IKELITE Housing Setup

[wheezy]

Looking for some input. I'm just getting started with research in regards to a housing. I've been a photographer for about 6 years, and have been diving almost 4 years now. I'm ready to combine two of my passions and begin my journey into underwater photography.

I own a Nikon D2x and a D70. I make my living with the D2x and the thought of having it flood is just unbearable. So I have decided NOT to get a housing for that camera. Instead I will be purchasing a housing for the D70, which wouldn't cause quite the strain on my life if it were to have an "accident".

OK, so I'm looking at Ikelite, because it's cheap. What all do I need to get started. The housing is obvious, I'm assuming some sort of "dome" or "port" (could use a little expalination on this stuff????) Strobe? Strobe mounting? "Lens Gears???"

What do you guys think? ANY and ALL advice is welcome as to the proper path to take. I've already ruled out a little Point and Shoot setup (I was considering an Olympus 5050 or the like), I wouldn't know what to do with one of those anyway.

I REALLY like the fact that I can use iTTL with the NEW Ikelite housing. Any input in regards to that?

Thank you very much for any help and or advice you can offer, it is appreciated.

Best Regards,
Wheezy Todd

 

[Shader]

Looking for some input. I'm just getting started with research in regards to a housing. I've been a photographer for about 6 years, and have been diving almost 4 years now. I'm ready to combine two of my passions and begin my journey into underwater photography.

I own a Nikon D2x and a D70. I make my living with the D2x and the thought of having it flood is just unbearable. So I have decided NOT to get a housing for that camera. Instead I will be purchasing a housing for the D70, which wouldn't cause quite the strain on my life if it were to have an "accident".

OK, so I'm looking at Ikelite, because it's cheap. What all do I need to get started. The housing is obvious, I'm assuming some sort of "dome" or "port" (could use a little expalination on this stuff????) Strobe? Strobe mounting? "Lens Gears???"

What do you guys think? ANY and ALL advice is welcome as to the proper path to take. I've already ruled out a little Point and Shoot setup (I was considering an Olympus 5050 or the like), I wouldn't know what to do with one of those anyway.

I REALLY like the fact that I can use iTTL with the NEW Ikelite housing. Any input in regards to that?

Thank you very much for any help and or advice you can offer, it is appreciated.

Best Regards,
Wheezy Todd

Todd,

A good choice to go with Ikelite. They are rugged dependable housings and stobes. I would definitely recommend the DS-125 strobe and sync cord setup to begin with. It is a powerful digital strobe and works great with TTL out of the box. You would want the quick charger for it as well. As for dome port you need to look on their site for what type of lense you are using. On my C5060 housing I have the option of wet mount lenses for wide angle and macro which screw right into the housing threads and don't require the use of a dome port and allows you to swap lenses underwater. I use the Epoque DCL-20 wide angle lense and am considering an Inon UCL-165[size=-1]M67[/size] for macro. Botht these lenses screw directly into the housing on the C5060 but may not work for the D70 so you may be needing the dome port. For some website on info and ordering check below. Hope this helps somewhat.

http://www.underwaterphotography.com/
http://www.helixphoto.com/home.html
http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=category&sid=1116876879265140&cat1=Underwater
http://www.uwdigitalcamera.com/English/eM67lens.htm
(good site w/comparisons of some lenses)

 

[pete340]

OK, so I'm looking at Ikelite, because it's cheap. What all do I need to get started. The housing is obvious, I'm assuming some sort of "dome" or "port" (could use a little expalination on this stuff????) Strobe? Strobe mounting? "Lens Gears???"

You always need a "port". That's the part that the lens looks through. The type of port depends on the lens. For wide angles lenses you need a "dome" to provide the broad field of view -- it's part of a hemisphere. If you're using the 18-70mm zoom lens that comes with the D70 you'll also need a +4 diopter 'cause the lens won't focus close enough on its own. For longer lenses you use a "flat" port -- just a tube with a flat end for the light to pass through. You can get the details for matching ports to lenses at http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/2port_nikon.html.

 

[wheezy]

I would be using either my 17-55f2.8 or my 60mm macro. I'm thinking I'll start off using the 17-55 and get the appropriate dome for that lens.

