10Bar LX3 Housing

I know I probably won't get TTL which is really no big deal for me (it's not like we're shooting film any more). We'll see how it works out.

Hi, I'm new to this but I have been following the 10Bar post for the LX3 housing. I just got my LX3, does anybody know where to get a housing? Are there any in stock? Thanks for the help, Richard

yes.. in italy.. my friend have a small e-commerce and he is the official distributor for 10bar in italy...

this is the link.. http://www.fotosub-shop.it/ now the housing is out of stock but he is waiting some soon...

in italy he have good pricing.... but i dont know the shipping cost/tax in norway...

bye

bol.

If you´re still looking for the housing try following link:( this is a German adress where I got my housing from.)

http://www.nautilus-equipment.de/indexuw-gehaeuse.html

You also can try an Austrian diveshop:

http://www.unterwasserkamera.at/shop/catal...dfde868390e7fe4

Hope you´re successful,

garyp

i ordered my lx3 housing from scuba symphony after perusing this thread and have nothing but positive things to say about their communication and customer service. thanks so much, guys!

i took my lx3 and 10bar housing to papua new guinea. i had two issues with it: 1) the bulkhead wanted to flood (possible user error) and 2) the zoom/wide angle toggle is hyper sensitive and what feels like "normal" use of it results in the camera zoom/wide rocker having constant pressure applied to it. in very simple terms, this means that when i tried to zoom or revert to wide angle when using the housing, the camera rocker switch would be constantly pushed/triggered, and it wouldn't engage in non-zoom operations as a result. a very light touch was required to work around this fussy behavior - fine in warm water, but i usually dive in Monterey with 5mm gloves, so we'll see how it works in cold water

otherwise quite happy with the camera and housing. thanks!

i ordered my lx3 housing from scuba symphony after perusing this thread and have nothing but positive things to say about their communication and customer service. thanks so much, guys!

 

i took my lx3 and 10bar housing to papua new guinea. i had two issues with it: 1) the bulkhead wanted to flood (possible user error) and 2) the zoom/wide angle toggle is hyper sensitive and what feels like "normal" use of it results in the camera zoom/wide rocker having constant pressure applied to it. in very simple terms, this means that when i tried to zoom or revert to wide angle when using the housing, the camera rocker switch would be constantly pushed/triggered, and it wouldn't engage in non-zoom operations as a result. a very light touch was required to work around this fussy behavior - fine in warm water, but i usually dive in Monterey with 5mm gloves, so we'll see how it works in cold water

 

otherwise quite happy with the camera and housing. thanks!

Mils,

Please show us some puctures from PNG - pretty plaese. I have also just received my 10bar housing from Scuba Symphony, but haven't had a chance yet to take it underwater. Mils, are you saying that the bulkhead is difficult getting sealed properly? FWIW Mine doesn't seem to have the zoom toggle problems.

Thanks.

Hi, I'm new to this but I have been following the 10Bar post for the LX3 housing. I just got my LX3, does anybody know where to get a housing? Are there any in stock? Thanks for the help, Richard

Hi,

I got the 10bar LX3 housing and took it diving for the first time. I found the housing too bulky and the buttons were very hard. I had to use both hands to press the shutter button. Same with the joystick - it was very hard to change the settings in the manual model.

I am considering selling it and I'm thinking of putting it up for sale on ebay after 4 dives... If anybody is interesed let me know - i'm in the UK.

Mirna

Hi,

 

I got the 10bar LX3 housing and took it diving for the first time. I found the housing too bulky and the buttons were very hard. I had to use both hands to press the shutter button. Same with the joystick - it was very hard to change the settings in the manual model.

 

I am considering selling it and I'm thinking of putting it up for sale on ebay after 4 dives... If anybody is interesed let me know - i'm in the UK.

 

Mirna

Mirna,

Are the buttons also hard to press when you're on land, or is it just at depth with the higher pressure at work? I haven't taken mine underwater yet, but topside it's no problem pressing the buttons.

Mirna,

 

Are the buttons also hard to press when you're on land, or is it just at depth with the higher pressure at work? I haven't taken mine underwater yet, but topside it's no problem pressing the buttons.

They are fine on land, but under water I was really struggling.

They are fine on land, but under water I was really struggling.

Mirna - if you're in the UK - and you've got one you're not sure you want (is it the later spec?) I'd be VERY interested - and keen to even have a look. Which part of the world are you in? (I'm London.)

I used my LX-3 in the 10Bar housing to film and shoot pictures in Kona this past June:

http://gallery.me.com/tcherna#100149 I haven't finished going through the photos yet. Video quality is great, although it is pretty sensitive to light changes, and these made the stabilization in iMovie a little difficult. The camera's response to lighting in the manta scene was great.

I had a lot of problems with the joystick -- more on this below. Aside from that, when you hold the grip, the base of your palm tends to hit the back buttons when trying control the shutter. Relatively minor. With the LX3, you have to remember to toggle both the aspect ratio and movie/picture controls if you want your pictures at 3:2 and movies at 16:9. Needless to say, I have some 16:9 photos that need crops.

So, the joystick. The #1 required feature on the camera if you are going to shoot in manual mode. The joystick actually has 5 functions, the four directions and the button push. Interestingly, all of the LX-3 functions that are activated by the button push can be activated through other menus, so it is convenient, but redundant. The four directions, however, are the only way to set T,Av and manual focus. A lot of attention on various posts was focussed on the springs and their response to pressure underwater. As shipped, the housing worked fine on land, but below about 10 ft, the joystick wasn't usable, and it isn't to do with the spring on the joystick.

It turns out that the main O-ring seal is in the same direction as the back of the housing closes. The springs on the rear panel lock don't pull the o-ring as compressed as it will be at depth, so there a greater distance between the camera and the panel / controls on land than at depth. As soon as the camera descends, the panel compresses the o-ring, and the joystick button crunches on the control.

