ssra30 once bubbled...
Hmm, I have to disagree a bit here. I just upgrade my PT10 to Ikelite for my 4040Z and the housing with handle/tray alone felt like it is easily twice the weight of the PT10 with the weight and camera inside it, if not more. Throwing in my new D125 substrobe
made me wonder how easy it is going to dive with the camera in comparison with just my oly with PT10 and no strobe. Can't wait to try it out on my trip early next month though.
I have to agree though that Ike housing is very well made and basically I found the 90ft depth (theoretically) on PT10 a bit too limited.
You will find quite a difference U/W....
You cannot compare the weights on land...I too was skeptical of the weight but knew things would change U/W. The best way to explain it is to think of a coin and a steel hull of a ship (well this is a gross exaggeration
) you can easily pick up the coin... a ship I dont think so ..... but the coin sinks (a few grams) and the ship floats (thousands of tons)......Its a matter of displacement. Think of and AL 80 with compressed air in it, filled its negative, as you consume the air it becomes positive .... yet the tank approaches 40 lbs on land. Density of the material used will also play a part in weight/buoyancy. The housing, If I recall, even though its weight is about 6-7 pounds will float like a cork by itself . This to the point I though I would need to add counter weights
to the housing to give it the slight negative buoyancy you need ( the strobe and camera fixed that). The cavity which the camera sits in creates displacement and gives it some buoyancy. I'm certain the Ike housing is heavier as there is much more material to the housing... That being said I have no idea what and Olympus housing "feels" like underwater.
Personally with a DS-125 strobe, camera, housing and a WAL (thats about 1lb of nothing but solid glass and would sink like a rock),
I can easily hold the setup U/W with one hand (on the housing , not the tray handle) and snap the shutter. Can I do that on land ....Yes.... It's not very comfortable or too smart however.
Pirate .....the tray I have is just the single handle that comes with the standard housing setup.....the other tray (dual handle) is an extra $75 ....if I ever go with #2 strobe. When I'm taking pics I have my right hand holding the housing and finger on the shutter release ... so at this point I didnt want the other handle. Yes its another place to grab/hold onto but I have personally never had any issues with receiving or handing the camera to someone on the boat. The arms I did upgrade to the one that adjusts via ball joints thus facilitating ease of strobe placement U/W (dont have to fight with clamps too tight or too loose)
Question for you ....what strobe are you looking at ??? The sync cord, I believe, requires manual modes on the camera ....Where as the TTL you use in program mode or manual....If you're brand new to this stuff I would go with the TTL (IKELITE) or the fiber optic cords like on the Sea & Sea strobes.....makes taking the picture a little easier
