Housing for my Nikon D850, is Ikelite a good choice?

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Here is a picture taken last week with my D500 and Nikkor 60mm f 2.8 micro lens.
Using 2 Ikelite DS51 strobes. All shot manual mode: F/11 1/125 sec Non-TTL mode at -1.5 power.
I love my Ikelite.


IMG_9688-2.jpeg
 
I shot the Csnon G10 in an IKE housing. It worked well enough. But i did have to send it in to get reset after awhile.

I shot Nikon DSLRs and then Nikon mirrorless. I have used a Nauticam housing. The Nauticam housing is more expensive than the IKE housing. But the cost of ports and extension tubes is pretty near the same. So it is not THAT much more expensive. The ergonomics of the Nauticam housing are superb and the control is really good. FIt is not that much more expensive and I think that it is welll worth it. Also shooting a D850 might allow you to get a used housing for $$$ less.
 
A couple of years ago, a housing dealer asked me what kind of housing I was considering purchasing for my Nikon D850. When I responded that I was thinking about buying an Ikelite, he growled, "Why would anyone put a D850 in an Ikelite housing?"

I responded, "To keep my camera dry." For what it's worth, I use Nauticam, Sea & Sea, and Subal housings in addition to an Ikelite. All do a great job if I do not manage to screw things up.

I have used an Ikelite housing for my Nikon D7100/D7200 cameras for around ten years. The housing was sent in for service work and an electronics upgrade back in 2017. Unfortunately, a user error a few weeks ago resulted in a flood that destroyed my D7200 camera, favorite lens, and housing electronics package. Again, the flood was the result of an error on my part and not because any issues with the housing design. Given the circumstances surrounding my flood event, the same thing could have happened with any of the housings I use.

The flooded housing was returned to Ikelite a couple of weeks ago for service/repair work. Just today, Ikelite notified me that my serviced/repaired housing was being shipped back to me. When I have sent Ikelite equipment in for service work, the service department has always taken very good care of me.

Now, when I get my housing back, I will be adding a vacuum valve system to it. I like the Vivid Leak Sentinel that I use on a Nauticam housing and I'll be shopping for one to fit the Ikelite. Hopefully, the addition of the vacuum valve will help me avoid future mistakes when distractions are present. A vacuum valve system is cheap insurance.

When you consider housing choices, it is worth factoring in what kind of strobes you intend to use and how you plan to trigger your strobes. An Ikelite paired with a D850 usually requires the use of a sync cable rather than fiber optic cords. Of course, manufacturers have electronics packages that will convert the sync signal from your D850 into a signal for fiber optics. The downside of these electronics packages is additional cost. My sync cables have always done a really good job.

Another consideration is dome port selection. Can you get the size and quality dome ports that you want to use? This said, the last time I looked, there were options for large, mineral glass dome ports available for Ikelite.

I still have not housed my D850. One of these days, I need to.

The short story is that Ikelite makes quality gear and provides exceptional service support!

-AZTinman
I would suggest that if your Housing was designed to include a vacuum pump and indicator light (such as with Nauticam) then your user error would have been caught before you got in the water.

Whatever housings one decides to buy, there is no excuse these days buying something without a vacuum system. It should be considered as a standard requirement in my opinion.
 
I would suggest that if your Housing was designed to include a vacuum pump and indicator light (such as with Nauticam) then your user error would have been caught before you got in the water.

Whatever housings one decides to buy, there is no excuse these days buying something without a vacuum system. It should be considered as a standard requirement in my opinion.

I could not agree more. I was on a dive boat and a guy had a flooded housing with a dslr. It used to be a nagging worry about whether I had sealed the housing properly. I have used the Nauticam vacuum and led warning light system for years and I have never had a pressure loss. Once i get a vacuum lock, I am good. There are other vacuum lock systems out there.
 
I could not agree more. I was on a dive boat and a guy had a flooded housing with a dslr. It used to be a nagging worry about whether I had sealed the housing properly. I have used the Nauticam vacuum and led warning light system for years and I have never had a pressure loss. Once i get a vacuum lock, I am good. There are other vacuum lock systems out there.
I have had a pressure loss a couple of times, but always a very slow leak. Once only after a couple of days when I happened to setup the system and then had to cancel the dive. Cleaning everything and resealing resolved the problem.
 
It's always interesting to see old threads revived after a couple of years.

