Seacam vs Subal (1Ds MarkII)

Hi all,

this is my 1st post here...

I'm currently looking at two housings for my canon 1Ds Mark II. The Subal CD1 and the equivalent Seacam version. They's both top notch, and I'm undecided...

Would anyone owning the 1DsII, with either housing, please say what motivated their selection? Are there other housings for this cameras that are worthy of consideration?

Thank you very much!

Saka

Hi Saka, welcome to wetpixel!

I am not a 1ds user, but I do have a Subal housing for the Nikon D2x, and I believe it is built similarly to the 1ds housing. I can tell you it is the best housing I've ever used. I am sure Canon users will contribute here, but in the mean time, take a look at this older thread about the same subject:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=18&t=7162

Hi Saka and welcome to Wetpixel.

I have the Seacam housing and have used it on a few trips (Bahamas sharks, and Bali macro).

I love the housing of course. I can't think of too many differences between the two brands, as they are both ultra-high quality and both have nice viewfinder and port options.

It's hard for me to compare, as I've never dove the Subal housing, only "dry fired" it. If anything, I'd give the slight edge to Seacam because of their large Superdome, and slightly better viewfinder. They also offer a new "remote control" option, which is very cool for polecamming. The Seacam housing is very reliable, and if it's possible for an underwater housing, I'd call it idiot-proof.

I had a Tiger shark slam into mine last year. It rotated the dome port 90 degrees and knocked me over on the swim platform, but the housing and dome were totally unscathed. I don't think the same could be said for some other housing brands if they'd had to withstand a similar onslought.

Cheers

James

Check out the SEACAM S45 and S180 viewfinders, they are second to none IMHO!

Tom