Housing for Canon 10D

Eric and Stu, what 2x teleconvertor are you using?

Scubajack,

I had the same debate as you did between the Jonah and the Subal. In fact Stu and I talked a bit about the two housings... he almost convinced me to go Subal.

But I'm glad I didn't, and here's why -- having the Jonah makes it less painful to upgrade to the new wave of TTL-enabled housings that are coming. Furthermore, the differences in _functionality_ between the Subal and Jonah housings are small. What I would really pay more money for, the Subal does not have, i.e. viewfinders ala Seacam, eTTL compatibility, or ROC strobes control ala L&M.

So you are paying for higher quality ports, a nicely finished, higher quality and possibly more reliable housing (no one has reported floods in their Jonah yet, so there is no data here) with the Subal. However, the functional difference in the water wasn't worth the price difference to me.

Having said that, the boatmen at Mabul always offered to carry another diver's L&M D100 housing before he even looked at my roughly-finished Jonah... it's a dog eat dog world. (Sterling, are you reading this?)

Yeang

Hey Yeang,

Don't feel so bad, when I was in Anilao diving with Woody Mayhew, his Nexus Housing got preferred billing from the boatmen...and there were 2 of us with Subals on the boat! Guess it helps that he's been using the same boatmen for the last few years and gives great tips! ;-) But, when we went to Puerto Galera, I think there was a slight role reversal...and I got my housings first because I've dove the same boat for 3 years!

:mrgreen:

How do you like shooting the Sigma 15mm FE? I'm in the market for a new FE lens...I was shooting a borrowed Canon one on my last trip.

Stu

Hey Stu,

I guess it's the tips and not the finish on the housings!

I really like the Sigma 15 on my 10D. I don't notice the distortion UW at all, and it's REALLY sharp. My WA pics at Sipadan didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, plus viz was very bad for the area, so most of my WA shots were chucked due to backscatter.

On a side note, the shutter button on my 10D broke off underwater! All of sudden I could only focus but not trip the shutter... apparently the shutter lever on the Jonah wasn't hitting the shutter button dead center, and the torque eventually broke the shutter button off.

having said that, here are some with the Sigma 15 that were ok:

http://www.pbase.com/image/25379352

http://www.pbase.com/image/25325030

http://www.pbase.com/image/25379305

http://www.pbase.com/image/25325033

Didn't want to insert the images in line as this isn't really a photo thread.

Yeang

Hi Yeang,

Nice shots! Here's some of mine from the Philippines with the 15mm FE

http://www.scan-conversions.com/maro2.jpg

http://www.scan-conversions.com/CRW_1877.jpg

http://www.scan-conversions.com/2102.jpg

http://www.scan-conversions.com/Beatrice_01_AND4.jpg

Bad news about the shutter button....see, my Subal hasn't broken and it's got almost 4000 (if not more) shutter presses on it now! :wink:

Stu

Beautiful sunballs, Stu! I so wish that viz was better -- in Sipadan by the time I reached 30' the sun was just a vague glow above

You misunderstand -- the shutter button that broke is on the Canon Though I guess it might be Jonah's fault for not aligning the lever properly!

I taped it over with Scotch tape and it kept going...

Yeang

Hey Yeang,

 

Don't feel so bad, when I was in Anilao diving with Woody Mayhew, his Nexus Housing got preferred billing from the boatmen...and there were 2 of us with Subals on the boat!  

Stu

Exactly as it should be.

I just heard from Mark at Inon USA and he says they might not release in USA due to support issues. End of February for him to know.

BVA

Bummer - it looks like a great housing.

Cheers

James

Thanks for all of the advice. I think I am leaning towards the Jonah now. For my purposes the dramatic price gap for the subal isn't justified by the few additional features.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Any suggestions on where I can get the cheapest jonah housing? Or are the standard places (UWphoto,etc.) the best route?

It's finally here!

