Why should I pay $550 more for a Nauticam housing over Ikelite housing? RX100

[dhaas]

Frank,

We know each other (I shot photos at the Dive Pirates Ball a few years back) and know your GOM (Gulf of Mexico) FLower Gardens and oil rig dives are tougher than some conditions.

I have several Ikelite users who've been out on your boat and who didn't flood their SLR housings.........

Any housing can flood and 99.999% is user error or the silly rinse tank people INSIST on using and LEAVING their camera unattended in it....They run to it like their housing just came out of hydrochloric acid

(Can you tell I HATE rinse tanks?)

I did a search on "Recsea flood" and got this list:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/search.php?searchid=11280420

You can do the same here with any brand (including Ikelite.) Too many folks fear being honest and looking themselves in the mirror admitting they caused their own flood.

I sold Aquatica in the past and have seen and used many housings in 43 years of diving. I've seen all brands flood with many the user never knowing in time because he can't see in it........Not saying each brand doesn't have features people want and will pay more for.......JMHO.......

I don't know how you hand and retrieve folks camera rigs on and off your 110' bouncing boat and I'm sure it IS challenging. Plus too many folks have enough crap strapped on their Battlestar Galactic SLR rigs to make them very unwieldy out of the water. Gotta' be a nightmare sometimes.

I'm also sure you train your crew but I recall one post where a guy's Aquatica or Sea and Sea housing flooded when hauled aboard by the port and it twisted off (!!!) dropping his wide open housing back in the drink I fault the shooter himself for handing it UP to the boat mate port first, too.....(I don't know if this was Frank's boat, so apologies if people thought I meant that.)

The Sony RX100 camera while fast focussing and a 1" sensor isn't nirvana. I've played with one and it can produce great photos like many other cameras today.

All the endless droning about changing this setting or that setting in the short time most have UW is BS too. 99% of folks talking and debating specs on here don't have a decent in focus variety of pics to prove they know squat either......

Any housing is just a box with o-rings keeping your camera dry assuming you know how to seal it and handle it.

I personally will vouch for everything I read about Frank's boats and services as being safety oriented and well run. I have friends who have used their one boat out of Key West and the GOM.

We just disagree on Ikelite as good value choice for any digital camera housing

YMMV

David Haas
www.haasimages.com

 

[Wookie]

Please don't think I was trashing Ikelite housings, I didn't mean to, although it may seem that way. My answer was to the OP, "Why should I pay an extra $550 for a Nautcam over an Ikelite?", and I guess my answer should have been "If you are a responsible camera owner and take excellent care of your camera, there is no reason. If you don't take excellent care of your gear (there is a reason I don't dive a rebreather), the Nauticam is a little more forgiving for you".

 

[dhaas]

Understood Frank and well said

I agree on too many folks jumping into rebreathers when I see them flooding cameras (!!!!!!) One will make you sad if you set it up wrong. The other will kill you

Hope your season is filling up!

Best regards,

David Haas
www.haasimages.com

 

[divengolf]

We'll put it in, we'll take it out, we will not put it in the rinse tank. It seems that they lose their seal between coming out of the water and the rinse tank. Most floods occur in the rinse tank, and then the camera owner gives us the hairy eyeball because we were the last to handle it. Personally, I really think it's the camera owners who leave them in the rinse tank while they go eat, shower, maybe take a nap that seem to have the most problems, but there ya go.

Frank,

You are absolutely correct. Most floods occur in a rinse tank when people leave cameras unattended. A cardinal rule is never take your hand off your camera in the rinse tank. And do not let the crew put it in the rinse tank. That's the diver's job.

See you in a couple weeks.

Harry

 

[ronscuba]

Thanks Wookie, that seems like a reasonable explanation and a reasonable course of action based on your experience. Some people don't understand that they are "Rinse" tanks, not "Soak" tanks. If you leave your camera in there too long they become "Smash Up Derby" and "Free Camera Parts" tanks.

Great point. It's not like the salt is going to dissolve while soaking. Another problem I heard about on a liveaboard once. When the big liveaboard boats are moving, things tend to vibrate. The crew said leaving a camera in the tank is probably the last place it should be while the boat is moving.

 

[James R]

Back to the original topic. As a former Ikelite and current Nauticam owner, I think this analogy sums it up pretty well (mainly because it's true): There are two cars in my garage. Both are less than 6 months old. My Subaru (Ikelite) gets me exactly where I want to go without any issues, but I'd rather drive the BMW (Nauticam).

dhaas- I think we all agree Ikelite housings are a good value. Just like my Subaru.

