Olympus housing or Canon housing

[Frenchy2005]

I currently bought a Olympus 8080 and was looking at different housings and was wodering if it should get the olympus pt-023 housing for the 8080 or is it worth spending another $200 and buy the ikelite. Any help is appreciated

Thanks

 

[SwimsWithSharks]

I currently bought a Olympus 8080 and was looking at different housings and was wodering if it should get the olympus pt-023 housing for the 8080 or is it worth spending another $200 and buy the ikelite. Any help is appreciated

Thanks

IMHO, no debate. Get the Ikelite. The housing is more reliable and will give you the option of using TTL with Ike strobes if you choose. Also, Ike's service is second to none.

 

[ZenDiver]

Im sure many people might disagree but the PT-### housing line is really a throw away housing. Once a problem develops, the standard seems to be throw it away and get a new one. They are certainly cheap enough. The Ikelite in my opinion is superior to the olympus housing for that reason and that Ikelite has great customer service. I have yet to find someone that will fix my PT-010 and I cant even buy that one new anymore. Buying used only puts me in the same problem again, no one to service my housing. Just my .02 cents.

Brian

 

[RonFrank]

Im sure many people might disagree but the PT-### housing line is really a throw away housing. Once a problem develops, the standard seems to be throw it away and get a new one. They are certainly cheap enough. The Ikelite in my opinion is superior to the olympus housing for that reason and that Ikelite has great customer service. I have yet to find someone that will fix my PT-010 and I cant even buy that one new anymore. Buying used only puts me in the same problem again, no one to service my housing. Just my .02 cents.

Brian

What problems developed that you were not able to get serviced?

Another thought is for a camera like the 5050, is the Ikelite housing worth over three times the price of the PT housings? What does it cost to get a Ikelite housing serviced?

I'm asking as I'm also looking at the two. I can get a housing for many digital Olympus camera's for in the $160 range vs closer to $550 for the Ikelite. If the Ikelite is going to last 4X as long as the PT, and the service is reasonable if there are problems it MIGHT be worth the cost. Then again, at the rate digital technology is progressing, I'm not sure I want to spend $550 to house a $400 camera that I may want to replace in a couple years.....

Ron

 

[ZenDiver]

What problems developed that you were not able to get serviced?

Another thought is for a camera like the 5050, is the Ikelite housing worth over three times the price of the PT housings? What does it cost to get a Ikelite housing serviced?

I'm asking as I'm also looking at the two. I can get a housing for many digital Olympus camera's for in the $160 range vs closer to $550 for the Ikelite. If the Ikelite is going to last 4X as long as the PT, and the service is reasonable if there are problems it MIGHT be worth the cost. Then again, at the rate digital technology is progressing, I'm not sure I want to spend $550 to house a $400 camera that I may want to replace in a couple years.....

Ron

I developed a leak and I cannot isolate it. Everyone I have asked has said it can not be serviced although I did find someone who gave me the oring specifications which I procured and have rebuilt twice now to no avail. It still leaks. My opinion is that the plastic is just worn out and I cant get a oring seal. That was for my Oly 2020. I now use a Oly 5050 with a PT housing and it has not leaked but I only bought it because A) I could not get my PT-010 serviced and B) I wanted to upgrade the mega-pixels. I use a INON strobe which is a great strobe. Its a great camera and it takes great pictures but I am nervous on every dive because of my previous experience. The Ikelite is also rated for deeper depths IIRC.

I own a Ikelite Video Housing for a VX2000 sony and have absolutley no problems with it. I take broadcast quality video with it and when I did require service I was fedex'ed a part overnight at no charge to me and the problem was one not related to quality. A tank not bungeed fell on my camera housing while in the camera bucket and broke the handle off. I was pretty mad to say the least especailly since it was my tank that fell....lol. I called ikelite the next day and they fedex'ed the handle to me overnight at no charge. That is superior service. All I get at in the Olympus Housing service is the run around or "Its cheaper to just buy another one." I have a friend who has a Oly 3030 who switched from a PT housing to a Ikelite housing and is very happy with his decision, even considering the extra money spent.

Bottom line is that, in my opinion, if you flood your housing with a PT housing you will be hard pressed to get any service where as Ikelite has been known to stand by their product and be more proactive to keep your business.


Hope this helps,

Brian

 

[SwimsWithSharks]

What problems developed that you were not able to get serviced?

Another thought is for a camera like the 5050, is the Ikelite housing worth over three times the price of the PT housings? What does it cost to get a Ikelite housing serviced?

I'm asking as I'm also looking at the two. I can get a housing for many digital Olympus camera's for in the $160 range vs closer to $550 for the Ikelite. If the Ikelite is going to last 4X as long as the PT, and the service is reasonable if there are problems it MIGHT be worth the cost. Then again, at the rate digital technology is progressing, I'm not sure I want to spend $550 to house a $400 camera that I may want to replace in a couple years.....

Ron

I haven't had any trouble with my housing but I have had a couple of issues with one of my strobes. It is unclear whether the problems were user error or not. However, Ike repaired it once for no charge and the other time was very reasonable. I agree with the statement that the Oly housings are almost disposable housings. The problem is that if the housing goes, the camera might go as well and then you are into a lot more money. The 5050 has had some staying power as an u/w camera. In the prosumer range, even though the 5050 has been discontinued for awhile, I don't think any of the new cameras are clearly superior.

Also, I think the TTL option is worth something as well. You can check out www.splasdowndivers.com (I think that is the link. If not, there is a link on my web site) for information on the TTL function.

 

[f3nikon]

I currently bought a Olympus 8080 and was looking at different housings and was wodering if it should get the olympus pt-023 housing for the 8080 or is it worth spending another $200 and buy the ikelite. Any help is appreciated

Thanks

Pick your poison!