While I still use my Ikelite housing with my Nikon D7200, it's worth noting that I added a vacuum system following the user-error flood back in 2021. I'd love to say the addition of the vacuum system totally solved the threat of a potential flood. Unfortunately, I can't say that.

Several months after getting my repaired and serviced housing back, I encountered another flood issue. The vacuum valve system I installed gave me the green light to dive, but shortly into the dive, I lost the green light and the housing began to flood again. I couldn't get the housing out of the water quickly enough to avoid killing my camera.

The culprit for this second flood was the o-ring on the vacuum valve. The vacuum valve had worked just fine before the dive where it didn't. Needless to say, my insurance company was less than thrilled to hear from me again. While losing my camera again, the loss of a rather lucrative contract from the film production company I was working for really hurt.

I switched to a vacuum valve system with a beefier o-ring and added an audible moisture alarm system to my old Ikelite housing. So far, I haven't encountered any additional flood issues.

My Nikon D850 is housed now. A killer deal for a used Nauticam D850 housing fell into my lap. Interestingly, the used NAD850 housing didn't come with a vacuum system. It had a moisture alarm system and it was easy to add a Nauticam vacuum valve system. Now, the NAD850 housing has both as does my Ikelite for my D7200.

When I'm working with newbie underwater photographers, I always recommend that they set their housings up with both a vacuum and moisture alarm systems.

-AZTinman
 
It's always interesting to see old threads revived after a couple of years.

While I still use my Ikelite housing with my Nikon D7200, it's worth noting that I added a vacuum system following the user-error flood back in 2021. I'd love to say the addition of the vacuum system totally solved the threat of a potential flood. Unfortunately, I can't say that.

Several months after getting my repaired and serviced housing back, I encountered another flood issue. The vacuum valve system I installed gave me the green light to dive, but shortly into the dive, I lost the green light and the housing began to flood again. I couldn't get the housing out of the water quickly enough to avoid killing my camera.

The culprit for this second flood was the o-ring on the vacuum valve. The vacuum valve had worked just fine before the dive where it didn't. Needless to say, my insurance company was less than thrilled to hear from me again. While losing my camera again, the loss of a rather lucrative contract from the film production company I was working for really hurt.

I switched to a vacuum valve system with a beefier o-ring and added an audible moisture alarm system to my old Ikelite housing. So far, I haven't encountered any additional flood issues.

My Nikon D850 is housed now. A killer deal for a used Nauticam D850 housing fell into my lap. Interestingly, the used NAD850 housing didn't come with a vacuum system. It had a moisture alarm system and it was easy to add a Nauticam vacuum valve system. Now, the NAD850 housing has both as does my Ikelite for my D7200.

When I'm working with newbie underwater photographers, I always recommend that they set their housings up with both a vacuum and moisture alarm systems.

-AZTinman
What are you using for an audible alarm?
 
I'm using a Fantasea moisture alarm on my Ikelite housing. It has both an audible alarm and a light that starts blinking if triggered.

The vacuum system that didn't work well on my Ikelite housing was a Vivid. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, it worked on several dives until it didn't. I've got the same model Vivid vacuum valve installed on an older Nauticam housing (NAD300s) and have had no problems with it.

After the flood with the Vivid vacuum valve, I switched to an Ikelite vacuum valve on my Ikelite D7200 (four lock) housing. In hindsight, I should have simply installed an Ikelite vacuum valve on the Ikelite housing to begin with rather than the Vivid.

-AZTinman
 
Let us know how you like the Ikelite. I’ve been in the same boat with my d850. I currently have a d300 in a sea and sea housing but would like to eventually upgrade to a housing for my d850.
 
I'm using a Fantasea moisture alarm on my Ikelite housing. It has both an audible alarm and a light that starts blinking if triggered.

The vacuum system that didn't work well on my Ikelite housing was a Vivid. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, it worked on several dives until it didn't. I've got the same model Vivid vacuum valve installed on an older Nauticam housing (NAD300s) and have had no problems with it.

After the flood with the Vivid vacuum valve, I switched to an Ikelite vacuum valve on my Ikelite D7200 (four lock) housing. In hindsight, I should have simply installed an Ikelite vacuum valve on the Ikelite housing to begin with rather than the Vivid.

-AZTinman
Do you think the port size is different, is that why the vivid didn't work?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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