New Canon S90 & Canon Housing

[Nemrod]

I suspect using a threaded adapter on a DC-35 will result in significant vignetting. The proper adapter is the Inon kit for the Inon WAL100-28AD which should be fantastic on that housing.

I guess it is just my former infatuation with SLRs that adjusted my thinking to housings costing three times the camera body and lenses as much as the camera or in some cases significantly more. And frankly, only rarely did they produce results like I get with my comparatively cheap Canon A570 which is significantly "low"-er end than my S90 rig.

N

 

[skynscuba]

...I suspect that for macro, where the flash is most effective, the Canon housing will block the flash too, ...



...I'll probably make a 67mm adapter myself, like this one:
Canon G9 & G7 housing - DIY 67mm lens adapter - Wetpixel :: Underwater Photography Forums

The S90 lens itself blocks some of the flash for macro (surface) shots, even without a housing.

That DIY adapter should be fine for macro lenses, but I'm not sure it would be strong enough for a heavy WAL. For macro, try moving your diffuser out on the lens itself.

 

[mitsuguy]

As a S90 / DC35 owner, I can attest to how great of a cheap little setup (relatively) this is... I have taken thousands of pictures already, gone on at least 20 dives, maybe more, with it, and just absolutely love it...

I recently added the INON 28AD mount and the UWL100-28AD and can't be happier... There is no noticeable vignetting, even at the widest of zoom settings, and the pictures are coming out great - crisp, great depth of field, and clear... Right now, in my setup, I have invested $400 for the camera, $165 for the housing, $450 for the lens, adapter and lens shade, then about $350 for a strobe and tray kit... I also spent a couple extra bucks and bought a 3 year warranty that covers both camera faults and operator faults. Had I purchased a FIX housing, I would undoubtedly be happy with it, but I also wouldn't have the lens or strobe, and I'd just have a nice camera in a housing, with an internal flash that is mediocre at best...

I might add that above water, it looks a little funny, and the internal strobe is completely blocked by the lens, but it takes some awesome fisheye photos out of the water even the way it is...

 

[dogdrjohn]

I am in Tokyo now, on my way to Manila and eventually Dauin/Dumaguete for a week of diving. I will post results of my S90/WP-DC35/INON AD28 mount setup in a day or two, and will try to borrow my friend's new INON 165AD fisheye, as well as use my own 105AD INon lens. As I may have already posted, I was able to eaasily take the AD28 mount off the AD adaptor and replace it with a 67mm ring, although I went back to the AD28 since I hae no 67mm lenses! I think it might also be possible to attach a 52mm ring, and use a FIX UWL-04 in it's "native" 52mm configuration, so if Paul's UFL-15AD doesn't work well I will get the FIX lens. But that is another dive trip - off to macro heaven now.

 

[slowhands]

I am in Tokyo now, on my way to Manila and eventually Dauin/Dumaguete for a week of diving. I will post results of my S90/WP-DC35/INON AD28 mount setup in a day or two, and will try to borrow my friend's new INON 165AD fisheye, as well as use my own 105AD INon lens. As I may have already posted, I was able to eaasily take the AD28 mount off the AD adaptor and replace it with a 67mm ring, although I went back to the AD28 since I hae no 67mm lenses! I think it might also be possible to attach a 52mm ring, and use a FIX UWL-04 in it's "native" 52mm configuration, so if Paul's UFL-15AD doesn't work well I will get the FIX lens. But that is another dive trip - off to macro heaven now.

I agree the 28AD lenses are probably better for mounting underwater than 67mm. Here is a line chart from Inon (in Japanese) that summarizes all the lenses they offer:
INON ????????????????
Here is an English version, more high level:
http://www.inon.jp/products/mountbase/mb.html

You mentioned macro at Dauin Beach, Negros, Philippines. Yes, it is macro heaven. Some day I hope to spot a Mandarin fish in the staghorn coral there, if my eyes last. I made a long video of a frogfish swimming near the factory pier. Great area for diving, and of course Apo Island is so close too. I wish you a wonderful trip and a dry camera,

Since you are going to Dauin, here are some great dive resorts there (whoops, sorry editor, off topic, but since he is going there right now... I'll post this on the Philippine travel board too):

An American guy just opened a new dive resort Mike's Dauin Beach Resort; Michael Finney is a fine host. He built a new resort, opened December 2009:
Mikes Dauin Beach Resort - Dumaguete, Philippines
Mikes’s Dauin Beach Family Resort - Philippines.
I'm gonna try it during my July trip.

I also love the native style huts at Pura Vida, and the manager Herme and owner Chris are very professional (Swiss do that):
Pura Vida Beach Dive Resort Dumaguete Philippines Diving Tauchen Padi Philippinen
But the food is much better at El Dorado (Swiss run too) and they give free Nitrox:
El Dorado Beach Resort in Dauin, Philippines - Find Cheap Hostels and Rooms at Hostelworld.com
​

 

[Divernoob]

I'm quite new to photography, so couple that with being underwater, and you can see there's some operator error. Still, I'm pleased with the pics, given that they're my first try at this stuff.

One problem I had was that the strobe got squirrelly and wouldn't fire on the second dive. I noticed that Optical Ocean stopped selling the Ultramax strobes shortly after I bought one from them due to "issues." Hmmmmm.

After some pointers from Optical Ocean, I've got my strobe firing consistently. Thanks, Jack!