Ike is no more

Once again more sad news..

My thoughts go out to all who new him..

Dive safe

DeanB

It's a very sad new for all of us He was a very beloved person and one of the greatest. We will miss him but somewehere in the blue his spirit will be giding us as the brightest light. I'm sure that Ike will be present at every dive and every picture we make.

My condolences for all Ikelite Family, friends and co-workers.

Thanks, Ike!

Ana.

Very sad indeed. I am sure I will be reminded of Ike and Ikelite in my next Dirk Pitt novel read.

My condolences to Ikelite and his family.

Todd

Ike was indeed a great supporter of the the art and science of underwater photography. He and his associates at Ikelite set a standard for innovation and customer service that any company, in any industry, would be proud to emulate. It is ironic that as I was reading the tributes you all set forth this morning, the Ikelite banner resided on the top of the page. One more indication of his dedication to the UW photo community.

http://www.scubadiving.com/ike_brigham_passes_away

With the sadness of Ike Brigham's passing comes the realisation of the enourmity of his contribution the imaging community - not just as provider of equipment -but as the author of the those light hearted moments from the addled shopkeeper....

Condolences to the staff @ Ikelite & the Brigham family.

With sadness I learnt of this news, my deepest condolence to Jean, Duanne, and all at Ikelite. Ike is a legend in the industry especially among underwater photographers – his kindness and thoughtfulness has helped many of us to achieve great success. He is the light of all my underwater images. I will remember him well. Michael AW

Sad news, and although I never met Ike.... it looks like he will be missed by many.

Condolences for all Ikelite Family, friends and co-workers

Maybe he should be laid to rest in a BIG Ikelite housing.

Like so many here, Ike was my first housing...

<moment of silence>

Thoughts out to family and employees, who will bear the brunt of the loss. I hope they know there's a huge "extended family" that grieves along with them.

All the best, James

I've never met Ike in person but I did meet some of his children - of the plexiglass variety. It is clear from Ike's messages to this forum, his website, manuals, and products that he poured his heart and soul into his work and his customers. He often seemed to care more about our bottom time than his bottom line and that is becoming a rare attitude in today's world.

My deepest sympathy to all family and personal friends.

Bart

I first met Ike in 1964 while working for Dacor Corp. when I was in high school.

Ike was already making UL700 lights for Dacor and then began constructing Kodak Instamatic housings

for Dacor.

He was always most gracious with his time when confronted with questions from a very young UW

photographer and remained the same through the years.

A dedicated pioneer who will definitely be missed.

Thank you Ike!

Tom Stack

Guys -

I'd like to take quotes from this thread out and use it in a news posting about Ike's passing. So please write something if you have a story about Ike you'd like to share.

Here's the front page post:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/ike-brigham...te-passes-away/

I used Ikelite housings for my film SLRs until one day something possessed me to buy an Oly C2020z and a little Oly plastic box before a trip to Providenciales. I wrote to Ike and told him that he ought to think about making something a bit more robust and that it would probably sell pretty well. He was skeptical. However it didn't take long and he jumped in with both feet and his company has led the way with a broad range of housings and innovations like internal TTL circuitry. He was certainly a curmudgeon, and darn it if he didn't sometimes stick to his guns about things people wanted him to change. However, whenever I made suggestions to him, he was genuinely curious and fixed what was broke or made improvements if it made sense to do so. Once I got a first run housing and wrote back that buttons really close together shouldn't all be the same height -- he said to send it back and I got it again a week later with the buttons at different heights and a note that subsequent housings would have the same mod for people like me who were all thumbs. He even offered to overnight a strobe to me in St. Vincent once when one of mine exploded underwater. Can't get service much more personal than that, and the "wry" sense of humor was an added bonus.

Ike was a real gentleman, of which there seem to be fewer in the diving world every year. He contacted me after my first g lamp comparison test in Diver Mag many years ago and gave me his full support (although it did not necessarily give his products an advantage), for which I was always flattered. He will be missed.

My condolences to his friends and family. I love my Ikelite, thank you Ike!

Very sad news. His loss is clearly felt by many people around the world. Condolences to the younger Brigham's - we are thinking of you.

Just got back in town to read of Ike's passing. So sorry to here this. I've had a number of e-mail exchanges with him and he always did his best.

ikelite doesn't have the sexiest looking housing around, but there is 1 reason why I stick with them - Ike.

My condolenses to Ike's family and staff.

Thanks Ike, for helping rediscover my passion for diving.

I loved corresponding with Ike. He always looked for the root cause of something so he could build the fix into his manufacturing process. I started my UW photography journey in the early 1980's with a 110 instamatic in an Ike housing that used flash cubes. Man the company has come a long way. We'll miss you , Ike. I am confident that the Ike crew will carry on his vision and business methods.

Joe

Amigos,

Ike was a true "one of a kind". A businessman, yes. But one who truly wanted to help the "average guy" (whatever that is in this niche activity) record the underwater world. He likely never envisioned how far Ikelite would go....

I think back to my first Ikelite Instamatic 126 film camera housing, with a metal arm for FLASHCUBES!!!Through the Nikonos accessories, Substrobe 150 strobes, SLR housings and now multiple digital offerings it's been a hell of a progression. By the sheer will of the man....

I'll miss his hilariously entertaining posts here......

He truly knew how to embrace new technology and integrate it. And we're all the better for it

dhaas

This is very sad news - Ike enriched all of our lives with his presence here and his long career in the underwaterphoto business. My first housing was also an Ikelite - for the Coolpix 990.

Ike - I'll miss talking to you my friend.

James