No PEN housings from Ikelite

[under water]

Joe, I moved from an Ike housing and strobes (DS160 and DS50) with a G9 to the Oly housing and a couple of S2000's and for an EPL-01 am happy with the move. I too wanted to carry forward my Ike investment and waited for months for Ike to support the new generation of cameras, but eventually deciding I needed to move without them. Glad I did.
The s2000's are so small, they are such a treat to travel with compared to the Ike strobes. The Oly housing and the Zen dome are really built to high quality standards.
So far the new rig has performed well for me.
You can use your Ike mount & arms with the new system if you want.

 

[Prop Joe]

Thanks Frank.
Now I'm wondering if I should wait for EPL3 for the rapid auto focus and the Oly housing with the led lights on the port. Sure looks like 67mm threads on the outside of that PT-EP05L housing to accommodate wet lenses. Maybe my existing Inon Type 1 from my old 5050 rig would work on this housing? Zen port looks to take great images on the other PEN cameras.
EP3 seems to be a better camera to me though. There is no housing being announced for EP3 yet.
Heck, I don't know what to do at this point.I could use a little direction...

 

[under water]

... There is no housing being announced for EP3 yet.
Heck, I don't know what to do at this point.I could use a little direction...

I would probably wait a few months for the E-PL3 housings to arrive. The improvements do sound useful underwater, but if I was going on a big trip I wouldn't wait.

 

[Prop Joe]

I would probably wait a few months for the E-PL3 housings to arrive. The improvements do sound useful underwater, but if I was going on a big trip I wouldn't wait.

Going to Cozumel again in the fall. Should have my repaired (bad circuitry components) DS-50 and rebuilt 5050 housing back from Ikelite this week. I lost U/W pic capability for three of five days in San Salvador, Bahamas in the June. I did get one decent pic, except I cut off the sharks nose (5050 shutter lag strikes again). I was face to face with this black tip when I pressed the shutter and got her broadside when the camera decided to capture the image. Grrrrrr...

By propjoe at 2011-06-26

 

[slowhands]

Ike was so late with the housing anyway they missed the market for housings for the E-PL1 and E-PL2. Perhaps Olympus dropping the full sized 4/3 product line was a factor. It was probably a difficult choice, so many cameras, so little time.

Ike really likes to sell strobes, hardwired strobes. Perhaps deciphering the protocol of Olympus, Panasonic and Sony NEX strobes was just too much effort for the small projected strobe sales. Perhaps the good housings from Olympus and others made it a marginal business, a small piece of a small market in their eyes. Ike's announcement was not forthcoming about the rationale for not supporting these mirrorless cameras. I suspect it will prove a mistake, since there is strong sales growth in this market segment.

Ikelite is a bit too conservative, avoiding adding fiber strobes to their product line. That would unleash a lot more sales than a new housing design. But the recent fiber adapter is lame, manual only, and it's not clear what their plans are for a fully TTL fiber interface. Safe for now, but sorry later.

 

[dhaas]

slowhands,

Not to start a debate but where on earth can you substantiate the "growth market" of M4/3?

I have used the small sensor Canon G10, G11 and 12 plus smaller S90 and S95 and they're easy to get good results with for 99% of people.

I've read about and played with some of the M4/3 cameras. I'd like them to become mainstream enough to have products developed for them but I haven't bought one and here's why.....

Sales of even the lowest level Canon T3 or T3i compared to ALL M4/3 models isn't enough to be considered a "growth market". They have NEVER even been in the top 100 selling cameras on Amazon as one example.

Camera mfrs. like Canon and Nikon haven't made one (yet) because they don't NEED to to. They're selling enough low cost faster response SLRs.............

In the teensy UW imaging world Olympus had a great run with C5050, 5060, not so much 7070 or 8080.

But Canon has been eating everyone's lunch at all price points, features, etc. for years and will continue to do so.

If I owned an underwater imaging equipment manufacturing company I sure wouldn't put resources to work on the fringe models.

Not if you want to eat and pay your bills next year.......

Plus there are enough housing choices out there, too.

Just one guy's opinion.

David Haas
David Haas Underwater Photography

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

David and I have been friends for over twenty years now and he is an outstanding U/W photographer and long time Canon & Iklite user so I am sure he has more insight into Ikelite than I do. I would however like to point out that while Canon does very well with over 40% of the world market in camera sales with Nikon a distant second the mirrorless market is gaining ground in many market areas. In Asia Mirrorless cameras makeup more than 20% of the market and in Japan they have been as high as 40% of the market with the Sony NEX line leading the way.

I just looked at Amazon's top 100 list and it includes at least seventeen camera packages that are mirrorless cameras with the Panasonic M4/3 cameras leading the pack.

