Metal or Plastic housing?

Yes like what i have mentioned in the title, i realised that there are 2 kinds of rigid housing available. however i wonder from your experience which do u prefer.

Metal housing is tough, sleeker and do away with the need for weight belt. however it is very expensive, heavy and chances are some parts will corrode.

plastic housing is cheap, lightweight and anti corrode. however it is not as tough, requires weight, bulkier and traps more air which may leak to opening of casing.

Yup are there any other problems or benefits i missed out on these 2 choices?

and so which do u prefer?

thank you

There's a similar active thread here:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10656

Mat

Depends which camera it is for. For an SLR I would go metal everytime, but for a compact camera I'd probably prefer a small, lightweight and cheap plastic housing.

Alex

I agree with Alex on that one.

A metal housing is not necessarily heavy/heavier in the water. Depends on housing, camera, lens combination. (Discounts effect of strobes, etc.)

You're right. A useful clarification. My concern with weight is always in the luggage rather than in the water!

Alex

Under the same environmental conditions and circumstances aluminum housing are more prone to condensation problems.

Marc

Just the opposite. I've had both over the years. Aluminum is a non problem. Acrylic had condensation problems most of the time without silica gel packs installed.

It’s well known fact that plastic is much better insulator than metal.

Place your cold aluminum camera housing in warm Caribbean water and it will condensate much faster than a plastic housing will.

That was my experience with PVC housings, I’ve made both aluminum and PVC housings. I’ve not owned one of those cheap thin walled clam shell consumer type housings which are very popular.

I bought a few housings over the years and the only housing I had a problem with was a aluminum housing. I never had any problems with IkeLite’s polycarbonate housing.

That’s my opinion,

Marc

Maybe I've never had a problem because I don't open my housing in a cold air conditioned room. If the inside of the housing is the same temperature as the surrounding water, there won't be condensation. Equilibium is easier to attain when the housing material is not a good insulator. Whatever works stick with it.

I have never had a condensation problem with my SLR housings. But I am always seeing divers with plastic compact housings having condensation problems on dive boats.

Maybe this is not to do with materials, but in fact to do with the size of the housing? Or maybe the experience of the users?

Alex

Never had condensation with ikelite or aquatica slr housings.

Have had problems with both aluminum tetras as well as plastic housings for P&S housings.

I do believe it has to do with the screen creating heat. Silica usually takes care of that problem

If my physics 101 hasn't totally left me, I thought condensation would occur on surfaces which is cooling. That's why you have condensation inside housings more often if you are going from a warm environment to a cold one. The warm air can hold more water vapor, but the cooling of the housing (particularly the glass) causes the water vapor to form on the glass on the inside. Condensation shouldn't be a big problem on the bigger housings but in smaller ones, with a big enough temperature change, condensation will occur on the rapidly cooling surface, which is the inside of the lens glass.

Hi guys,

When you have air with moisture in it, the moisture will condense into liquid water (fog on your lens) when the temp reaches the DEWPOINT.

If you have warm humid air in your housing because you opened it on a tropical island, than that moisture will condense when the setup gets put in colder water - if say the dewpoint for that moist air is 78f

So closing your housing in a cool DRY environment is the best thing you can do - so airconditioning is a GOOD place to open and close it. If there's no moisture trapped in the camera and housing then there can't be any condensation.

Now on to the other topic - Al vs Acrylic/Polycarbonate. The Al is a much better heat transmitter than acrylic/polycarbonate. That means it cools off fast, so water if present will condense on the inside of the aluminum, as opposed to the inside of the port glass. That's a good thing.

With acrylic, the problem arises when you use an acrylic or polycarb. housing with a glass port. The glass cools fastest and this is where all the water condenses...:-( This is not a problem with Ikelite housings because they don't use glass ports, but it is a problem w/ the small consumer camera housings.

Cheers

James

Hey there goes my feynman explanations LOL... yeah what the engineer said.

Hi guys,

 

 

 

So closing your housing in a cool DRY environment is the best thing you can do - so airconditioning is a GOOD place to open and close it.  If there's no moisture trapped in the camera and housing then there can't be any condensation.

 

 

Cheers

James

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That is what I knew to be true. I have never had an issue inside the housing and hope that continues.

Now running from the inside of the cabin to the outside to get a shot of that dolphin or whale has cause grief to the lens condensation.

Ah dude

you keep your housing camera in the ac room and your topside camera outside. Just remember which one is which LOL

And be careful where you leave it outside. I left mine outside my office on the rig, and when I got all my photos downloaded, I found out I had quite a few photos of hairy-construction-worker-butts.

Cheesr

James

Maybe this is not to do with materials, but in fact to do with the size of the housing? Or maybe the experience of the users?

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According to my understanding its the combination of small air volume in that type of housing with the heat that came from the battre area becouse of the high electrucity demand of the P&S LCD screen.

Wuth my P&S camera I had a lot of moisture problems, but when I switched off the LCD normaly there where no such problems.

Ah dude

you keep your housing camera in the ac room and your topside camera outside. Just remember which one is which LOL

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Send me the second camera and I will follow your advice.

ps I have one being shipped right now