Newbie Rigs: What camera system did you buy?

Hi all,

Let me introduce myself, my name is daijek from malaysia, been diving for 3yrs. Most of my diving activities are around Asia, maybe is time to explore out of Asia now. My 1st camera is Canon G9 and now using G10, with internal flash and done a few DIY adapter, dissfuser and focus light arm.

Here are a few photos, i took during Sipadan trip 2weeks ago.

Yellow frogfish at mantabuan, Sipadan

Orangutan Crab at Siamil, Sipadan

Mandarin fish at Paradise II, Sipadadan

Cheers to all divers here..

Hello to all.. my name is Valentino and I live in Indonesia. I'm new to underwater photography and I recently bought Canon G10 and planning to buy Canon housing and Sea&Sea YS-17 package which aren't too expensive. Any suggestions? Thank you

very new to the medium and a bit unsure how to go about getting experience. i live in nyc and i just went to miami and took a class to teach me how to use my new rig. theres so little time to stay down there and so much to practice how in the world do you put in a lot of time into experimenting if you only get 30 minutes of bottom time on average???

in the spirit of the forum i have a canon dsc-w100 with an ikelite houseing and ikelite ds-51 strobe/e.v. controller

Hi everyone

I have used Canon compact cameras now for many years and have just crossed over to the world of SLR. Purchased a Canon 500D with 18-55mm IS Lense, Sea & Sea Housing and two Inon Z40 strobes. I am hoping to get it wet this weekend.

Hope to add a 60mm macro lense very soon.

Cross fingers that I have put it all together right.

Hello

I recently purchased a Canon 500D w/ Sea and Sea RDX 450 housing, and the 60mm macro lens. having been shooting with a P&S for the past two years I am over the moon at the quality of some of the shots I have got from my new setup and would highly recommend it. i use a focus light and sea and sea YS-27 strobe which I had from my previous set up.

I just took a trip to Bali and did some diving in Tulamben, if you want to see my pics you can check em out here http://www.flickr.com/photos/fontainedento...57620514074484/

Cheers

Fontaine

Hi folks,

I have a Canon 450D with 2 kit lenses. This is my step into the world of d-slr. I was using a Canon A620 prosumer camera with its Canon housing as my underwater memory catcher. This camera has and still is serving me very well as it takes fantastic macro shots even though i do not have an external strobe for it.

I bought a canon 10-22 ultra wide (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) lens as my first step into d-SLR underwater photography. Next came housing and strobe purchase. Holy shit this was getting scary.How much!!! I bit the proverbial bullet and now have an Ikelite housing and a single ikelite DS125 strobe.

I never really looked into other housings, but now, after finding all these new websites all about U/W photo, i am glad i bought the ikelite. you can see everything that is going on inside the housing and i love the fact that you can see the 'o' ring seal. I got the 8" dome port which looks very impressive when its all put together. I love it.

The DS125 with ike arms is negative underwater and i don't like this so am currently looking into new arms with floats to help out a little. View finder magnifies the image from the camera view finder so is not bad to look through. I have control of everything on the camera including the zoom on the lens. The 2 arms on the housing are great as you can swap hands while swimming around easily if need be.

I love this set up and once i have got it floating rather than sinking i feel i will love it all even more. The 450D is an awesome camera and once i have mastered it (lol) i look forward to taking even better pics than i have so far.

Hi,

I'm David form Australia. I bought an Ikelite housing for my Nikon Coolpix 5900 (very nice camera but probably discontinued by now). I got it from South Beach Divers, 850 Washington Avenue Southbeach, Miami when I was traveling in the States. I emailed most ikelite dealers in Florida and South Beach Divers gave me the best price, good people to deal with and wouldn't hesitate to recomend them. The only thing I'm disapointed in is that occasionally the black plastic which holds the lense in blocks part of the flash, but that is probably a generic issue with all housings for compact cameras. I guess the next step is to get an external strobe. Now I've made my first reply I can venture over to the lights, strobes and lighting techniques section of the forum and ask for advise.

Happy diving

David a.k.a. Splint

The most asked question by any newbie is one that many ask or do research on. So in the tradition of Mr Wetpixel himself, we will (try) to restart this quarterly thread to give newbies the most up to date new rigs from members who have made the plunge themselves.

So members who have recently bought new rigs, please feel free to add your opinions and feedback on your rigs so that others may benefit from your knowledge.

Thanks and happy shopping.

Hi !! I'm a newbie of the uw photography and i just bought used Nikonos V.

I'll have a ton of questions...but i'll open a proper thread...

Hi, I have recently replaced my Canon G9 with an IXUS 980 is, prinarily to be able to use lens attachments. I have an INON 165AD fish-eye and wanted to know why I cannot zoom through the lens without loosing focus?

