Backpacking with housed DSLR?

Hi!

I' m planning a longer (6 month) backpacking trip around Asia and Australia with a big (not main) focus on diving starting in autumn.

I started shooting DSLR with a D30, 2 years ago and switched to the Digital Rebel in October.

I've had a Canon S30 with underwater housing and Sea&Sea YS-90DX strobe for a while and took a couple of reasonable satisfying shot's with that setup. Things that were annoying me were, that the housing would ALWAYS fog towards the end of the dive and that the camera had a terrible shutter lag. The S30 broke last year anyway, so in the moment I only have the DRebel.

I will take the 300D together with the kit lens and the Canon 75-300 (and maybe a fisheye) with me on my trip for topside photography, but I still don’t know how to handle the underwater part of my trip.

I basically came up with two ideas:

Idea 1:

Oly 5050: 450g (with batteries)

PT015: 620g

Inon UWL-100: 625g

Dome port: 490g

Total weight : 2,200g

Total costs: 1350€

Idea 2:

House my DRebel.

I've been studying the SLR housing section for quite a while and the smallest and lightest housing for the 300D I could find was the one from UK-Germany which should only weight 1.500g regarding the specs on www.digideep.com

I just sent a mail to UK-Germany and they told me, that the housing will weight about 2,000g together with the flat port that is included in the price of the housing.

The price will be 1850€.

I will probably need a dome port as well, which will be another 400€.

So the total setup will be about 2240€

What I don’t know is how heavy a dome port is.

If anyone here has experience with UK-Germany and their housings already, I would really appreciate information on the size and weight of their dome ports.

As for a strobe I think about the Inon Z220 as it is both powerful and small.

The final question now is, what do you guys think?

Is it possible to go backpacking with a housed DSLR or should I stick to a P&S setup for underwater photography?

Another question: I will use the kit lens as my main underwater lens but will probably buy a fisheye lens as well.

Can this lens be housed in a small dome port or do I need one of these “huge” dome ports for the fisheye?

Please remember that this will be a backpacking trip for about 6 month and not a 2 week holiday. So everything I take with me, will stay with me for half a year. So I need to pack as small and lightweight as possible.

As I will take the 300D with me anyway the weight of the housing with flat and dome port will probably not be much more than the weight of the Olympus setup, but I’m a bit concerned about the volume. The thing is, that I don’t know what dome port size I need and how compact I can pack the flat and dome port in my backpack compared to the oly setup.

I would also be happy if someone could provide me information regarding UK-Germany and their housings in general. Does anyone have any experience with their housing for the Digital Rebel?

Regards

Robert

Sounds like a great adventure, but I can't imagine carrying all that around between dives!

How about packing the housing, ports, strobes, arms, etc. in a good pelican or storm case and send it ahead to each destination?

I did a 5 month around the world backpack trip in 1999, so I know what you're looking at.... I couldn't imagine having a housed DSLR with me. I have the D Reb as well, I have seen the Aquatica and Ike housings, and the domes. There is no way I would want to risk having this stuff stolen and/or broken, and there's CERTAINLY no way I would want to deal with the weight, not to mention worrying about busting a nice dorm port or lens.......It would be hard enough with the setup I have now (5050, 015, dual strobes)

Some of the best advice I received before going on my trip:

Pack everything you are going to take, then remove 1/2 of your clothes and double the money...

Do not take anything you cannot afford (financially or emotionally) to lose...

Given your options, taking the housed Oly and the D Reb and lenses sounds like overkill as well. My inclination would be to just take the Oly 5050 and leve everything else at home. I know it would be nice to have the d reb, but you aren't being funded by National Geographic. Other benefits I see of the 5050, uses two types of media, can stock up on cards; D Reb has a proprietary battery, so you'll deal with current issues (rechargeables are best for the oly as well, but AA disposeables work in a pinch). Main benefit is it is small, as is the 015 housing

good luck and have fun

Chris

Thanks for the reply guys.

If been backpacking before, so I know what I'm talking about.

The problem is just, that after I started shooting with a DSLR, I just can't force myself to go back to p&s.

So I will take the 300D with me for sure.

I also have a good insurance for the stuff, so I don't need to worry too much that something breaks or get's stolen.

Sending the equipment ahead to each destination like “kdietz” suggested is unfortunately not an option, as I’ve been in non western countries before and I would not want to send a box with expensive equipment to a destination I’ve never been before. I once shipped a package from Thailand back to Europe and it arrived 7 month later than expected :shock: !!!

On the other side, I will not go hiking with the equipment. I will mainly carry it from my room to the next bus, taxi or whatever and then back to another room. For hiking trips I will store the stuff somewhere and just use a day bag. So weight is of course a factor but 2 more kilos will probably not kill me. I’m more concerned about the volume.

So to get back to the topic:

Could anyone tell me how big a dome port for the kit lens will be and how much it will weight? Are there proper hard plastic boxes for dome ports available, to store them?

The complete oly5050 setup (with Inon Z220) will be about 2,800g and the complete Rebel setup (incl. 75-300 and Inon Z220) will be something like 4,600g.

I'm willing to add 2kg to get much more reach topside, better image quality and flexibility above and underwater.

What I'm not sure about is, if I can handle the volume.

The Rebel is not big and the kit lens is really small and lightweight too, so I can fit that easy into my backpack, together with the 75-300 lens.

