Underwater Canon 5D - Where to buy?

[bjornholland]

Hi,

 

Has anyone got any pointers about where to buy a decent UW housing for the Canon 5D? (Decent meaning: solid

case, not one of those plastic bags...)

 

Are there any popular websites for used gear?

Is it possible to find used gear in Thailand? (I'll be taking some diving courses there)

 

Also: What do you recommend for flashes for a beginner?

 

 

Thanks a lot!

[jim_greenfield]

A rare beast seconhand but there may be more come up now that the 5D Mk 2 has been announced (which I assume won't fit Mk 1 housings).

Can only suggest Ebay, Wetpixels web site - Classifieds or look at Subal's web site which has a used section.

Flash - depends what you intend to do to some extent but personally I have avoided TTL and shoot manual for simplicity and cost. That said I know a few folks who are pretty happy with their Ikelite set ups although there have been quality issues with the flashes

Jim Greenfield

www.oceaneyephoto.com

[thatpaulguy]

SPL makes housings for most Canon cameras including the 5D, with flash attached, of seperately with space for a pocket wizard.

 

http://www.splwaterhousings.com/canon_5d.html

[mendel_leisk]

Search result for "5d underwater housing" at B&H (a great place):

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=0&shs=5d+underwater+housing&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=jsp%2FRootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t

[davidkramer]

Hi, the main manufacturers are

Ikelite (clear plastic, cheapish but can use eTTL with their own strobes), Sea&Sea: polycarbonate,

Nexus: aluminium, and Subal- the most expensive but very nice to handle and reliable.

 

Every system will require extensions, specific ports for each lens and a big case, cables etc. Wide angle lenses

have issues of quite severe corner blurring unless you use fisheyes with dome ports. A whole Subal set-up is

expensive (approx $10000), huge, heavy (approx 14lbs) and requires more attention and anxiety than a new baby...

 

Inon strobes are very good but as with all other u/w strobes for DSLRs require manual exposure in 1/2 stops, and it's

best to use 2 strobes.

 

Have you tried underwater photography before? It requires excellent diving skills and many more challenges than

topside work (visibility, backscatter, low light, fast moving targets, multiple strobe work, swell, currents, cold, things

that bite/sting, unpredictable salt baths for your prized dSLR etc etc).

 

Try talking to someone at reefphoto.com or backscatter.com for proper advice. You may want to consider starting off

with a housed compact with a single strobe (these can zoom, do macro, add-on wide angles and autoexposure) and

significantly less cost/hassle. Even then, master diving first then take a camera down. Regards,

[vandit]

Bjoern -

 

First off, if you are just learning to dive, I would suggest waiting a bit before buying a housing for the 5D. Diving with a

housed SLR is not a trivial thing - it challenges your diving skills and situational awareness in a way that you simply will

not be ready to handle as a new diver. I say this as both an underwater photographer and a fairly experienced dive

instructor.

 

Second, before making the plunge, consider what sort of diving and photography you plan to do. I have an article on this

subject here:

http://www.diveindia.com/uwphoto/dslr_or_compact.html

 

Now, re housings - the brands to consider are Ikelite at the entry level range; Aquatica, Sea&Sea, Hugyfot in the mid-end

range and Nexus, Subal in the top range, Ikelite makes the housings of polycaronate while the others are all aluminium

(including Sea&Sea). Material isnt a big thing - choice of ergonomics is. I find Ikelite boxes to be terrible for

photograph - the controls are awkward and hard to reach.

 

With the aluminium cases, ergonomics tend to be a lot better. The more expensive housings are a little smaller and fit

a little better.

 

Another factor to consider is availability and prices of ports and accessories. I use Aquatica and the main reason I went

with them was that all lenses can be used with just 2 ports - a flat port for macro and a dome port for wideangle - using

spacer rings. Other brands may require different ports for different lenses, which can get awkward for traveling. Lastly,

prices of various accessories - which are bordering on felony already - vary significantly between brands.

 

Backscatter is a good source, as is Ryan at reefphoto.com. Yuzo at info@naturephoto.co.jp is another good person to

buy from. A 4th choice is David at scubacam.co.sg (maybe com.sg?).

 

I would *not* buy in Thailand, We have a trade account for dive gear there, and still prefer to buy retail elsewhere - the

reason being: prices are very high, stocks are limited and selection is poor. Buy from one of the 4 sources above and

have it shipped to wherever you are.

 

For used gear and more info on all things u/w photo related, try www.wetpixel.com.

 

Vandit

[blueviews]

Bjoern:

Go take a look at Wetpixel and at DigiDeep. Wetpixel is probably the most current and gear savvy place to read about

UW photography and they have an extensive section for buying used gear. To really answer your question, you need to

tell us a bit more about what types of photos you want. If for example you are mostly or all macro then housing choices

are a bit broader since almost all macro ports are pretty decent. If you are interested in wide angle however then the

choices become more difficult since the differences between the dome ports can be considerable.

 

Don't listen to the folks badmouthing Ikelite. Their newer housings are a lot more ergonomic than those from a few years

ago and they have probably the best service in the industry. I have both Subal and Ikelite housings and the newer Ikes

with TTL and the modular port system are indeed very nice. According to Digideep, there are housings for the 5D from

Nexus, Hugyfot, Aquatica, Subal, Sea and Sea (although these are supposedly no longer made), Ikelite, Sealux and

Seacam. I don't know where to buy in Thailand, but I would strongly recommend looking at Reefphoto in the U.S. (ask for

Ryan) and Nautica in Vienna. They are both full service stores.

 

Take a look at Wetpixel, ask some questions there and you will learn much more there than here for the most part.

Bill

[2Oceans]

Bjoern,

I shoot with an Aquatica housing for the D2X however the Canon 5D is a very popular and good camera underwater. B&H has the best selection of underwater housings and a very knowledgeable underwater department starting with Howard. The Ikelite housings are fine. Metal housings are a little more rugged. The Aquatica brand is fairly robust but a little heavier and the least expensive of the metal housing lot followed in cost by Sea&Sea, Nexus, Sea Tool, Subal and lastly Sea Cam. I don't think you can miss with the Aquatica. The ports are modular and up grade well with newer Aquatica housings. One of the US Aquatica dealers is Mauricio Handler at http://handlerphoto.com/ who is a pro who shoots with Aquatic. I purchased my fourth Aquatica housing from him and therefore he is on the hook to help me out and has so on several occasions when I had had technical questions. He shoots for national Geographic with the same system I use. I would recommend him as an Aquatica dealer any day. Good hunting. VR Andy

[2Oceans]

Inon or Ikelite strobes are the way to go and keep cost low but there are no beginner strobes that I would invest in.

Stix, ULCS or TLCS arms for mounting strobe to housing (I use both ULCS and TLCS)

http://wetpixel.com/ has good forums that can help you out and a used gear site

Underwater photography is an fairly international occupation with most dealers doing overseas shipping. Having a local dealer is of course always the best and Wetpixel might help you find someone close by so you can lay hands on a system. Good luck.

Vr Andy