Quality ikelite housing

[Preach]

Hey,

I was interested in buying a Canon eos 250d (sl3). It's a small DSLR, and i like the specs.
The only down side is that only ikelite is making a housing for it. I heard a lot of horror stories about ikelite housings. Buttons getting stuck, buttons not working and even leaking.

The depth rating of the housing is 60 meters, which already is limited for me. But if i take it to 60 meters, all buttons should still be working without a problem. Other wise it's a no go for me.

An other point is that i want to connect my inon s2000 strobes. I heard there whas a way to connect optical strobes to an ikelite housing, i dont mind using my strobes in manual mode.

What is the experience with the ikelite housings for you guys/girls?

 

[Compressor]

I've had Ikelite housings for over 20 years. Never had a problem with them. I found their customer service is 2nd to none.

 

[Chris Ross]

Look at the entire system, the port chart is an interesting read - a lot of port options don't have a zoom gear option and the list is somewhat limited. Here is the port chart for that housing: http://docs.ikelite.com/reference/port-chart-dlm-c-system.pdf

Many lenses can only zoom with the compact port option, which may compromise image quality on wide angles in the corners.

 

[bvanant]

Ike certainly make housings that are more than "good enough" for most users. To get IKE to use FO strobes you need to use one of their electrical to FO converters. That being said, I believe that IKE housings main attribute is price. It is hard to believe that if money were no object that most people would pic IKE (or any of the other polycarbonate housings) as their first choice. Given that money is indeed a consideration for most people, IKE has a legitimate place in the underwater imaging world. As for their service the fact that everyone says their service is great suggests that everyone has used it and it is not clear that that is a bug or a feature.
Bill

 

[Chris Ross]

On the question of strobes, the only solution is Ikelite strobes as far as I can see, the opaque housing does not allow you connect optically. Their electrical to fibre optic converters won't let you use optically triggered strobes they are to use Ike strobes and trigger them optically - from their website: "Converts the electrical bulkhead of any Ikelite DS strobe into a fiber optic port."

You might consider an Olympus EM-1 MkII - it has fairly similar performance to the Canon APS-C sensor: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II vs Canon EOS 200D vs as an alternative.

 

[Compressor]

Will all due respect; servicing an item does not mean it's defective or anything wrong with it.

 

[Preach]

Thanks for the comments so far! Since i'm new to camera's with interchangeable lenses, i didn't know the ikelite housing for this camera had less options.

I'm looking into the Olympus omd e-1 m2 for now, with the nauticam housing. It's a bit more expensive, but the depth range is a big plus!
Maybe the price will on the camera will drop a bit now that the OMD e1 m3 got released. I'm not in a hurry to buy straight away, i still got a few months for the next diving vacation.

Thanks for the info so far

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have been using the Ikelite housing for the SL1 (predecessor to the SL2 and SL3) for over three years now. I've had it down to 120+ feet multiple times in 40 degrees F water. I use a pair of DS51 strobes with it.
I love the housing and the camera. It was my first foray into DSLR's and after shooting 35mm since the late '70s was a nice easy transition.
I liked the camera so much I bought a second body as a backup and so that if I didn't want to take the housing apart I could shoot on the surface with my other lens.
At the time that was all I had. One extra lens.
DSLR's are like dive gear.
I now have 2 additional bodies T6S and an 80D and a dozen lenses including 3 L series.
Canon and Nikon offer the most lens choices.
My surface photo instructor recently got rid of his Olympus cameras because they keep changing the lens mounts.
He's shooting Nikon and Leica now.
I thought I'd like to get a housing with a deeper rating but mine is rated to 200 feet and I'm not planning on any dives that deep from this point.

 

[bvanant]

Will all due respect; servicing an item does not mean it's defective or anything wrong with it.

That is true if you are talking about routine maintenance but not so true if you are talking about stuff breaking. I have hand carried numerous IKE strobes from Indonesia to the US to have them repaired (multiple issues) and yes IKE service is good but needing multiple repairs on a pair of strobes is a bit concerning. Long ago and far away I had an old Porsche 912. Not only did I know my mechanic's name but I knew his wife's name as well, that car needed lots of work. I don't know about my current car dealer's service, I have only had the oil and filters changed in 25K miles.
Bill

 

[Preach]

That is true if you are talking about routine maintenance but not so true if you are talking about stuff breaking. I have hand carried numerous IKE strobes from Indonesia to the US to have them repaired (multiple issues) and yes IKE service is good but needing multiple repairs on a pair of strobes is a bit concerning. Long ago and far away I had an old Porsche 912. Not only did I know my mechanic's name but I knew his wife's name as well, that car needed lots of work. I don't know about my current car dealer's service, I have only had the oil and filters changed in 25K miles.
Bill

Getting to know the name of the mechanic's wife didnt come cheap i suppose haha.

I read that the customer service of ikelite is really good. But there is nothing that they can do when i'm on a expensive vacation and something isnt working. You wont get back the pictures you couldnt take cause of a problem with the housing. And i do travel to the other side of the world for diving trips every year.

3 options i'm looking into atm(all in a nauticam housing):

- Olympus omd e1 m2
- Olympus omd e5 m3
- Canon m50

All 3 this camera's come with an "affordable" nauticam housing, they cost around 2000 bucks for the housing. What do you guys think about this options? Any advice/suggestion is welcome!