Canon 40D set-up...

See my posting in the other thread about why the fisheye is not recommended. Unless your subjects don't mine looking like this:

Hey, her nose looks fine right? Well maybe if you're not the subject lol

Cheers

James

I'm not sure if a true fisheye lens is the best for the portraits of moms and babies. It will introduce some distortions and the moms won't be always happy (although it makes longer legs).

I used a 24mm sigma lens with a film camera for my children and my wife and it worked fine. It could also work well on aps-c but maybe a 20mm one would be even better.

What kind of portraits are you planning to do?

Thanks for your input on this. The 10-17 goes from fisheye to wide-angle from my research. I'll certainly test this lens and guage the results. Distortion making people larger is not an especially good thing with a new mom.

MP

Thanks for your input on this. The 10-17 goes from fisheye to wide-angle from my research. I'll certainly test this lens and guage the results. Distortion making people larger is not an especially good thing with a new mom.

 

MP

I've been led to belive that at the 17mm end it doesn't go to wide angle, but still gives a lot of distortion. I asked the same question on another forum a while ago, and was pointed to this: Tokina 10-17 review

I'm not sure if a true fisheye lens is the best for the portraits of moms and babies. It will introduce some distortions and the moms won't be always happy (although it makes longer legs).

I used a 24mm sigma lens with a film camera for my children and my wife and it worked fine. It could also work well on aps-c but maybe a 20mm one would be even better.

What kind of portraits are you planning to do?

Does anyone use the 17-40 lens with the 40D? I would think that it would be a pretty good lens for u/w portraiture. Anyone have any samples with this configuration?

All,

I have my Canon 40D and I am putting together my housing package. I've read through a lot of the posts and this is what I have come up with. Firstly, have I missed anything?

Secondly, this is really expensive ($6900 US). I can afford it but, I am asking myself if I am being silly and should go with a cheaper housing and setup. What do you guys think

with your infinite experience. I have been using compact digital cameras for the past 6 years so this is my one major upgrade that I don't expect to change for 6 to 10 years.

Sea & Sea MDX-40D Housing f/ Canon EOS 40D

Sea & Sea O-Ring Set for NX Ports MFR #SS-62101

Sea & Sea Compact Macro Port for Sea & Sea Housings MFR #SS-56211Sea & Sea Compact Macro Port base for Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro ... MFR #SS-56201

Sea & Sea Optical Dome Port for Wide-Angle and Fisheye Lenses MFR #SS-30104

Sea & Sea SX1000 Extension Ring for Flat Port MFR #SS-50261

Sea & Sea Focus Gear for Canon 60mm f/2.8 USM EF-S Macro Auto-Focus Lens MFR #SS-31126

Sea & Sea Zoom Gear for Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L USM and Tokina 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 ... MFR #SS-31114

Tokina Zoom Fisheye to Super Wide-Angle 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 AT-X 107 DX ...MFR #ATX107PRODXC

Sea & Sea YS-110 Single Strobe Kit for SLR Housings with Sea Arm VII and Sync ... MFR #SS-70012

Hey Loki,

I think you almost nailed it. You've clearly done your homework. I find it's very easy to tell other people to spend money. But I really do think you'll enjoy the 40D. The 60 and the 10-17 will cover an awful lot of ground too. My first concern would be with your choice of S&S arms. I'd ask you to think about using UCLS and their clamps instead. Much better equipment IMHO. My second concern would be with the 110's as opposed to the YS-250 strobe. It's quite a bit more money but far more effective dollar for dollar. The recycle time alone would be worth it for me. We had 110"s on my son's rig and 250's on mine, and before our last trip was over he had stolen the 250's from me. We've since sold his 110"s and bought him a new YS-250. It might not be true for every camera setup but the 250 is far better designed to keep up with the rapid shooting power of the 40D. The only reason I can think of to stay with the 110 is if you will be diving for long periods with no access to power to recharge the 250"s battery. If you plan to spend weeks on a deserted beach then the AA's for the 110 would be the way to go.

I'm very confident that the 40D will serve you well for a few years. The coolest part is that when your ready to upgrade in 4 years you can replace the 40D with the new 50D in the same housing. They will be on sale by then because the 70 or 80D will be available.

Have fun and good luck!

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for the help. Can you answer a couple more questions? I already own a YS 110. Does it make sense to keep

it and use it with a new YS 250 or should I just sell it go with one strobe until I can convince myself to buy a second?

Also, the only place I could find the UCLS system is online

(http://www.nexusamerica.com/catalogUL.html#StrobeAdapters) it's not obvious to me what exactly I need to order.

Can you tell me what I should be looking at for the Sea&Sea housing? I think I will need:

strobe adapter: AD-SSSea and Sea Strobes$21.95Base Adapter

BA-TP"T"-Groove Universal Shoe for Sea and Sea, Nexus, and Oceanic Arms. Also for UL's "T"-Groove Adapter$13.95

Arm Sections:

DB-055" Double Ball Arm$47.95 DB-088" Double Ball Arm$47.95

Clamp sets: (3x)

AC-CSClamp Set - Standard$29.95

Loki,

The ULCS page is here, both Backscatter, Reef photo and UW Photo Tech carry them in stock. Depending on what part of the world your in, other folks also carry them. I think you have the stock numbers right, except for maybe the base adaptor. My order form shows UL-BA-TG for the T groove base adaptor. I'd recommend you give one of the shops a call. They are all great folks and they do this everyday so they know exactly what you'll need. For a few bucks more you can consider the bouyancy arms for the 8" (UL-DB-B08) they look like this all rigged up;

You have some options on the strobe since you already own the 110.