BR Andrew

Hi there,

I use a 30d with Ikelite housing and Ikelite DS125 strobe. I've kind of hit a wall with the photography. I'm not sure what it is I'm doing wrong but it's something so I'm here to look around and see what hints and tips I can find.

Examples: http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100717

Hi, Im Dale from Brisbane, Australia. I have been diving for around 10 years and always been interested in photography and finally decided to jump in. Recently purchased a Canon Ixus 980IS and an Ikelite housing. Havent had it out much yet, but from first impressions is a great little set up for the money spent. Just need to add a strobe an will be all good. The only thing I have found difficult is having large hands and getting used to button positioning, I use a Canon 450D on land, Just need more practice. Thanks

Hi, Monterey California diver checking in to learn more about photo equipment. So much pretty stuff I want to share with my non diver friends. Was real interested in dslr equipment but after seeing daijek from malaysia's photos maybe that G10 isn't a bad move. I've heard nice things about it and those are sweet photos!

I'll be checking in regularly and hope to share something soon.

Thanks for all your input.

Hi, I've recently changed over from an Olympus 7070 and housing, with a strobe, which I used for three or four years, and got some reasonable results, but the shutter lag was a killer, as was the write time to the card. I've now got myself a Nikon D700 with Ikelite housing, a pair of DS-125 Strobes, a flat port for the 105mm macro lens, and an 8 inch dome port for the 15mm sigma.

I choose the camera first as I'm doing a degree course in Photography here in the UK, and had a look at all the available options, DSLR's from canon, nikon, olympus and sony, but eventually settled on the nikon, due to it's quality of image when shooting at high ISO's, and also because it felt good it my hand.

Anyway, back to my experiences with the Ikelite housing and ports, bit of a learning curve here, apart from the weight difference compared with my old system, having to assemble and attach ports in less than ideal conditions left me with a flooded system, due to my inexperience, thank God for insurance, camera and lens have been replaced, and the housing has gone back to the US for repair. Basically the 105 port was difficult to get on, and I ended up kinking the O ring, and as for the dome port, this is so easy to get on, and off that it's worrying that it might come off as it's passed down to you in the water. Spoke to the retailer in this country, and they said it was quite normal, and that the water preasure will keep it on under water, no problem there, it's getting it from the boat into the water safely that gives me cause for concern. Not well designed at all, anybody else have any experience with this? Just wish I had the money to buy a Subal housing, not impressed with Ikelite at all.

Anyway lesson learned, the camera will only go in the water when conditions are good, and by the way, does anybody know if I can get a viewfinder to attach to the housing?

Hi, I've recently changed over from an Olympus 7070 and housing, with a strobe, which I used for three or four years, and got some reasonable results, but the shutter lag was a killer, as was the write time to the card. I've now got myself a Nikon D700 with Ikelite housing, a pair of DS-125 Strobes, a flat port for the 105mm macro lens, and an 8 inch dome port for the 15mm sigma.

I choose the camera first as I'm doing a degree course in Photography here in the UK, and had a look at all the available options, DSLR's from canon, nikon, olympus and sony, but eventually settled on the nikon, due to it's quality of image when shooting at high ISO's, and also because it felt good it my hand.

 

Anyway, back to my experiences with the Ikelite housing and ports, bit of a learning curve here, apart from the weight difference compared with my old system, having to assemble and attach ports in less than ideal conditions left me with a flooded system, due to my inexperience, thank God for insurance, camera and lens have been replaced, and the housing has gone back to the US for repair. Basically the 105 port was difficult to get on, and I ended up kinking the O ring, and as for the dome port, this is so easy to get on, and off that it's worrying that it might come off as it's passed down to you in the water. Spoke to the retailer in this country, and they said it was quite normal, and that the water preasure will keep it on under water, no problem there, it's getting it from the boat into the water safely that gives me cause for concern. Not well designed at all, anybody else have any experience with this? Just wish I had the money to buy a Subal housing, not impressed with Ikelite at all.

 

Anyway lesson learned, the camera will only go in the water when conditions are good, and by the way, does anybody know if I can get a viewfinder to attach to the housing?

New to this forum. First post. I have been reading this thread with interest. I have decided to move up to D-SLR from my current point and shoot (a Canon with Ikelite housing and DS 125 strobe). I really like the Nikon D90 features and plan on going with this camera, but I am having problems deciding on the housing. I live in an area where I cannot get my hands on the housing before I buy (no dealers in the area). I am looking between the Aquatica and the Ikelite. I would love your thoughts on these two housings.

In addition, I would like your thoughts on what 2 lens would you buy to start with the D90. The kit package comes with the 18-105, but it looks like this one is not good for underwater use.

Thanks - DiverPam

Hi all!