No one expects mirrorless cameras to replace DSLR's but they do made great entry level cameras for U/W photographers and image quality far exceeds the smaller sensor offerings from the fixed lens consumer cameras.

Because Olympus is the only mirrorless camera maker which also has a line of quality budget housings they have spun off an entire line of after market ports, trays and other accessories.

I think what bothers Iklite equipment owners is that Ike has offered housings for Olympus and Sony cameras that have sold far fewer units and therefore expected Ike would follow that trend with a mirrorless offering.

I agree that Ikelite needs to pay Its bills but I suspect the reason for passing on the mirrorless market so far has less to do with unit sales of the cameras than with other market factors.

I also agree that with choices from Aquatica, Athena, Inon, Nauticam, Olympus 10bar and others Iklite just might not have that much to offer at this time.

Phil Rudin

 

[dhaas]

Hola' Phil!

Yes, in certain markets Mirrorless cameras have gained some traction. Asia in particular ALWAY adopt whatever is new. I just don't see them getting anywhere near sales of the huge choices in small inexpensive small sensor models already offered is all.

Phil is one who has jumped in big time since this format came out. For certain type of UW shooting it's served him well and I've seen some stunning work from the M4/3 models.

It is also exciting to see Olympus offering housing and accessory options alongside the aluminum boys.......Lots of choices and I also don't pretend to know what Ikelite's market evaluation for various models is. I just know with all the small compact sensor choices I currently sell I have yet to have a customer ask to house their E-PL1 PL2 or whatever......Could just me my particular customer base, too.

Phil lives in FLA plus guys in CA who are avid UW photographers praise the benefit of the smaller physical size set ups. The new E-PL3 might be a big seller and translate into a great UW choice.

I played a LOT with a Sony NEX-5. But I didn't buy one since my Canon 60D (and all previous Rebel bodies I've used) was still faster, had better lenses available etc.bigger sensor in a relatively cheap body, blah blah blah...

I think whatever their next model Sony offers (NEX-7 I think I heard a rumor?) it will compete head to head with the newest Oly models.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.....

As much as we all LOVE shooting photos underwater we are a spit in the bucket in total volume of photographers

Camera mfrs. are in business to sell hardware at the highest possible volume. As are photo "accessory" manufacturers which is really what an underwater housing is!

Time will tell.............

dhaas

 

[Nemrod]

Olympus has announced new PEN cameras with auto focus FASTER than a dSLR.

Just got back from three weeks in the Keys, frankly, if PEN cameras are a "fringe," then there is an awfully big fringe because I saw several of them in use. Yes, of course the camera bucket bobbers are most common but among people who spent a little more money I saw several FIX and Nauticam Canon S and G series units in use, at least one Oly in a Nauticam and several PEN cameras in both Nauticam and Oly housings and one Sony NEX in a Nauticam. I saw no dSLR rigs at all. Of course, that is hardly scientific but these cameras (PEN, NEX, mirrorless and advanced P&S) do seem popular just from the one data point. I also stopped by Reef Photo (they thought I was a bum looking for a bathroom, I had a rented junk bicycle with wobbly wheels and a backpack on just like all the street bums in Lauderdale, , I was snorkeling every beach diving local from South Lauderdale to North of Boca) and it was interesting what they had in their display counters.

The new high speed focus that is coming for all of these mirrorless and advanced P&S cameras will soon make it difficult to justify the extra bulk of a dSLR but as I say that, Canon rumors a new smaller dSLR.

Schwinn Co. had said, about 1978, that mountain bikes were a fad, Schwinn filed bankruptcy in 2001, after having missed out on millions in sales of the "fad" and then entering the MB market too late with too little. The current "Schwinn" line of bicycles are not Schwinns, they are made in China Inc. (can anyone name an actual Chinese brand of anything, good grief) or similar and the Schwinn remaining family builds bicycles under the Waterford name since the rights to their name were transferred in the bankruptcy. You see thsi over and over in companies.

"On September 11, 2001, Schwinn Company, its assets, and the rights to the brand, together with that of the GT Bicycle, was purchased at a bankruptcy auction by Pacific Cycle, a company previously known for mass-market brands owned by Wind Point Partners.[46] In 2004, Pacific Cycle was in turn acquired by Dorel Industries."

Markets change, companies have to make decisions based on their perceptions and capabilities, sometimes they are right (Apple) and sometimes they are wrong (Schwinn), mirrorless cameras could be such a fork in the road, what will the consumer want, I know what I want, who will make it for me?

N

 

[DoNotDstrb]

Ikelite probably took a look at Olympus' housings and wisely decided they could not compete for under $600.... or offer any significant-enough improvements to justify a higher price.

As a former user of Ikelite housings.... I can say with some authority that the Oly offerings are much better.... specially given their very reasonable price.