i have to say this was one of the most informative threads that i have read in a wile on camera housing.
When i was looking at housings i looked at both Ike, sea tool and AQUATICA. And for me it was obvious which housing felt better in my hands and which one felt like it was thrown together. Personally i have nothing against ikelight and what they do. they make cheep, fairly well made housings comparatively speaking. The drawbacks to them are that they are made out plastic and not aluminum and the controls are not as well place as on the Aquatica or seatool housings.
2 the aluminum housing just feel better than there plastic counter parts and seem like they will last longer and can be put through a lot more punishment. i love the fact that i do not have to take my hands off the handles to change any of the setting on my camera.
As for size, the Aquatica housing for the Canon 30D is about 20% smaller than its ikelight competitor's and the "box" ikelight uses for the XTI is nearly the same exact one used with the canon 30D. Ikelight and fantasy housing sell 10 time more housings than what company like seatool and Aquatica sell, more over there are much higher R and D costs for making aluminum housing both these fact translate into hight retail cost for the consumer. In the end it is like comparing apples to oranges.
as for 10 and 12 mp P&S most have plastic lens and small Sensor chips and basically this means that even though you might have a 12 mp P&S the lens will not have enough clarity to take use of the 12 megpaixels. yes i know that the make PS with APS C side sensors and descent glass lenses bust even those are not as sharp as an SLR with a good lens.
in the end it comes down to one thing
How so? I had an Ikelite SLR housing for years without any problems with the controls lining up did Ikelite change their quality control since then? The advantage with Ikelite’s clear Plexiglas (lexan) housing is that you can see the controls hitting the buttons with the housing closed, not so with a metal housing.
Plus the fact that aluminum housings will corrode (saltwater) where the finish is chipped away.
R&D is not where most of the cost is being eaten up it’s the cost of making a custom molding or tooling for an aluminum housing.
First, a mold for metals is much more expensive than a mold for Plexiglas, the machining cost about the same but the finishing on the aluminum housing eats up more of the cost.
Second is marketing, because the aluminum housing makers have to recoup their money in this very limited market before the Big Boys (Canon, Nikon etc.) come up with the next latest and greatest DLSR! They are really at the mercy of the DSLR makers.
So it’s NOT like “comparing apples to oranges” it’s more like comparing a Fuji apple to a Washington apple. Both housing take U/W photos very well it’s all about how much money you are willing to throw around.
Are you also saying that a camera maker like Canon is selling a higher end P&S like the G9 with a 12 megapixel sensor then slapping on a low resolution lens? Because if this were true I guarantee you there will be a bigtime lawsuit!
And you said “SLR with a good lens” not DSLRs? Because some of the AF lenses for DSLRs are made of plastic…plastic lens body and lenses from China! Now I do know that my manual focus Nikon ED lenses are all glass and metal.
In the end just look at your pictures you had taken with your DSLR in a metal housing...and see which of those cannot be taken with a high end P&S or a DSLR in a Plexiglas housing.
