Has anyone used these off brand housings?

[ConchyJoe]

I need another housing for my E-M5. I use it at Stingray sandbar so it never is under more than 5-6 feet of water. I don't need anything fancy. I have all the settings predetermined except for aperture, and don't need flash, diopters, zoom or anything else. Turn it on, set the aperture and fire away. This one works with the 12-50 ED lens. It is less than $200US on Ebay so quite the bargain, and I picked up a sweet E-M5, 12-50 ED and battery grip for $200US!

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[Chris Ross]

You get what you pay for........... housings are actually more likely to leak in shallow water the higher pressure when you go deeper loads the o-ring better. It'll probably work just fine within its limitations and you are only risking $200 worth of camera and lens. What you need to look out for is stuff like does it have provision to use the zoom? you can I believe assign an arrow button to electronically zoom this lens, though you did say you can't need zoom?? This one looks like it doesn't provide access to the LV button which you may need to activate the rear screen though you may be able to do that through the menus, they just give you a clear window rather than any sort of viewfinder to use the EVF.

 

[ConchyJoe]

Thanks Chris. Didn't think of the oring loading. Don't need any zoom or functions. I am basically standing in 4 feet of water shooting people interacting with stingrays.

 

[Ardy]

Chris is right about o'rings but if I were you I would buy and try, just make sure all o'rings are properly greased and that the back fits snug. Should work fine but you aren't going bankrupt on your investment.
I have an old dive buddy of mine bought a brand new Subal housing (several 000's) and on first dive it leaked in 10m and he lost a Nikon and very expensive lens, not happy Jan !!

There are a few reports about these housings (assuming they are all the same) and they seem to work OK, complaints have been more about buttons sticking at depth.

 

[ConchyJoe]

I live in Cayman, no buy and try. That is why I asked about them here! I'm going to buy one, I'll report back.

 

[Ardy]

I live in Cayman, no buy and try. That is why I asked about them here! I'm going to buy one, I'll report back.

Sorry Conchy, I forgot you are most probably American where buy and try is an option. In Australia we only have get your money back if not fit for purpose within 1 week???
I was suggesting buy it and caveat emptor, which is what you have done.

 

[Barmaglot]

I don't have experience with this specific model, but I have two Meikon housings for Sony cameras (one, two) and neither gave me any trouble.

 

[divinh]

I have a Polaroid-branded Meikon Sony NEX-5 housing that's worked perfectly right off the bat.

The original Canon WP-DC34 housing for a Canon G12 leaked at depth and continued to do so until I did repairs, as Canon does not service accessories. It hasn't leaked since.

In my limited sample of two, the off-brand is a better choice.

 

[Ardy]

Hi Conchy just had a look at ebay and there is this one for sale for $US49.99 + shipping - - Unused they claim.
You will have to look up item on your local ebay.
Meikon waterproof case for Olympus E-M5 (130ft/40M depth) | eBay

 

[SnohomishDiver]

Buy it and dive it without the camera inside, but put a couple squares of that moisture sensing paper in to detect any leaks. If it works okay while empty it should work okay with the camera.