How to select for 5D MarkII?

[carllam2000]

Hi all,
I'm going to buy the housing for my Canon 5D MarkII. This would be my first DSLR housing. My questions are:
1. Does Subal worth the cost difference with Aquatica? Any major differences between the two?
2. Would it be useful to use a Canon extender with my 17-40mm len to take the macro shot(though not as good as macro lens)?
3. I'd like to buy the strobes as well. How to compare the Inon Z-240 with Sea & Sea YS110 (I prefer them light)?

Thanks a lot for your advice.

Carl

 

[dbh]

Hi Carl,

I'll take a crack at your answers:

1. Subal is a Cadillac....Aquatica is a Taurus. Both will get you where you are going (keep your camera dry), but there will be less "quality" issues with a Subal.

2. With this zoom lens, you will nedd to shoot it behind a dome port and it will most likely need a diopter on the lens in order to focus closer (virtual image) to the dome. Mfg's website should tell you if you need a diopter or a port extension. It varies from mfg. tp mfg. this lens won't be great for WA or macro, but will be good for dives hwere you don't know what to expect and for fish portraits.

3. Both are compact, lightweight and use AA batteries (which is a must for me). Both have similar specs. if you ever plan on firing them via fiber optics, the Inon's can't be beat. I have used both and own Inons. You really can't go wrong with either.

All this is MHO and YMMV!

Dave

 

[dbh]

you can compare the strobes side-by-side here:

Underwater Strobe Comparison Guide - Digital Diver Network

 

[carllam2000]

Hi Carl,

I'll take a crack at your answers:

1. Subal is a Cadillac....Aquatica is a Taurus. Both will get you where you are going (keep your camera dry), but there will be less "quality" issues with a Subal.

2. With this zoom lens, you will nedd to shoot it behind a dome port and it will most likely need a diopter on the lens in order to focus closer (virtual image) to the dome. Mfg's website should tell you if you need a diopter or a port extension. It varies from mfg. tp mfg. this lens won't be great for WA or macro, but will be good for dives hwere you don't know what to expect and for fish portraits.

3. Both are compact, lightweight and use AA batteries (which is a must for me). Both have similar specs. if you ever plan on firing them via fiber optics, the Inon's can't be beat. I have used both and own Inons. You really can't go wrong with either.

All this is MHO and YMMV!

Dave

Hi Dave,
Thanks a lot for your sharing.
In fact, I just learnt diving last March and now I have 68 dives (I know I may be too eager to jump in photo-taking). I'm already amazed and hooked by the photos and videos taken under water and changed from a Canon 860IS to G9 (Ikelite + DS51) in a few months' time. I enjoyed taking marco shots but also the video. I was lucky to have filmed thousands of baraccuda in Sipadan and even whaleshark in Anilao of Philippine. You may see some of my photos/video in "http://community.webshots.com/user/carllam2000".
Now upgrading to a DSLR will be next wish. I'm planning to go to Layang Layang of Malaysia in June where I hope to see hammer head and manta ray. The reason to choose 17-40mm is hoping to take reasonable good marco but still don't want to miss the chance to take video.
I read your website and understand you have tested some eTTL or iTTL. Do you know if I buy the acquatica housing and 2x Inon Z240 strobe. Can I use the syn cord (no internal flash for 5DM2)connection w/o TTL converter ? Would that cause a lot of inconvenience if only manual mode is used? Thanks again for enlighten me.

Carl

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Hi Carl,

In addition to the Aquatica and Subal, Hugyfot has a really nice housing for the 5d MKII that is very compact, and is priced in between those two. Sea & Sea and Watershot are scheduled to have housings available next month, both of which will work with Fiber Optic or bulkheads, not sure what your timing is like, but there are several excellent options.

For any of these housings, in order to have TTL when used with a sync cord, you will either need an external TTL converter, or the Heinrichs TTL electronics installed (which is what we are doing with the Hugyfot housings and is much less than an external S&S converter).