which is the better housing....?

[gaudencio]

Which is the better housing for the Canon rebel? Is it the Ikelite or the Sea&Sea housing. I plan to buy one becuase my Sea&SEa camera flooded. And this is my first time to buy housing for land camera.

 

[Dee]

Each has it's own strengths and weaknesses. I don't think you can say which is the absolute best. It would also be hard for most of us to make that judgement since we own either one or the other but not both and may not have done reasearch on them. for istance, I can discuss the differences between Ilelite and Olympus because that was the focus of my research when choosing my housing.

All I can honestly tell you is that Ikelite has an excellent reputation, especially for their customer service. They are probably one of the most used housing because they were one of the first to make them for a wide range of cameras.

 

[bdombrowski]

Well...

I have two Ikelite housings. One for my N90S SLR, and one for my Sony video camera. I've used the hell out of both (100s of dives with these housings) and never any major problems. Never have they flooded, and both have been to 150 ft.

The only problems after all this time have been an intermittent connection in the video light switch cable, and a broken wire in the hot shoe adapter of the SLR housing. And get this. Ikelite was cool enough to fix these problems for nothing. Probably because they see how much money I've spent on them over the years after looking up the serial numbers ;-) Their service is great!

These are not the most expensive and nor the most high-end housings. I often use an Amphibico housing with VX1000s when filming for TV. However, I don't own that rig. The show's producer does. Nice and flexible setup, but VERY expensive.

My personal belief is, for what I spend on my own gear, I get the best value in both product and service with Ikelite.

Regards,

Brian
subsurfacemedia.com

 

[sillago]

I have to agree to what some of the other people here have said...I think that the customer service at Ikelite is incredible...I found that all my emails were answered promptly and even other people I know who have ikelite gear which needed servicing sometimes got the entire housing replaced eventhough it wasn't required.
The other thing that I think you should consider before getting a housing though is what kind of strobes you want to use with it or if you have any strobes at present, which can be used with either housing. I am uncertain about this but I think that some strobes are compatible with certain housings because they don't have the proper sync cords for all the brands of strobes, though there are probably adaptors you can buy for this somewhere else.
Just my $.02
Sillago

 

[gaudencio]

If I buy the ikelite housing, I think I also plan to buy it's strobe. But after reading another thread starter in this forum " What is the best digital camera used?" Now I'm facing another problem, What do you think is better to use, a digital camera or a land based camera underwater? Which is more versatile and shoots best pictures?

 

[Dee]

Originally posted by gaudencio
If I buy the ikelite housing, I think I also plan to buy it's strobe. But after reading another thread starter in this forum " What is the best digital camera used?" Now I'm facing another problem, What do you think is better to use, a digital camera or a land based camera underwater? Which is more versatile and shoots best pictures?

The debate of best between digital and film is one of those that is distictly divided. There are film photogs who will never be satisfied with the results from digital and digital photogs who will never go back to film.

I think it depends on what you want from a camera and to a large degree, what you can afford. At this point in digital development, there are 4meg cameras giving excellent results and producing images suitable for printing 14x17 and larger. Are these 'professional' quality prints? Depends more on the machine doing the printing than the cameras abilities to capture them. I have several digital 8x10 photographs that were printed on my cheap HP712 bubble jet printer that hang on my wall and look great....excellent color, crisp focus...but will they compare evenly to a professional print taken by a $4-5000 film set-up (camera, housing, lenses, etc.) and printed by a professional lab? No they won't. But I don't care. My $1500 digital set-up (camera, housing, strobe) produces art for my walls and images for my albums to share with friends and family. It is a simple to use system, easy to care for, and small enough not to interfere with my diving.

Digitals are also versatile in that you can use them on land as well as underwater. The same cannot be said for some of underwater cameras. A housed SLR camera can also be use on land.

So now we're back to what you want from a camera!

 

[Finesse]

Hi Dee

I'm sure you've read that I too am in pursuit of a housing/strobe system for the Olympus Camedia.

I can discuss the differences between Ikelite and Olympus because that was the focus of my research when choosing my housing.

What was the deciding factor for you in going with the Olympus housing??

Right now it seems the Ikelite has the edge for my needs.....and Gerry/undrwtr1 has been a tremendous help in sorting things out for me...especially owning both housings.


Any words of advice before I jump off the bridge????


Oh yeah .... When your taking pics what picture quality mode do you use??

Thanks for you insight!!!!

Scott

 

[Finesse]

No comment????

I hope you just over looked my question.....

 

[Dee]

Finesse once bubbled...
Hi Dee

I'm sure you've read that I too am in pursuit of a housing/strobe system for the Olympus Camedia.



What was the deciding factor for you in going with the Olympus housing??

Right now it seems the Ikelite has the edge for my needs.....and Gerry/undrwtr1 has been a tremendous help in sorting things out for me...especially owning both housings.


Any words of advice before I jump off the bridge????


Oh yeah .... When your taking pics what picture quality mode do you use??

Thanks for you insight!!!!

Scott

I chose the Olympus PT-010

I can't say there was any ONE deciding factor but a combination. My preference for Sea & Sea strobes was one. I like the fact that the S&S strobe will connect and be triggered by fiber optic cable. There's no sync cord or hot wire connections to deal with and worry over. I've been there and done that in the past and it's just another worry I can do without.

Some have said the Ike case is more rugged. I'm sure it is. If I did alot of shore dives on a rocky shoreline and dealt with heavy surge to the point of getting knocked on my butt on a regular basis, the Ike would have been a better choice. But my diving is local lakes/quarries and offshore boat dives. The housing isn't going to be subjected to alot of abuse. Not to say the PT-010 isn't sturdy, it is, and I'm confident it will be just fine for 'normal' bumps and bruises.

The diving that I normally do does not require a deep depth rating so the 30M didn't bother me. In fact I've had the PT-010 to below 130ft with no problems although I don't plan to make a habit of it. I also like the fact that the housing was designed BY Olympus (if not manufactured by them) FOR the Olympus cameras.

After several years with a S&S MMII, with dual strobes, extra lenses, yada, yada, yada...I decided I was tired of the effort of carrying around such a big and sometimes complicated system. When I made the move to digital, I vowed to K.I.S.S. and with the Oly C-4040/PT-010 I can do that and still get excellent pictures.

And last but not least was the cost. $290 vs $700+ (don't remeber the exact price) was affordable to me. One thought was that if I really didn't like digital u/w photography, I wouldn't have alot sunk into a housing to have to get rid off and would still have a great land camera. As fast as digital camera models come and go, what would the resale value on the Ike housing for C-xxxx be in 6mo - 1yr?

That's basically why I decided on the Oly PT-010. By budget, my type of diving, strobe choice and simplicity. I haven't regretted it.

 

[Finesse]

Great break down of how you came to your decision to get the Olympus......Lots of good rational!!!!


Thank you for the response!!! Now to make up my mind!!!

Scott