EOS 350d

Hello

I have the opportunity to buy a second hand eos 350d (aka Digital Rebel XT) from a friend who wants even more pixels.

Has anyone used it (with the 18-55mm lens) and with which housing ?

Thanks,

Fabrice

Hi Fabrice,

There are many options of housings for the 350d, but I don't know if many people are using it with the 18-55 underwater. Hopefully you will get some feedback on that.

I am moving this topic to the dSLR area, as I think you will get more feedback there.

Luiz

Hi Fabrice

I used a borrowed 18-55mm with my 350D in the Hugyfot housing on my recent trip to Cocos Island as all my other lenses were stolen during the first morning in San Jose.

The housing is extremely ergonomic and I'd highly recommend it. Results with the 18-55 were a bit disappointing but that's unsurprising given the depth most of the shots were taken at and that I didn't have a strobe available to me.

Some sample shots can be found by clicking here.

Sean

Hello

 

I have the opportunity to buy a second hand eos 350d (aka Digital Rebel XT) from a friend who wants even more pixels.

 

Has anyone used it (with the 18-55mm lens) and with which housing ?

 

Thanks,

 

Fabrice

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've been using the 350D in an Ikelite housing for several months.

Very happy with the Ikelite, particularly the eTTL feature.

I wrote an article about going to dSLR, and you can find it in the Nov/Dec issue of UWPMag, see www.uwpmag.com, might be of assistance?

I tried the 18-55 but have given up on it for Underwater use. Probably did 5 dives with it and had real problems getting focus lock (auto focus).

I put it down to the lens just being a cheap kit lens.

Cheers,

Aengus

Hi Aengus,

just had a look at your Homepage, excellent pictures especially the Red See pic`s and they were all taken with a 350d. Is the 18-55 really that bad?, I would like to know because we are off to the Philippines in march and I don`t like the idea of having to buying new lenses.

All the Best

Ted

I just wanted to answer that I use a 350D both topside and underwater and I'm very happy with it. It takes fantastic photos. That's definitely not its weakness. If I had to change one thing about it I would increase the size of the viewfinder (but small viewfinder is a problem with all APS size DSLRs so this isn't really a problem with the 350D). Second on my wish list would be to make the autofocus work better in lower light (I think the 5D, 1D, D2x etc are better in this regard). If you have a focus light you will have no problem focusing in caves or corners but otherwise it can be difficult.

One more thing: I would recommend using 2.8 lenses with it for better focusing. I highly recommend the 60 macro for example.

Hi Ted,

All the dives I did with the 18-55 were shallow'ish shore dives (about 10 metres/30 ft) where viz was milky with no more than 5 metres (15 ft).

You might be OK with it in clearer water?

I suppose if you really have problems after your first dive then you could set the zoom at an appropriate level and use the zoom gear for manual focus (assuming Ikelite housing)?

Cheers,

Aengus

If you want to use a lens in the 18-55 range with the 350D have a look at the Sigma 18-50mm DC f:2.8 EX Lens (NOT the Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC which is not rated as good as the Canon 18-55) . It has had very good reviews. I'm seriously considering it as an option for my 20D in a Subal housing.