Housing suggestions for CP995

Hello all,

This is my first post...just discovered this board today! WOW!

I have a CP 995 and I am new to u/w photography. I am in a rush to buy a housing for it as I am off to Sharm in 10 days. I've only cosidered the Ikelite housing till this point. I had no idea there were so many options!

What are your recommendations for a housing for this camera. Aquatica? Ikelite? others?

I only dive twice a year if Iam lucky but i want quality equiptment.

Any added thoughts about the 995, or strobes would be seriously appreciated!

thanks in advance!

Jed

I have recently purchased the Aquatica housing. I have only used it twice, but I must say I am very happy with it so far, and also with Aquatica's response to an issue I had with the add-on lens (I will post more about this once it is finally resolved).

I have not used a strobe yet, and have just ordered the Sea & Sea YS-90DX from B&H. So I cannot really comment yet about the TTL/no TTL flash issue, about which you should find a lot of information in other threads! This may influence your choice.

Try reading this

http://www.wetpixel.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=386

and this:

http://www.wetpixel.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=219

Get the Ikelite.

You can get almost any strobe for this camera. It does not have to be a "digital" strobe. Not required for this camera.

But....the Sea&Sea YS90dx has 12 power settings, probably a tad overkill, but definitely better than three or four.

Or...get any model Ikelite and just run it on TTL.

The 12 power settings are not an over kill. It is needed to compensate for the much smaller range of aperture settings in this class of digicams. I've probably used all 12 settings. I've certaintly used the entire 7 stops range, and a couple of time I wished it had a +1 setting.

Herb

Hence the word "tad". Within the range of the camera zoom and within a reasonable range of strobe to subject distance, it's unlikely that all the settings will be required.

I do know that with my Ike SS200 on manual mode with CP995 that I'm often in between settings such as 1/8 and 1/4. It forces me to either make a minute adjustment on aperture or actually move the strobe further or closer. Having partial f/stop adjustments would definitely make it easier.

Being able to use TTL would also solve the problem, but the A995 does not allow this, unlike the Ikelite housing. On TTL, results may not be perfect, but a minor EV adjustment should yield consistent results.

Anyone know why Aquatica designed a housing that blocks the flash sensor????

Cheers

James Wiseman

Thanks so much for all the info I've been getting!

So it sounds like the ability to use TTL on the ikelite is a big advantage, probably more so for an amateur like myself?

It must be nice to see into the Ike housing and be sure there is no leakage. The ikelite sure looks big and bulky though??

I have noticed that a couple boarders here recently sold there ikelite/CP setups for different setups entirely.....is there something I am missing???

As of now, I am leaning toward the ikelite. So can you only use TTL with Ike strobes?

thanks!

jed

Hi Jed,

I recently sold my CP5000 setup, but that wasn't because I didn't like it - I loved it and got some GREAT shots!!!!

I decided to "upgrage" to a digital SLR camera. They cost about $2,000 for just the camera - and that's not counting a lens.

I still have my Ikelite Housing and Coolpix 990 - my trusty setup.

The coolpix 995 will fire virtually any strobe in TTL using a sync cord. If you feel that you need to fire your strobe in manual, then just switch the strobe to manual - that's what I do...

If you've never been diving with a camera before, then TTL is pretty much a MUST for you. It's taken me about a year of practice (and about 50 dives) to get comfortable shooting my strobes in manual mode.

HTH

James Wiseman

Here's a picture of my Coolpic 990 setup, it's really not that big - the strobe is much bigger...

J

1) The 45 degree angle makes the placement of the flash and port such that no window can be drilled through the housing to access the sensor located on the flash. Not a problem with the CP5000

2) There is a big difference between the size of an Ikelite vs. Aquatica housing for SLR cameras (I've had both). The difference in size for digicams is relatively small. Neither is unwieldly.

P.S. I used an Ike SLR housing with 2 SS200's stretched out wide going through a wreck. Now that is big and bulky. There's a video of me pushing my camera through hatch doors. Everybody got a good laugh.

{Anyone know why Aquatica designed a housing that blocks the flash sensor????}

This is because when you attach the wide angle lens to the housing it would block the sensor even if the housing had a window for it. I am not sure but I think this is the case for the Ike housing also (when using the Inon add-on lens). Does anyone know for sure about the Ike housing?

Before you make your purchase, give B & H Photo in new york a call, they have great pricing on the Aquatica 995 housing and there wide angle lens. You will see that this housing is made of aluminum and the camera fits into it like a glove (very compact), I'ved had my setup for a couple of months and I am very pleased.

POPO

Here's a photo of the Ikelite housing for the 5000 and wideangle domeport:

The domeport doesn't block the flash sensor, which on the 5000 is above that white square on the left.

On the 990 the flash pops up and the sensor is next to the flash. It's a little closer and above the lens. If you look at the picture of my 990 housing above imagine that the sensor is just above the port. My older 990 housing is nice because it has a dome port that can fit the older WC-E24 wideangle lens.

Confusing enough?

Cheers

James