Get an Ikelite, good, sound, simple design and theyre good people too. I have 3 SLR ikelite housings, no problems.

As for me I just bought two Olympus PT-23 housings for the 8080, brand new at $250 a piece. For that price, I don't change the port from dome (wide angle) to flat(macro), I just change the entire housing! No add on wet lenses here! Better yet take two cameras down with me. The Ikelite dome port that I machined to fit the Olympus housing, cost more than the housing itself! Keep in mind that I have access to a full service machine shop that is capable of helium leak checking high pressure chambers. No leaks on both Olympus 8080 housings, the port on the 8080 is much larger than the Olympus 5050 or 5060 ports and a much thicker material with a double oring seal.

Olympus housings a throw away? We use think that Ikelites were throw aways when compared to my 1 ton aluminum SLR housing from Oceanic.

Now on to something different:

TTL is very over rated!

TTL limits your photography, mostly in the composition dept. It forces you to place your subject dead center of the frame. The center of the frame is what the light sensor is looking at, on when to turn off the strobe. Should your subject be placed off center of the frame, the sensor will now be looking at the background, be it the reef or even worse open water! When the strobe is fired, the light goes out and does not come back to the center sensor. The system thinks you are trying to light up the entire reef or ocean and tells the strobe to go FULL power, blasting your off center subject into the over exposed round file!

But what about macro shots you say? Works just fine if all your subjects are 18% of grey, meaning they are all neutral in reflectivity (a patch of green grass is a standard). Anything white or light colored, TTL turns off the strobe too soon, to darken the picture into a greyish tone. Darker subjects, the strobe stays on too long, again to get that grey tone. The way around this is to "trick" your camera by MANUALLY increasing or decreasing your exposure comp. Manual! Shouldnt I be shooting in manual mode in the first place????

No, for me TTL is not factor when buying a housing. From the very beginning I had always believed that TTL was just a way to get amateur snapshooters into the world of photography.

Dive Safe





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[f3nikon]

I developed a leak and I cannot isolate it. Everyone I have asked has said it can not be serviced although I did find someone who gave me the oring specifications which I procured and have rebuilt twice now to no avail. It still leaks. My opinion is that the plastic is just worn out and I cant get a oring seal. That was for my Oly 2020. I now use a Oly 5050 with a PT housing and it has not leaked but I only bought it because A) I could not get my PT-010 serviced and B) I wanted to upgrade the mega-pixels. I use a INON strobe which is a great strobe. Its a great camera and it takes great pictures but I am nervous on every dive because of my previous experience. The Ikelite is also rated for deeper depths IIRC.

I own a Ikelite Video Housing for a VX2000 sony and have absolutley no problems with it. I take broadcast quality video with it and when I did require service I was fedex'ed a part overnight at no charge to me and the problem was one not related to quality. A tank not bungeed fell on my camera housing while in the camera bucket and broke the handle off. I was pretty mad to say the least especailly since it was my tank that fell....lol. I called ikelite the next day and they fedex'ed the handle to me overnight at no charge. That is superior service. All I get at in the Olympus Housing service is the run around or "Its cheaper to just buy another one." I have a friend who has a Oly 3030 who switched from a PT housing to a Ikelite housing and is very happy with his decision, even considering the extra money spent.

Bottom line is that, in my opinion, if you flood your housing with a PT housing you will be hard pressed to get any service where as Ikelite has been known to stand by their product and be more proactive to keep your business.


Hope this helps,

Brian

Check your oring grooves, you may have scratched the grooves and changing the orings will not help. You will need to sand down the scratch. If possible remove one of the feedthru fittings on the housing and apply about 40 psi of compressed air into the housing, then place in a bucket of water. The bubbles will show you the leak.

Good luck

 

[SwimsWithSharks]

I am not sure you will agree but to me it seems like the Ikelite will have better support over the long run. As to TTL (and I don't want to hikack this thread), that is a debate that wages among photographers. While I respect your opinion, notice I said "gives you the option." I know nothing about this individual's experience level and maybe for him or her it my be appropriate. As for me, I think both the TTL and Manual sides have some points. That is one of the reasons I like the new Ikelite 20D housing. With the push of a few buttons, you can switch between the two. And yes, I am an amateur.

 

[f3nikon]

I am not sure you will agree but to me it seems like the Ikelite will have better support over the long run. As to TTL (and I don't want to hikack this thread), that is a debate that wages among photographers. While I respect your opinion, notice I said "gives you the option." I know nothing about this individual's experience level and maybe for him or her it my be appropriate. As for me, I think both the TTL and Manual sides have some points. That is one of the reasons I like the new Ikelite 20D housing. With the push of a few buttons, you can switch between the two. And yes, I am an amateur.

And I agree with you, that is why I said this on my second line. "Get an Ikelite, good, sound, simple design and theyre good people too. I have 3 SLR ikelite housings, no problems." Yes they have great service, years ago you could even talk to Ike himself, over the phone about your problems! My reason for picking the Olympus housing was price and I have access to a full service machine shop.

I respect your opinion as well as everybody elses here. The point I was making about TTL, is that TTL is not the magic bullet. TTL was really design for film cameras, in which you really don't know if your exposure is correct until you get you film developed. You were, for the most part shooting "blind" or guessing in regards to the film exposures. Even with TTL, film pros still "bracket" their exposures just to be sure. Now with digital camera, instant FEEDBACK on exposures! Too little or too much light we know seconds after the shot was taken! Yes, there is a God! TTL is just a crutch that just slows us down, let your photographic creativity set you free!