Another DSLR housing/camera post...

Tom, Ikelite's super-eye magnifier is no where near the other (very expensive) magnifiers out there. And adding a magnification lens to your mask doesn't help either, you want to look straight when you are composing, not just to a section of the mask.

Now, I think this is getting a bit circular. Every housing has its pros and cons. All of them are good at keeping the water out. I agree with Dave in that Ikelites are not low-end housings, they use less expensive materials and are easier to build. If you are satisfied with all that they offer, get one by all means, you will take great photos. If for one reason or another you can't use (in my case, Ikelite has no housing for my camera) or just don't like their spec list, there are many options to choose from.

Luiz

I agree that the maginfiers on the bottom of the mask (like bifocal lenses) ain't worth squat but what about a magnifier on one eye at the proper location? Jack and Sue Drafel even recommend bi-occular masks (one lens corrected to far vision, one lense corrected to near vision). They say you get used it it quickly. (other people have poo-pood the idea)

I am bring this up because it's an issue to many people who, like me, are moving up from a digicam.

I use monovision contact lenses. My right I is adjusted for distance my left for reading. You do get used to it quite quickly. The important thing is to determine your dominant eye and adjust that for distance.

Diving I use a mask with half moon reading lenses for my gauges but look through the flat portion of the lens for the viewfinder which is adjusted with the on camera diopter adjustment.

Ken-

Thanks. I see you have a D70. My d200 viewfinder is supposed to be better. I adjusted the camera to +2 (my prescription) and can see just fine through the viewfinder. Amusingly, the screen seems fuzzy until i look through the lower, reading section of my mask. If the INON case magnifier thingy does nothing more than correct for the presence of the enclosure I am OK. I also see that Nikon sells diopters of greater than +2 if my eyesite goes further to sh!t

My reading glasses are +3 my mask is only +2 but still seems to work for me. The D70 only has an adjustment up to +0.5 but this works for me without further correction above and below water.

I spoke to my optician about this and she told me that camera viewfinders project the image at infinity so the +0.5 is actually compensating for my distance vision not my reading vision.

So it maybe that +2 on your D200 is actually too strong an adjustment for you.

Can I stir things up a bit? I picked up an Ike housing for the D70... and put it down again. Then a Sea&Sea, then an Aquatica, then a Subal (love) and a Seacam (lust)... but the Nexus felt almost as good as the Subal, and was cheaper.

I couldn't reach the key controls without continuously changing my grip on the Ikelite, or on the Sea&Sea. I thought that this was a big issue, so I bought the Nexus. Nexus also have a nice optical system that improves the viewfinder, at a reasonable cost.

If the Ike feels nice, then go for it! But if it doesn't, you're going to miss some images during the camera fiddling moments.

A D200 is too good not to take the opportunity of the controls: for that matter, so is a D70. Most pros seem to say that it is the ease of changing critical settings that justifies the more expensive camera, so being unable to easily work the controls underwater defeats the object: you may as well buy a decent chip in a cheaper body and spend the money on lenses.

I'm hanging onto my D70 until a Nexus housing appears, and the D200 rush abates.

Tim

B)

Different strokes for different floks.

I chose Ike because of:

1-I know the iTTL will work. I can set the camera to the proper f-stop and shutter and point-and-shoot.

2-Ike's reputation for service which I have seen in action on DDnet and here

I considered a metal housing largely because of condensation problems but I don't dive enough or long enough in cold water.

I did not consider any fiddling except changing the flash compensation to be a big thing.

Tom

If the Ike feels nice, then go for it! But if it doesn't, you're going to miss some images during the camera fiddling moments.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i do some fiddling but mostly with my strobes, with alot of practice i seem to "fiddle" fine with my d70s controls through my ike housing.

as posted above, i agree that ike housings should not be considered "low end." the economist in me doesnt justify spending more $ in housings that RELATIVELY work just as well.