I've been shooting for a while on land, but 3 months messing about in Antibes with a cheap PandS with a broken screen + housing has got me interested in taking something serious below the waves.

I think the problem is going to be my choice of camera though - I got my Sony a900 long before I even considered taking it underwater. Are there any options for this, or would it require a change of systems? I really don't want to do that - I'm very happy with my current kit. I'm also not sure a 24-70 zoom is going to be any good underwater - too big to fit? How about a Zeiss 135 f1,8 (77mm filters) - it close focuses quite nicely, but also too big?

I'm more interested in some of the swimming pool fashion shots I've been seeing here than the underwater wildlife/macro stuff - so could I get away with a bag for a while, just to play?

I've also seen a lot along the lines of 'someday it will leak and your camera will die'. I have photoguard insurance - would they be impressed if I filed a claim for a written-off camera and lens? Do I need to change my insurance?

This is all very speculative, I'm certainly not running out to buy anything for at least a year, but I'd like to get some idea of my options.

Thanks for the handholding, I look forward to showing you some results one day!

New to this forum. First post. I have been reading this thread with interest. I have decided to move up to D-SLR from my current point and shoot (a Canon with Ikelite housing and DS 125 strobe). I really like the Nikon D90 features and plan on going with this camera, but I am having problems deciding on the housing. I live in an area where I cannot get my hands on the housing before I buy (no dealers in the area). I am looking between the Aquatica and the Ikelite. I would love your thoughts on these two housings.

 

In addition, I would like your thoughts on what 2 lens would you buy to start with the D90. The kit package comes with the 18-105, but it looks like this one is not good for underwater use.

Hi Pam,

First of all, I'd like to extend to you a warm welcome to Wetpixel. Congratulations on your pending purchase of a DSLR.

To answer your questions, here are my thoughts on Ikelite and the Aquatica housings. A lot has to do with personal preferences as there are many here on Wetpixel who like each housing. To compare to brands of cars, you can think of the Ikelite housing as a Chevrolet or Ford and the Aquatica housing as the no-longer-made Oldsmobile. The Ikelite housings, made of a see-through polycarbonate type of material, are bigger and boxier. Some don't like them when considering the bulk of the housing for travel. OTOH, Ikelite housings generally will cost less than other brands of housings, like Aquatica. The Aquatica housing, from what I understand, is made of aluminum, and is also rated for a deeper depth than the Ikelite.

If you're really watching the budget, I would think you'd want to go with Ikelite. If money is no object, and you want the higher-end model, go with Aquatica.

I personally haven't used either housing, as I went straight from a Nikonos V (no housing) to a Subal housing.

One other thing, I have heard some say, though I haven't experienced it, that the way of locking the Ikelite housing doesn't always work well and is prone to flooding.

Your other question, on which lenses to buy, is a much easier question to answer. I would purchase one lens for macro and one lens that will cover wide angle. For my first macro lens, I would go with the 60mm lens. It's a great lens. Either the older version or the newer version will work in a macro port. For your wide angle lens, I would highly recommend a Tokina 10-17 lens. This lens is very well regarded for underwater use.

If you have any other specific questions, you might want to post them in the Digital SLRs/Housings forum.

Ellen

As a new UW photographer I wanted to start off right. Several of my friends have the Sea & Sea cameras, housings, and lights. I thought would buy what I could afford. I ended up with the Sea & Sea setup, DX-2G camera / housing, YS -110a duel strobes, and arms. Now I have to learn all of this. I am still trying to learn UW video also. Maybe too much on my plate?

Hi, my name is Nate and this is my first post. I bought a used Olympus 5050z with Olympus PT-15 housing and an Inon D180 strobe. I also came with an Inon WA and Macro lens. I got some pointers from a friend and took it off shore, in North Carolina, this weekend.

Hello,

I'm a freediver, I'm using my second point and shoot camera. I started with an A95 with a canon housing. The 5mpg camera was great for its time but it only shot in jpg.

I got a G10 two years ago mainly to get RAW. I use a canon housing but do only ambiant light shots since I don't have a strobe and I am freediving. You can see a lot of my picture, including a transition from really sucky film single use shot to the better stuff taken with my G10 at http://www.renepotvin.com

Picture taken last weekeend in the St-laurent (unfortunately the camera was set at 200 iso by accident, G10 is bad past iso 100) :

I am now looking at SLR and four thirds. I wish some of the old dogs would give definite advise on what SLR to get and why. ;-)

I'm considering the nikon D90 but the focus is just too damn slow and the canon 50d (comic book colors and expensive).

I have to say that if I could get a four third like the Panasonic GF1 with a small Panasonic Housing that would be the size of my G10 housing, I would go for that in a hearthbeat.