In general, how long does it take Ikelite to develop a housing? In this case I would think that the housing might fit in the current part mold but would need adjustments to the tooling to make the controls work.
Ikelite seems to have about 3 standard sizes "blanks" for still camera housings that they probably buy in large volumes per size, then tailor each "blank" for a particular camera model. There is the "ultra-compact" size for smaller cameras with no flash bulkhead, a rectangular box for medium sized point and shoots that may have a flash bulkhead, and a larger SLR blank or two that covers most of the SLRs.
The ultra-compact blank is used for the S90. By careful measurements, Ikelite determines where and how big the lens port should be, where to cut notches in the 8 "ribs" that hold the camera, and where to put all the buttons and levers needed to operate the camera controls. The camera "floats" in the housing, held by the 8 ribs and a foam gasket on the back that surrounds the LCD. All the holes for buttons and levers are machined on demand. An array of pushbuttons and bent levers is used to actuate the needed controls
[It appears that Canon does a full custom mold for each camera body, with holes and labels for each control being cast in the piece. This allows them to make a much smaller housing and more direct operating controls, rather than the bent rod approach that Ikelite uses for some out of the way controls].
For our much anticipated S95, we know that the ribs will have to be cut differently, to accommodate the 1.4mm thinner body. We know that the button cluster on the back door will be moved slightly. We know that the function of a couple buttons on top have been swapped, and perhaps other controls on top have moved. If we are lucky, the lens did not move but no guarantee. This is all minor, but it's got to be done right and documented and converted to a manufacturable product. I suspect someone is making a prototype right now by hand, to validate measurements and operation of controls. Then the new product will need all the support, training, marketing, packaging and so on that goes with any new product.
The use of these standard blanks allows for rapid development and minimal tooling costs for new products. Molds for high volume plastic items are very expensive to make, so using just a few different types of housing blanks saves development cost as well as time. There are downsides: If a camera has an unusual size or shape, it just may not be possible to squeeze it into a standard blank -- so sorry, no housing for that whizbang. There are times when I see a tiny camera in a huge housing and think, "why couldn't they have made it smaller?", but being able to use the "ultra-compact" blank has all the advantages I mentioned.
Canon seems to have stopped making new S90s, so the pipeline will drain pretty fast of new S90s as the S95 takes over. There could be a window when only the Canon WP-DC38 will be available as an underwater housing for the S95. My guess -- and it's just a guess, assuming this has some sort of priority, is that it would take a month or two to quick step this new housing through release. I'm sure there are many products in development, contending for limited engineering resources at a fairly small company (about 80 people). We'll see.
Ikelite History
As examples, the Canon case for the S90 and Ikelite case for Canon SD970 are shown below. The example of the Ikelite case does not show the front wheel adjusting mechanism, nor does it show the 67mm threaded port which is very handy for wide angle and macro lenses.