My Subal C10 arrived today along with a FP75/3 flat port for the Canon 50mm & 100mm macros, FE2 dome port for the Canon 15mm fisheye and an extension ring and zoom gear to use my Canon 17-35/f2.8L in the FE2 as well. What a beautiful work of craftsmanship this piece is.

I can't wait to get this into the water

Anyone want to buy a 1 year old Tetra 5000? :wink:

Marty,

You're going to love the C10, I'm diving up Jervis Inlet with mine in 2 weeks.

Stu

"On a side note, the shutter button on my 10D broke off underwater! All of sudden I could only focus but not trip the shutter... apparently the shutter lever on the Jonah wasn't hitting the shutter button dead center, and the torque eventually broke the shutter button off.

Am I the only one who thinks it's a little unusual for a housing to break the camera that is in it and people still want to buy the housing. I too am looking at a housing, stuffing the D10 in the Sea and Sea D60 housing only gives access to the shutter and command dials but at least nothing broke. Still hoping to see the Inon but proably be buying the Subal.

Bill

Before I get sued for libel, I should say that it is only conjecture that the Jonah housing caused the button breakage on my 10D.

I have not actually quantified the exact spot where the lever presses the shutter button -- it seemed the most likely explanation to me at the time though.

After all, it could just be shoddy Canon plastics coupled with a very skinny (plastic) column under that big ol' shutter button on the 10D.

Yeang

I know photographers who have broken their D60 shutter buttons with Sea & Sea housing shutter leves. But I'll bet it's from mashing down too excitedly, because I've never broken mine that way. Jim Watt (one of the people who has broken the shutter) says that his Sea & Sea shutter contact point was slightly off center, which contributed to shutter failure. He ended up taping up the shutter area with black electrical tape to distribute and dampen the downward force. I believe David Fleetham just replaced the tip of his shutter lever to something fatter and softer.

If this is the case by accidently hit the shutter lever which induces

breakage of the shutter button, it is becuase the lever is too close to the

button. Probably, we should move back the shutter lever a little bit, although

the rotating angle becomes somewhat larger than before. It is easy to

fix the problem, just straighten the lever a little bit by a plier or shorten

the end of the shutter lever to avoid the accident.

KTKIM, Jonah Housing

For what it's worth - it's possible to break a camera's shutter button with ANY housing, whether it's Jonah, Sea and Sea, or Ikelite. With a big "lever arm" like we have inside the housing, you can put quite a bit of force into the shutter button.

Add cold hands, dry gloves, and/or surge and you have to be careful.

I broke the shutter on my Coolpix 990 and so did a friend of mine. It turns out we just couldn't deal with the shutter lag and just kept pushing harder and harder! Note to self: don't do that.

Cheers

James

FWIW, I've got about 30,000 exposures through my 10D body, of that, there were between 3000-4000 shutter releases using the C10 (that's releases, not counting the half press required for AF, god knows how many of those I have, both through the housing and just for topside shooting!)....so far (knock on wood), I've had no problems with the shutter button...this is the same with 2 other friends who have the C10, though I've had my 10D for longer than they. A friend with the Nexus D100 housing has had no problems either.

My previous Subal housing for a Canon film body was also problem free.

Stu :wink:

p.s. and I've shot mine in both tropical and cold water conditions.

Hi,

I bought the Jonah housing in October last year and have only used it for one trip thus far, I took about 1200 exposures underwater and about 100 topside. The shutter release button on the camera shows no signs of wear or damage. My purchasing decision for this housing was primarily cost and availability at the time. The housing performed well IMHO and I was very happy with the results. The support from the distributor and manufacturer has been very good indeed and they are currently creating a custom zoom gear for another of my lens which I am planning to use on my next trip in April. The total cost was around $2194 plus tax this included the 30mm extension and the 4" dome port.

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks again for all of the replies. If cost were no factor, I'd get the subal. Unfortunately, however, it is and I still can't find a good enough reason to justify the additional costs for what I am trying to do.

I think I'm gonna go with the Jonah housing. I'm pricing it now and maybe by next week I be able to post what happened.

Thanks again for all of the input...and you still have a few days to help me change my mind