Which Type of housing - & why?

I was all set to purchase the Fantasea housing and dome port - then got an email saying their domeport doesn't work with the 10.5mm Nikkor lens

Looks like I have to wait to afford the Ikelite..

Molder promises to start producing "Da Bigga Doma" Friday. Seeing is believing since this project has left me between heart attach, hemorrhoid, and hernia. Shipping, assembly and testing should make ports available in January finally.

Molder promises to start producing "Da Bigga Doma" Friday.  Seeing is believing since this project has left me between heart attach, hemorrhoid, and hernia.  Shipping, assembly and testing should make ports available in January finally.

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Great news ike!!

Is this the kind of setup that would allow use of 10.5 and 12-24 Nikkor under one dome?

To get back to the original question - try rephrasing it as "what sort of car do you drive and why?". Most seem to go from A to B but your choice is probably based on rather more factors than it being mere transport (mind you, speaking as someone who has never washed his car since new (3 years now), I'm probably asking this as a pretty disinterested party - and before you ask, yes my camera gear is worth (a lot) more than the car).

I currently shoot a D2X in a Subal and a CP 8400 in an Ike. I think they are both very good. If I thought Ike could have squeezed the D2X into his dSLR housing I would have thought about it very carefully.

I do have to say for my aging eyes the magnified viewfinder is the "bomb"

I also like the ability to use extension rings with my dome port to that it can be adapted to different lenses.

I'm very happy with my Ikelite D70 housing. I like the amount that it left in my bank account compared to other housings but that wouldn't be enough if it didn't do the job. All controls are accessible and work well with one exception. The lever for the display backlight needs to be positioned over the button and I found this very difficult on a night dive, just the time when I needed it.

Extension rings would be less bulky when travelling. However the ports aren't heavy and cost less than extension rings on other housings. Not using extension rings means less o-rings.

Wolf eel said (If I were only going to shoot macro, and wanted ttl I certainly would buy the Ike housing,) I shoot ttl for macro alot with my subal-With a f/5 nikonfilm camera. Seems to work fine

There is a huge differance in feel with a plastic housing and a say subal alum- job. I am a fan of glass domes. I have 3 aluminum housing only one with glass ports.The other huge factor is the ease and funtion of the controls. This can not be overstated. Look for a used one if price is a big factor. Mark

I shoot ttl for macro alot with my subal-With a f/5 nikonfilm camera. Seems to work fine

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TTL with film cameras is well established. All manufacturers except Fuji on the S2 changed their TTL systems. Currently only Ikelite seems to be offering TTL as standard for DSLRs, using Ikelite strobes of course. There may be others I'm not aware of.

That said TTL is not the must have it was with film. You can shoot manual strobes and see the result on the LCD. This allows adjustment during the dive and shooting raw allows exposure adjustment in post processing.

Another factor to consider in choosing between aluminum and composite material housings is the risk potential due to the increased number through holes required. Composite material housings may have many additional gasket sealed through holes for attachment of the handle tray, clamps and to mount controls or gears. Aluminum housings offer the ability to securely attached these same items either externally or internally without the need for additional through holes.

Ken,

When the Ikelite D70 housing is connected to an Ikelite digital strobe, and both camera and strobe are powered up for TTL shooting, simply depressing the shutter button half-way should reactivate the LCD backlight. With that, the need to depress the backlight button is very rare so a dedicated control seemed unecessary. Regardless, we may be able to squeeze in a push button control if you feel it is needed for your night dives.

Unfortunately my housing is pre-TTL and at present I don't see the need to spend the extra on converting to a TTL back as I'm missing less shots with manual strobe and and RAW than I missed with velvia and TTL.

I don't do enough night dives for it to be a major problem but it is my one complaint about the housing.

Hi Brett,

Good to see you here. Hope all is well in snowy Indiana. I'm supposed to go to Ohio for Xmas - brrr!

Cheers

James

Great news ike!!

 

Is this the kind of setup that would allow use of 10.5 and 12-24 Nikkor under one dome?

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It looks like this is still in development, and unfortunately the 8" dome product available now only supports the 12-24, but does not support the 10.5. As of today, you need two 6" domes, 5503.15 and 5503.50. See the list:

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/2port_nikon.html

The 8 inch dome system MIGHT support both in the future (Ike said January 2006 some new product would be out and I assume this is what it is). According to rumor, the 8 inch dome has multiple extensions, so fewer ports would be needed, better for travelling. A shorter extension might be available for the 10.5mm Nikon with the same dome, for instance. Here is an early review here of the first version of the 8" dome showing at least one additional longer extension:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/canon-10-22...te-8-dome-port/

Aquatica has been using extensions on its domes for years, so this is a proven concept. But I can understand Ikelite being very cautious about modifying a very long lived and proven port system, with sunk engineering and tooling costs. Developing a new port system with extensions that is backward compatible with old housings and yet as good as or better than the current product is a very tough design and manufacturing challenge.

I'm excited about what might come out in January, but actually today you can buy the two 6" domes, for less than the price of just one 8" dome. Your housing choice should not be held up by waiting for the new product.