Idiot's Guide to Ikelite's Zoom clamps / Gear Sleeves - I'm the idiot.

Hi WetPixelites

After reading many forums on this site I have register in order to ask the most remedial inaugural question . . . I’m the brand new owner of a an Ikelite housing for a Canon 40D and I am trying to assemble it with a Sigma 17 - 70 lens. When I got to put the Ikelite zoom clamp on it is a lot bigger then the diameter of the lens.

OK so you simply add the rubber strips supplied so it can grip the zoom ring? Correct but it seems to need the fattest two in order to have a decent grip - thus making it impossible to fit it in the gear sleeve!

Can someone please explain to me what I am missing? I haven't even managed to get the extended port and Dome Assembly on with camera in place yet.

Thanks

What you're doing sounds right. It seems like the rubber strips you're using are too fat. I guess that the grip on the zoom gear doesn't need to be quite as tight as you've got it. I use Ikelite kit with a variety of lenses and when I put the rubber strips on to grip the lens it still fills inside the gear sleeve.

Are you sure your using the correct zoom clamp & gear pair?

The housing comes with two sizes, the larger pair fitted my sigma 17-70 with no foam spacers at all.

Jeff

Are you sure your using the correct zoom clamp & gear pair?

 

The housing comes with two sizes, the larger pair fitted my sigma 17-70 with no foam spacers at all.

 

Jeff

Pretty sure. I also got both sets and both zoom clamps have a bigger circumference then the zoom ring on the Sigma lens.

I had originally and mistakenly tried to mount these zoom clams on a Canon 17 - 85mm before realising that this lens has a built in mechanism in its housing. Could I have stretched them? A spring is a spring because it recoils so I assume they are still the same circumference. Has anyone experienced a 'stretching' of the zoom clamps?

Jeff - do you put the clamp on the already fitted lens or do you stick everything onto the lens before attaching it to the housed camera?

thanks

Errr... I'm going to have to correct myself here, it was the smaller of the two that fitted without foam. I should have checked before typing!

It is quite a snug fit, and the springs have to give slightly when I put them on, which I do over the camera side of the lens prior to fitting lens to the camera and sliding the zoom gear over the whole thing.