Opinions on Ikelite brand of cameras

[TexasMike]

Any opinions on the Ikelite brand of u/w cameras? I've seen the discussions on the Sea&Sea and Reefmaster, but nothing recent on Ikelites.

LDS is pushing those at a decent price. Opinions from this motley bunch are highly sought.

 

[herman]

I have never used one but I did get my hands on a Auto35 the other day and it seems to be very well built. The case appeared to be of the high standard that Ikelite is known for. It had quite a few attachment points for accessory lens and external strobes. The viewfinder was fairly large and easy to see through with a mask on, a feature that becomes very handy. I presently use an old MX-10, the Ikelite, Reefmaster and similar cameras did not exist when I purchased the MX-10. If I were looking today for a similar camera, price range and features, I would take a hard look at the Auto35. No matter what camera you decide on, please do yourself a favor and get the optional strobe. You will eventually need it to really get good pictures so you might as well save a few bucks as you can usally get the combo a little cheaper then buying them as seperate pieces.

 

[Warhammer]

I have one, an Auto35 that is, and it does pretty good. I taken 20 rolls or so of film with mine and the results have gotten better. The Superview camera that comes with the Auto35 died on me in Hawaii, but IkeLite promptly replaced it after my return. I haven't gotten the strobe for it yet, and alot of my shots suffer due to the internal flash. You have to have some really really clear water to get good results without the strobe. Another thing is that the Auto35 isn't very suitable for taking wide angle shots, like say shots of divers or large marine life. So that limits my use of it a good bit. If you're really interested in underwater photography, you should consider investing in SLR & housing combo, or a submersible camera like the Nikonos V. On the other hand, if all you want to do is take a few pictures every now and then, like me, then the Auto35 is a cheap way to do that.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

I don't know that much about the camera but I can atest for the high quality of the housings. Tho I must admit that they have some junk items you may wanna be leary of. It's just items that serves little to no useful practical purpose for most things. I guess in some enviroments/cases they would come in handy.

Happy shooting!

Ed

 

[Sea Monkey]

You can see some shots taken with the Ikelite Auto 35 at http://members.home.net/diveflag

 

[Conch]

I started with a reefmaster, then when the rewind motor crapped out, I had it replaced with another one (scrapped a roll of vacation pictures to get it out), took #2 to the Florida Keys and had the rewind motor crap out again. I had it replaced with #3 (scrapped another roll of vacation pictures to get it out), #3 did the same, as did #4. Ok Ok ... I'm persistent. Raised enough hell that I received a new Epoque camera as a replacement. This thing took fantastic pictures, and was really happy with it till a student opened it up on the surface. Don't ask!!!!. Gave up on the cheap stuff and got a Ikelite housing with a Canon F-1. With an Ikelite 400 strobe this thing was awesome. And talk about balanced. I could balance it with two fingers under water. Had the opportunity to get another Ikelite housing for a Minolta 7000. Again it was awesome. A bit tricky to assemble though. The only problem I ever found was that they were bulky.

Tried a Nikonos III but was tricky to get all the settings working right. Now I use only a Nikonos V. Small compact, lots of lens and macro choices. And on Auto ("A") TTL is a wonderful thing.

Still haven't been able to get the little fishies to swim through the goal posts of my macro framer though.

Conch

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Here's what you do to get 'the fishies to swim thru the goal post' with macro


Get you a can of "easy cheese" "cheese whiz" or something like that. Get the point?

Ed

 

[striking viking]

Texas Mike,
I purchased an IKELITE U/W camera recently, and I think they're great. The housing is of very sound construction, it's easy to use, it's affordable and can be upgraded very easily. The macro kit is only $35.00. The strobe is @ $300.00--a little pricey, but I understand well worth it. The shutter button has a lock on it so you can't take any pictures until you want to. Just remember to turn the camera on before you get in the water and enjoy. I've only used mine on one dive, but I was very happy with the results. Pictures are worth a thousand words, something that I couldn't keep up in a dive log.