Strobes, I'm unsure about still. I want to find something that will work well with the body and give me the best results.

I was over at the LDS asking a few questions today as well. I might actually buy from them as they offer free uw/photo instruction with the purchase, and it would just be cool to learn from good ol Joe Liburdi himself.

Can't wait...

 

[ssra30]

Ikelite is an excellent housing, especially for the price and feature. It is not as compact as aluminium housing but those come with a price and no one else offer iTTL compatibility yet unless you are willing to house your SB800.
As far as domeport/flat port is concerned, first choose the lens that you want to use then check Ikelite site for the right ports/gears for the lens. Ikelite supports pretty much all the popular lenses used in underwater except the 70-180mm macro zoom lens.
If you go with Ikelite then you should Ikelite strobe as the iTTL converter will only work with Ikelite strobes. If you get the deluxe package (highly recommended as it comes with a fast charger), you will have all the arms as well but you might need to get longer arms for wide angle.
Wetmount lenses ie Inon and Epoque stuff do not work with dSLR system.

Here is the port chart: http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/2port_nikon.html
The 17-55 is not supported by Ikelite either. Many housing manufacturers have talked about supporting it but I am not sure if anyone does yet.
It is a little tough, 17mm is not quite wide enough and 55mm end is ok for some fish portrait but beside some bigger subjects like smaller sharks, the lens is stuck in the no man's land I think. 60mm is a good lens to start with but I would get something like a 12-24mm, 15mm fisheye or 10.5mm for the wide angle side.

 

[wheezy]

Wow, that's suprising that the 17-55 isn't supported. I figured it would be the PERFECT lens.

Great images by the way... love the capture of the Frog Fish, one of the best shots of a frog fish I've ever seen. I have two that I visit yearly when I dive to Kauai and they are so hard to find, I've never seen one so bright without stuff growing all over it.

Anyhow, thanks for all the info guys. Now all that's left to do is drop the cash and learn how to use it all.

 

[Shader]

Wow, that's suprising that the 17-55 isn't supported. I figured it would be the PERFECT lens.

Great images by the way... love the capture of the Frog Fish, one of the best shots of a frog fish I've ever seen. I have two that I visit yearly when I dive to Kauai and they are so hard to find, I've never seen one so bright without stuff growing all over it.

Anyhow, thanks for all the info guys. Now all that's left to do is drop the cash and learn how to use it all.

Another option for the Ikelite strobe and arms you may want to consider are the Ultralight arms. They are much lighter and have orings on the ball ends that allow for much easier fine adjustment underwater. The Ike's are heavy and sometimes when you loosen them a bit too much underwater the arm collapses. This is not a problem with the Ultralights. The have adapters that fit into the Ike quick-release tray handle and the stobes so they are fully compatible. This way you could price the strobe by itself and get the arms separate. Here is some info on them.

http://www.marinecamera.com/ultralight.html

 

[DesertEagle]

I would recommend a wider lens than 17-55. You are going to want a real wide angle workhorse lens. In 35mm days, it was the Nikonos 15 at around 94 degrees. If you use the 17-55, you are only getting to about 78 degrees. A lens like the 12-24 will make you very happy!

 

[ssra30]

Wow, that's suprising that the 17-55 isn't supported. I figured it would be the PERFECT lens.

Great images by the way... love the capture of the Frog Fish, one of the best shots of a frog fish I've ever seen. I have two that I visit yearly when I dive to Kauai and they are so hard to find, I've never seen one so bright without stuff growing all over it.

Anyhow, thanks for all the info guys. Now all that's left to do is drop the cash and learn how to use it all.

My divebuddy bought the 17-55mm lens and was hoping to use it underwater as Nexus was going to support it. Unfortunately Nexus decided not to. I have not had a good look at the lens to see if zoom gear for other lens might fit. Otherwise it is just a matter of finding the right extension ring combination with the domeport to make it work, I suppose. I agree that it is one of the best DX lens out there right now.

Personally I dive most often with 70-180mm macro and use either 12-24mm or 10.5mm for wide angle and 60mm for night dive.

btw housed D2X is a lot of fun, flood insurance via DEPP certainly takes a lot of worry out of diving with one. It's just the darn housing that is so much more expensive than D70.

Welcome to the (other) darkside