1) Keep the 110 and try it out, will be fine for some macro and some limited CFWA with the 10-17

2) Buy another 110 for better flexibility with lighting your images, great for macro, cycle time can be limiting.

3) Get a 250 and rig singly or with the 110 as a fill strobe, that should work but the cycle times will be different.(1/2 sec. vs 3 sec.)

4) Spend your kids college tuition and get 2 250"s, you can keep the 110 as a spare or use it as a third off camera slave or sell it.

I think my choice would be based on my diving trip plans. If I had a couple of two week trips to PNG soon I'd go for glory. The ULCS arms and adaptors will work with either strobe so your good there. Don't forget the Sync cords. You'll need a Y cord if you decide to go with two strobes.

Again, highly recommend you give one the the great Wetpixel sponsors a call or go in if you can. Enjoy the ride.

Steve

Check out the Stix arms as well. I really like them.

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17347&hl=

Phil

Guys,

Thanks for the help! I really do appreciate it. I am living in Malaysia and planning to buy online or via phone. I will definitely take your advice and call a couple

of shops that can help me. I will also go for broke and get both strobes. I guess I can sell my Olympus 5050 + housing, and my panasonic TZ3+housing to

help with the extra cost. Thanks again! Special thanks for showing your rig up Steve. I was getting a little concerned that the whole rig would be getting

large and interfere with diving enjoyment. Taking a look at the photo though, it does not look too bad.

Loki

It's a beautiful thing. It's not your compact and when you first put it together you'll wonder how you'll ever get it to the boat. But once you get it in the water it'll go right where you point it without thinking about it. Good luck and have fun!

Steve

Steve! How certain are you that the S&S 40D housing will work with the 50D? Do you think you'll be able to access the improved Live View?

Shane

Steve! How certain are you that the S&S 40D housing will work with the 50D? Do you think you'll be able to access the improved Live View?

 

Shane

I have the 40D which i am in the process of getting a housing for,and sometime next year i will get a backup camera which will be a 50D

so i get a upgrade as well as a backup

Steve! How certain are you that the S&S 40D housing will work with the 50D? Do you think you'll be able to access the improved Live View?

 

Shane

Hi Shane, I can't be certain until we try it but the frame of the camera is the same and all the controls are in the same spots with one minor exception. From the photos it looks like the 50D moved the "info" button on the back of the camera over one position. No big deal. Everything else looks exactly the same as the 40D. The big window on the back of my Sea& Sea housing will show the screen just fine. It hasn't changed in size, only in pixels as I understand it. It's a different question as to whether I could find a use for live view. So far with my limited time with the system I'm having a ball looking through the viewfinder.

Steve

From what I've read (never touched a 40D) the live view is pretty useless, cannot focus in live view mode...but from what I've read about the 50D this has improved to where you can use the LCD as a viewfinder, as on P&S cameras...I'd like the flexibility of being able to take that arms-extended shot (about to migrate from G9, spoiled by using the LCD as viewfinder)...

Steve (& all), me again...any complaints or regrets about the Sea & Sea housing? Anyone have comparison experience/impressions of the Nexus housings?

From what I've read (never touched a 40D) the live view is pretty useless, cannot focus in live view mode...but from what I've read about the 50D this has improved to where you can use the LCD as a viewfinder, as on P&S cameras...I'd like the flexibility of being able to take that arms-extended shot (about to migrate from G9, spoiled by using the LCD as viewfinder)...

The 50D does, in fact, have a "contrast" live view mode. However, until the camera is actually out it will be hard to know if that mode is actually useful underwater. I haven't seen much, even from the "hands on previews" that have been posted that say much about focus speed. The imaging-resource preview does state that it takes "several seconds . . . between three and seven seconds . . ." to focus using the mode in low light (the dpreview preview confirms these numbers, BTW), though it is unclear whether how they are using it (IOW, whether they are moving the focus point, zooming to check focus, etc.). Unclear how much "shutter lag" there is between focus lock and the picture being taken.

Mike

Steve (& all), me again...any complaints or regrets about the Sea & Sea housing? Anyone have comparison experience/impressions of the Nexus housings?

Is the nexus even out yet? Our local supplier here isn't very helpful, so I've all but given up at looking at this housing (im in the same boat as most of you, about to house my 40D). Am considering the Aquatica though, looks very nice.

Ry.

Steve (& all), me again...any complaints or regrets about the Sea & Sea housing? Anyone have comparison experience/impressions of the Nexus housings?

I have both the 350D housing (my sons) and the MDX 40D. The new housing is a marked improvement from the earlier offerings from Sea & Sea. It's all aluminum where their earlier housings were part plastic. I am very impressed with the build quality, and ergonomics of the system. When I was looking to house the 40D I researched the Nexus. It appeared to me that they focus on the Nikon systems and the port selection was limited or non exisitent for Canon glass. The Aquatica unit looks very good too. It wasn't available when I bought mine. I'm also seeing nice things written here about the Seatool housing for the 40D. Seems like there are lots of paths to the treasure.

To answer your question succinctly, I'm very happy with the Sea & Sea housing and I have no regrets. I'd recommend you make the trip to one of the Wetpixel sponsors and lay your hands on the equipment if you can. Next best is to give them a call and just talk about what you want the system to do. We are blessed with a great support system, these guys know the equipment and value the opportunity to help us. Good luck!

Steve

I'd recommend you make the trip to one of the Wetpixel sponsors and lay your hands on the equipment if you can.

Would LOVE to, but live on Guam...the air fare would be half the price of the housing!