5DII newbie

I am new to underwater photography,

I am currently using 5D II on land and would like to start using it under water.

I plan on getting Ike housing with 8" dome, but the question is, which port bodies do I need to get and whats the best way to get the best kit.

In the begining I am interested in more of WA photography and I plan and hope to use at least a few lenses that I currently own such as 17-35 Tamron, 15mm canon Fish and maybe after few dives add 28-75 F2.8 Tamron for further reach. Is there a way or a reason to get one port body and adjust lenght by adding port extentions to say for example to fit 28-75 or maybe add a kenko tube to extend a lenght of the 15mm fish lens.

Is there a limitation with zoom, are there ways to enable manual focus since I am thinking of possibly even shooting some videos and having full frame with limit DOF being very thin and in live view having very weak focus abilities.

Next question, Ikelite suggests going with a +4 diopter although I see that some use +2 or others in the 8" dome, is there a reason to pick one over another one?

Final question for the day... any advise on the mask? I have heard of black being more preferential, but is there anything else such as specific shape working best or any other advise?

Hi Pro and welcome to Wetpixel.

I too have a 5DII and love it!

If you are interested in buying the Ike housing I suggest you do it through one of the underwater photography dealers listed as our sponsors. I'm not saying that just because they are sponsors of our site, but because if you need technical assistance making your purchase, THESE ARE THE GUYS. The big catalog companies don't know much about this type of thing.

You are spot on buying the 8" port. If you get different extension lengths for the port you can use it w/ all your lenses.

Ikelite recommends a +4 diopter across the board for WA lenses. That's too strong though, and calculations show that a +2 is better suited - I recommend the B+W brand.

Zoom is possible through the housing, but I don't think the Ikelite will let you do zoom AND manual focus.

Good luck and have fun!

James

Hi Pro and welcome to Wetpixel.

 

I too have a 5DII and love it!

 

If you are interested in buying the Ike housing I suggest you do it through one of the underwater photography dealers listed as our sponsors. I'm not saying that just because they are sponsors of our site, but because if you need technical assistance making your purchase, THESE ARE THE GUYS. The big catalog companies don't know much about this type of thing.

 

You are spot on buying the 8" port. If you get different extension lengths for the port you can use it w/ all your lenses.

 

Ikelite recommends a +4 diopter across the board for WA lenses. That's too strong though, and calculations show that a +2 is better suited - I recommend the B+W brand.

 

Zoom is possible through the housing, but I don't think the Ikelite will let you do zoom AND manual focus.

 

 

Good luck and have fun!

 

James

James, I appreciate your reply, I am local to B&H, Adorama and Leisure Pro, and I dont mind supporting local vendors, it also helps for me with returns or exchanges if the vendor is local, on the other hand if someone has amazing return/exhange policy and unbelivable prices, maybe I will give the sponsors a try.

I will likely go with a +2 diopter, B+W was the brand I was looking at anyway.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with using Kenko Extention tubes on a 15mm fish eye and what effect would it do underwater. I find that the extention tube would allow me to use 15mm lens in a little longer #5510.16 designed port body for 17-35, I have heard of people using Teleconverter on the fish eye, but think you defeat the purpose of having ultra wide (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel).

I also find frequently a vendor will talk about what they sell most and if its underwater stuff, they will not talk about more economical choices such as tubes, extentions, etc. If its a photo store, they may not know enough about latest and greatest underwater toys.

Hi Proveg,

Well hmm... I have used the 15mm with a 1.4x teleconverter (Tamron). The reason to use the TC is to allow you to compose nice photos w/ slightly smaller subjects, and still have a nice close focus. It works well. I don't "skipping" buying a different extension ring is as good a reason to try that configuration...

I would recommend buying your system w/ a vendor that can make informed recommendations about what to buy so you can get it right the first time. Some of our sponsors even do their own testing so that they can quality check the vendors port charts - which I hate to say aren't always correct since the cameras and lenses are changing so fast. If you think you can get that from B&H or Adorama then go for it...

Cheers

James

I can recommend Aquatica housing. They gave me realy good service and help me allot. Btw Jean is on this forum and answering a lot of questions about Aquatica. It is a little expensive but your camera is also expensive. I'll used Ikelite before, it is a good UWhousing but you cant use Canon EF 16-35mm MkII lens with it it is to big for the dome.

Dag