 

[PatW]

The point is well taken about the rinse tank. Cameras tend to accumulate in the rinse tank. The cameras can grind together. I make it my practice to dip the camera in the rinse tank and then secure it someplace else.

I have used both Nauticam and Ikelite housings.

The Ikelite housing is a good serviceable housing. However, the housing is a polycarbonate box. The housing is a bit large compared to the camera. The controls are a bit improvised so you do not have precise control of the camera functions.

I now use a Nauticam housing. The housing is custom made for its camera body so it is as small as possible. The housing is metal so it is quite robust. The housing is custom designed for its particular housing so the controls are very precise and responsive. Also, the housing is generally better set up for add ons like focus lights and wet lenses. You pay a significant amount more.

I used to use a G11 with an Ikelite housing. The housing served me well. I now shoot a Nikon D7000 with a Nauticam housing. There is a real qualitative difference. Left to my own devices, I would have gotten an Ikelite housing. My wife strongly suggested that I go with the Nauticam housing. Having used the Nauticam housing, I am glad that I went with it. Do not take this as any kind of negative comment on the Ikelite system. Ikelite makes good affordable equipment.

Now, I can only give you the information. I do not know your situation or your needs. I can not tell you which choice you should make. That is your decision.

 

[00wabbit]

I think I will go with the ikelite for now and put the extra money towards a wide angle lens.
If I'm not happy with the housing I can upgrade later.

I do take good care of my stuff and I don't mind the size. With drygloves the bigger controls might be better.
Im moving up from my s90 that now has focusing issues in a canon housing.

 

[cleomagic]

I have dove with Ikelite housings for years, starting with one of their film camera housings and working all the way up to a Canon G12. These housings in general have all been very large but have also been very good. With the Canon G-series of housings, I have used the electrically connected strobe (DS-50/51) which has been very nice to have (no waiting for the internal strobe and longer camera battery life.) A few years ago, my wife got into photography when we went to Bonaire and finally wanted a camera. Last year we added a Canon S100 in an Ikelite housing to our collection. This was a very good camera and the Ikelite housing was incredibly compact.

The Ikelite clear housing has always made us very comfortable in that you can completely see the o-ring before you dive so you can tell it's sealed well. Although the controls on my Canon G-series of cameras was very good, we were not as impressed with the Ikelite S100 housing. Using some of the buttons and menu controls didn't work out so well, and on some dives, certain buttons didn't work at all. The controls seemed "close" but not quite right.

After starting to shoot video (for which the G12 is not well suited) we moved up from the G12 and the S100 to Sony RX100s. One of the decisions we had to make was the same decision that you are making now. We did tons of internet research and after heading down to Back Scatter where we could touch and feel the housings, we elected to go with the Nauticam housing. Overall, the Nauticam housing just felt right. All of the buttons were in exactly the right place and everything felt solid with no concerns about the buttons not working. It was certainly more money that the Ikelite (which is still a big box) but the build quality and size were the final determining factors.

The one thing we'll probably miss most about the Ikelite housing is the confidence of being able to see the o-ring and the internals of the housing while diving. In hundreds of dives, we've never had a leak. We certainly won't miss the Ikelite's larger size.

With regards to lenses, we have purchased a number of them from both Scuba Board members and eBay. Buying used, we were able to save a significant amount of money. We elected to go with the Inon AD Mount and built our own adapter (similar to Interceptor's but locally sourced).

 

[Interceptor121]

If the question is I just have a set amount of money would I rather buy a Nauticam housing and shoot with the bare port or an Ikelite and have a wet wide angle lens (the best fit Inon UWL-H100 M67 type 1 costs $525 by coincidence) the answer is clear: get a housing and lens as the bare port is insufficient
If instead you have money to spend get a Nauticam as all the features will prove useful in time and it is more robust.
One thing you may want to consider is that the RX100 is much less forgiving than your canon s90 and going cheap is not an option. For example you need some good strobes and arms as the camera larger sensor needs smaller aperture to get a sharp image. As a comparison an YS-01 sufficient for a canon s95 was not strong enough for the RX100
I think it is good that Ikelite proposed such a housing as entry level as this gives more people the chance to try this camera, on the other hand this camera is not as easy to use as all normal compacts and requires much more thought when shooting