After a few dives where I had to give up shooting pictures, I started to McGyver the camera on the boat. Basically, I removed the o-ring to see what the response of the joystick would be, and gradually filed the rubber joystick of the housing down to give more clearance. I also melted it a bit with a soldering iron. These modifications succeeded in making the camera work, although still difficult. At the surface, I couldn't control the joystick, however.

I think a good longer term solution would be to remove the requirement for a push on the joystick and concentrate on the critical direction functions, as the tolerances required to get both controls are too small.

tdc

Mirna - if you're in the UK - and you've got one you're not sure you want (is it the later spec?) I'd be VERY interested - and keen to even have a look. Which part of the world are you in? (I'm London.)

David - I got the housing this May so I think it's the latest spec ( I had to wait 4 weeks for delivery so I think it was shipped from the factory). I'm also in London. Please send me a message if you are interested in meeting.

David - I got the housing this May so I think it's the latest spec ( I had to wait 4 weeks for delivery so I think it was shipped from the factory). I'm also in London. Please send me a message if you are interested in meeting.

You have mail...

Hello guys and gals!

First post here... excited about getting into the world of u/w photography. I just ordered the 10bar housing for my LX3. I'd like to be able to use the Panasonic DMWLW46 0.75x wide angle lens (with DMW-LA4 extension). I emailed 10bar customer service and received an email from Ada stating that they had a M67 wet lens for wide angle... that's apparently not what I want based upon seeing the nasty barrel aberrations from the photos LERF posted.

Does anyone have a part number for the port that would allow me to use the 0.75x lens and tube?

Thanks,

Dave

I just received this reply from 10bar:

Hi John,

Price of Port M58x125D is US$440, a dome port for Panasonic Wide Conversions Lens DMW-LW46 & Lens Adapter DMW-LA4 to use with the LX3 housing which include the port adaptor ring.

Regards

Ada

Hello guys and gals!

 

First post here... excited about getting into the world of u/w photography. I just ordered the 10bar housing for my LX3. I'd like to be able to use the Panasonic DMWLW46 0.75x wide angle lens (with DMW-LA4 extension). I emailed 10bar customer service and received an email from Ada stating that they had a M67 wet lens for wide angle... that's apparently not what I want based upon seeing the nasty barrel aberrations from the photos LERF posted.

 

Does anyone have a part number for the port that would allow me to use the 0.75x lens and tube?

 

Thanks,

Dave

Some pics with an LX3 in 10bar housing with wideangle lens and domeport.

new batch?

I just received my 10bar housing for the LX3 and it looks a little different from the pictures I have seen here and in the internet. The most noticeable difference is the existence of a dedicated shutter release button, so there is no integrated zoom and shutter button anymore (which I believe is good thing).

Here some pictures:

new batch?

 

I just received my 10bar housing for the LX3 and it looks a little different from the pictures I have seen here and in the internet. The most noticeable difference is the existence of a dedicated shutter release button, so there is no integrated zoom and shutter button anymore (which I believe is good thing).

I'm still considering this housing How much was it and where did you get it? Also could you take a few pics of the housing next to something (possibly the LX3) to get a feel of the size.

Thanks.

I'm still considering this housing How much was it and where did you get it? Also could you take a few pics of the housing next to something (possibly the LX3) to get a feel of the size.

Thanks.

I am from Germany and got the housing from a german vendor... because of the very weak dollar at the moment, I don't believe that importing it from Europe is a very good option for you, though.

Regarding the size comparison, take a look at this website (10bar homepage). There is a photo of the housing next to the camera. The housing is very compact. In fact, it fits the camera so tightly that it takes very precise postioning to put the camera into the housing. I belive a smaller housing would be impossible to design...

I could try the camera in a nearby lake at the weekend and I am very happy with it. Next week, I am going to Malta to test it more extensively.

Hi guys,

I bought the housing from 10 bar recently and it seems working fine.... haven't tested it underwater yet.

I absolutely wanted to use a TTL strobe though, so I bought a Ikelite DS-160 strobe.

For being able to use the Ikelite strobe with the 10 bar housing, I had to:

• buy a Heinrichsweikamp TTL adapter to replace to original 10bar Hotshoe plug. see http://www.heinrichsweikamp.net/#/en/lumixttl/
  
• ask 10 bar to deliver the housing with a N5 bulkhead (free option)
  
• buy a new sync cable from housing to strobe, Ikelite 4104.6 Nikonos-to-one TTL Substrobe"
  

The only real "problem", is that you have to weld the 4 little contacts to the cable of the 10 bar housing. Which is for sure not a "real" problem.

I will be posting pictures soon.

Cheers

bgfspeedy

Hi,

I also own one of the new 10bar housings for my LX3, with separate trigger and zoom button.  Not sure if it really is an improvement, as I had major trouble during my last dives - the camera just wouldn't expose.

Back at home I had a closer look, and it turns out that the trigger button is sideways displaced and presses the camera button via a 90 degree connected bar.  The housing button axis is round, so the axis can rotate slightly, and when that happens (and it happens very easy even when you just press the button slightly excentric) it will only hit the border around the camera button  and not take any photo 

The other issue I do have is the button for the select wheel.  You have to press AND rotate it at the same time, and the only feedback is the view on the monitor, which is slightly delayed.  This makes mode switching a somewhat combersome process.

And the last thing is a question.  The housing has two small windows in the front.  One is for the flash, the other I thought would be for the focus aid light.  However, the position is some cm off from the camera LED, so no light is passing through there.  Has it been like that also for the older revisions of the casing?  Or what is this window intended for?

Cheers,

   Pit