want to remember that. Otherwise I've been super happy.

Also super happy with Ikelite service. I was using a DS125 susbstrobe that they just upgraded to a DS160 (could've done a 161 but I don't do much video) for me at a cost that's probably less than the difference of selling the DS125 and buying a DS160. In the process they thoroughly checked out my battery and told me it was good.

When you go to a dual strobe setup you'll want to also get the tray that holds two strobes. I'm not a huge fan of ikelite's arms as they're hard to lock into position but they work well enough. I've just upgraded my setup to ultralight arms instead, you can buy the ikelite strobes without their arms and get ultralight arms for a similar total cost. I haven't use my ultralight arms yet but have played with sets on other cameras and been impressed. I also just picked up a second DS160 to use on my setup to replace the DS51 I had as a second strobe. Can't wait to try this rig out.

-R

 

[netazure]

I have the g15 with ike housing and really love the wide angle port ($89) and shoot pretty much exclusively with it. You can zoom to 85mm with it, so with a diopter on (Inon or Dyron +7s) you get nearly the same magnification for macro as you would with the camera zoomed all the way in with a diopter, so you don't give up much there, and you have the choice of the Inon uwl-100 28m67 type 2 ($521) or Inon M100 ZM80 ($350-450?). The ZM80 you zoom your camera to ~80mm and it gives you a wide angle result, where the uwl100 is a traditional wet wide angle lens, both would work with the threaded ikelite wide angle port which will give you the most flexibility with the g15 imo.