Question Housing decision - Nauticam vs. Ikelite

[sy-]

Currently using the na r7 with the wwl b1. I can't compare vs the ikelite as I went for the nauticam but I can say it's great and button locations etc won me over.

If you want any extra info on the na r7 that you can't get, let me know

 

[MikeFotoDives]

... if money were no object SEACAM. Austrian engineered and built. Incredible housings..

re: Nauticam - in diving with all the other stuff going on, and especially in higher stress situations like depth and current (Galapagos for example) - you want the muscle memory of the camera controls so that you don't even need to look at the knobs to make a change. Nauticam does that for me. Ikelite did not.

 

[Tracy]

Depth comes into play when deciding. Ikelite is a 130' housing with a 200' rating. While it doesn't crush at 200', none of the buttons work. If you planning for deeper photography, you will want a higher end housing.

 

[TostitoBandito]

Depth comes into play when deciding. Ikelite is a 130' housing with a 200' rating. While it doesn't crush at 200', none of the buttons work. If you planning for deeper photography, you will want a higher end housing.

The issue isn't that the buttons themselves don't work, it's that the acrylic compresses a couple mm when you get very deep and some of the buttons with tight tolerances/minimal gaps between the pegs and the camera body are placed into contact with the camera, placing them in the "pressed" position.

I sent my R5 housing back to Ikelite under warranty so they could modify the button length in one or two places. It would become an issue specifically on the video record button past 120 feet or so (very annoying until I disabled that button), but once they shortened it a few mm to account for housing compression it's been fine. Never had any issues with any of the other buttons down to 140 feet or so. The mechanism works fine (at any depth I imagine), it's just a matter of having a couple mm of gap between all the buttons and the camera body to account for compression. I think it's mostly just an issue with more curved top of the housing compressing down. The rear panel is thicker and flat against the o-ring and body housing so I don't think it really deforms at all.

But yeah, that's another thing you don't have to worry about as much if you spring for a more expensive aluminum housing. If you want to dive deep wrecks beyond recreational limits and things like that, it's something to consider for sure.

 

[hroark2112]

The depth issue is a thing for me as I have a tendency to wander down below 200’ from time to time. I’m going to go with the Nauticam I think, I have had button issues on other housings and it is annoying. I think the piece of mind of a better quality housing will make diving with it more fun. I’d hate to foood my brand new camera in Bikini Atoll or Truk on a deep wreck!

 

[davehicks]

The depth issue is a thing for me as I have a tendency to wander down below 200’ from time to time. I’m going to go with the Nauticam I think, I have had button issues on other housings and it is annoying. I think the piece of mind of a better quality housing will make diving with it more fun. I’d hate to foood my brand new camera in Bikini Atoll or Truk on a deep wreck!

My last Ikelite housing was for the D800. I quickly discovered it was NOT good for wide angle FF and switched to Nauticam. I believe they have since redesigned their entire port system to address this and the flimsy attachment system they had in the past. My buddies still using Ikelite housings are happy with them, but I've moved on.

The other >disturbing< thing I experienced with the Ikelites was an occasional ear-splitting CRACK sound the housing would occasionally produce at depths for 100 feet or so. Nothing ever happened that I could find, but it was terrifying when it happened.

 

[TostitoBandito]

My last Ikelite housing was for the D800. I quickly discovered it was NOT good for wide angle FF and switched to Nauticam. I believe they have since redesigned their entire port system to address this and the flimsy attachment system they had in the past. My buddies still using Ikelite housings are happy with them, but I've moved on.

The other >disturbing< thing I experienced with the Ikelites was an occasional ear-splitting CRACK sound the housing would occasionally produce at depths for 100 feet or so. Nothing ever happened that I could find, but it was terrifying when it happened.

Yeah the old slide lock thing from the 2000's era housings was pretty janky. My old 5D housing just had two little sliders holding the ports on. Doesn't make much difference underwater under pressure, but on the surface it's pretty flimsy. They eventually went to 4 sliders and then finally to the modular dry lock system they have now which I actually quite like (they press together like legos and are held with 4 set screws). I just wish they had more dome options.

And yeah, I'm familiar with the "pop" you get as the housing halves compress and shift ever so slightly against the o ring under pressure. Doesn't hurt anything, but certainly disconcerting the first couple times.

 

[Wobbegong_th]

I'd only use Ikelite so far. Main reason is that I could not afford Nauticam, Aquatica, or any other Aluminum Housing. I'm just a hobbyist photographer - don't make money from my photo.

Currently, I'm using Olympus OM-D EM5 mark III in Ikelite Housing. this is my first DSLR in many years. In the past, I'd use 3 other Ikelite housing for compact camera- Olympus C7070, Canon G16, Canon S100 (this on is for my wife).

However, my first experience with Ikelite was pre-digital era. First UW housing I ever had was Ikelite Housing for Canon AE-1, a film camera. I bought it second-hand off the internet and got it shipped from USA to Thailand - and found out it was leaking at the strobe connector on the back plate. So I e-mail Ikelite, had a consultation, send the backplate to USA. Ikelite replace the whole backplate and send it back to me, and I only pay shipping cost. That was around 1996-1997. I still have this housing & camera somewhere in my storage room.

Current Ikelite housing usually have a pre-drill slot to add their vacuum system (extra purchase, but worth it) I'd use 2 of their old model TTL strobe, DS-125 and DS-161. Both work flawlessly, with the right setting to the camera. (I was not aware that for Canon G16 in manual mode, it won't send out TTL signal.) I had the DS-125 converted to DS-161 at about 50-70% of the cost of buying the whole new unit. I'd been using single strobe so far but just got myself a early New Years gift as a second strobe, DS-162. I'll have my first trip with dual strobe in about 2 weeks.

I had my hand on a couple of my friends' Nauticam Housing. I admit that they are ergonomically superior to Ikelite housing.

In conclusion, if you have budget constrain, Ikelite should be in your consideration.