Oly 4000 & Ikelite housing ?'s

[suzyb808]

:wavey:

I just recently purchased the Oly C4000z (camedia) and the Ikelite housing for it (which of course arrived a week after I left! so haven't had the chance to even see it, much less use it!).

Anyone else out there have this set up or similar (think the 4040 uses the same housing and is basically the same cam with minor difs). Any hints, tricks, tips and pointers? I've never done any dig underwater so any and all help is appreciated!

 

[Ronsch]

I'm planning on getting the 4040 and the Ikelite (on different credit card statements ) but there will be at least a month where I'm planning on learning the camera as much as I can above water. This is gonna be hard on me because I will only be able to take land pictures in Bonaire, although I already have underwater shots of Bonaire from six years ago. I'm picking the Ikelite beucase of the better depth rating. I never met a 100' dive I didn't like, except maybe the Blue Hole, which, IMHO, was a waste of Nitrogen saturation for what's down there.

 

[Dee]

I have the C-4040 and one big suggestion I can make is to start reading the threads in this forum. There is alot of information here if you'll just look for it!

One link to help you get started is the library at Digital Diver. There are several good articles on your besic settings, using a strobe, etc.

 

[suzyb808]

Thanks...
Is the 4040 and the 4000 similar enough to follow the 4040 info? I find tons of 4040 but no 4000 on any of the sites.

 

[ssra30]

Good luck with your set up. I got my Oly 4040 with Ikelite housing not too long ago myself. Basically the first several dives with the camera, I just shot everything in P mode, just to get use to the camera, trying to work on composition, approaching the fish without scaring them away and played with macro mode etc. After I am a bit more familiar with that, I tried aparture priority mode just to get some idea on different f stop and the kind of shutterspeed I would need and more recently started to play with manual mode. I still use mostly aparture priority mode, at least on all the fast moving subjects that I don't have too many chances to take multiple pictures and play more with manual mode when the subject is not moving, just to get a bit more experience with it. Then I added a strobe after using the same set up for about 20+ dives and 20+ dives later, just got myself a wide angle lens. Don't add too many things too fast.
Get a good set of rechargable batteries, ideally 2000 mAH NiMH batteries or better. It is quite a bummer to run out of batteries underwater.

The only thing I find annoying about the Ikelite housing is the zoom button. After you zoom in or out, most of the time, the button will not automatically return to neutral position. When that happen, you won't be able to take a picture so everytime I zoom in or out, I have to check to see if the zoom lever return to neutral position first. Really inconvinient especially when you try to take a picture of something that moves quickly.

 

[Finesse]

But It sounds like your looking for info on the camera and how to set it up for U/W use??

If that is true .... do as Dee says and you'll learn lots.......The housing has little to do with setting the camera or its function.......

If you're looking for comments on the housing feel free to ask or give me a PM and I can help you out ....... Its a great housing !!!!!

 

[Ronsch]

Thanks for the link Dee.