I did that on my last trip as well, but there I was travelling on a motorbike, so it was much easier as I had more space and didn't have to carry the stuff

The UK-Germany housing should be really small too. Regarding to digideep the housing without port is nearly the same size as the OLY PT-015 housing! The Z220 is small too, so maybe I could find some space for that as well as my backpack is really big. I will of course only take 1 strobe and just one simple and light strobe arm.

So the thing I’m concerned about is/are the port(s).

Can anyone provide me information about size and weight of SLR dome ports?

Could I use a dome port for shooting macro as well or not?

I know with a flat port I will get more magnification, but other than that, is there any difference?

Regards

Robert

I used to have a UK Germany housing for the D60. The dome port is small (6") and weighs only slightly more than the flat port. You can use the small dome w/ the fisheye lens.

Cheers

James

Thanks for the information james!

Is 6" really small? I would think it is rather big, or not?

As far as I know you get dome ports from 3" up to 8".

Which factors define the required size of a dome port?

Is it the angle of the lens or it's size or what?

I would really be happy if someone could answer this question.

To James:

What is your opinion on the UK-Germany housing?

Was it alright or did you have some problems?

Regards

Robert

The lenses you can use highly depend on the dome port - contact the manufacturer for details. Factors that are important are the radius of curvature of the dome, the length of the port and the diameter of the dome.

I liked the UK Germany housing but don't have it anymore as I switched to Nikon and now use a different setup.

Cheers

James

I lived in SEA for several years and did a lot of backpacking. If you are planning on regular backpacking (bus, train, bemo, tucktuk, moped...) I think it would be bit crazy to carry a nice UW system. Remeber, your backpack willbe tossed on top of bus roofs, under ond over loads of all kinds of bags and whatnot, you will not see your backpack at times, on trains your bags will probably be rooted thru from time to time, you are likely to sleep in bus and train stations and you wil always always have to lug your stuff around (in your case 6months), beacuse, unless you plan to stay in expensive hotels, you can't really leave your stuff in the losmen... First time I backpacked round Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand I packed an incredible 40 kg. 5 days into the trip I put 30 kg of that into a box and mailed it home. If I were you, backpacking around, I would probably take a little P&S system, which I wouldn't have to worry about. However, keep in mind, once you are in SEA you can purchase pretty cheap airline tickets from any of the major cities, like KL, Bangkok, Jakarta and even S'pore and move around that way. If you fly, and stay in one place for a bit longer, it would certainly be much easier to carry a full housed SLR system. Good luck anyway, and looking forward to seeing your pix from the adventure here!

Hi Marjo!

I've been around asia already.

Backpacking in Thailand 3 years ago before going to Australia and last year Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia by motorbike.

So I know what it will be like.

This time, I want to go to the Philippines, Borneo and Indonesia and then over to Australia.

Australia will probably be a road trip by car, so I don't expect too much problems there.

I will have a big backback and a day bag with me, and I will keep the camera and lens with me in the day bag. How they handle the big backpack I don't care too much.

I want to leave the housing itself in the big bag, and as it is a metal housing it should be quite durable and if I pack it right I don't expect problems.

Just would need a good box for the dome port if I really go with SLR.

I also think about doing my dive master somewhere so I will stay there (wherever it will be) for quite a while and like I said already, after I started shooting DSLR I just can't force myself to go back to some small p&s.

I figured that the complete 300D setup should weight 5kg max., so if I don't pack to much other stuff I won't have more than 18kg all together.

This is far from optimum but I think not too bad either.

I can't believe you started with 40kg :shock:

That was definitely too much, but I can remember my first time was really overloaded as well.

And last time I was extremely overloaded too, but as I mentioned already, I was travelig by motorbike, so it wasn't a real problem

So I'm still trying to figure things out, but I still have a couple of month left so I'm sure I will find a solution.

Cheers

Robert

Wow, I don't know but I am getting ready to go to Mexico with my new Ikelite Rebel setup. The roller bag I have the housing and strobe in (single DS125) and other essentials weighs 32.5LBs (14 + KGs), the backpack I carry my camera gear in (Canon Rebel, kit lens, 75-300 USM, two other small lens and small stuff) weighs 14.6LBs (6 + KGs). I am not experienced in backpacking, but I would hate to carry it far!!! :shock: :shock:

You should see our dive gear bag!!

Dave

Several years ago I traveled through SEA for 6 months with my housing, F90x, ports, strobes, dive gear and clothes. I used a 55 lt wheeled pack for my dive gear clothes arms and ports. I carried the housing, camera and strobes in a small padded backpack which I have replaced with a lowe dry zone 200 (the smaller 100 may fit). I was carrying allot less than a lot of the other travelers I ran into on the road. I went from northern Thailand shooting temples through the Andaman Sea to the east coast of Malaysia across Sumatra and Java by road and train. Spend 1 month on Bali then 2 months by various boats and liveaboards to Komodo. I was shooting above and below all the time.

Today I would take camera, housing and smaller strobes the new inon 220s also a digital wallet not a full laptop. I was carrying 60 rolls of film (which was not much smaller than my housing) at times; which was questioned at several boarder crossings. I sent film home as it was shot 10 rolls at a time.

I think with my dive travel gear set and a dslr today it would be easier. I never lost anything on that trip. I kept my camera in padded non camera bags and my dive gear was in a bag much like any other backpackers.

I'm leaving for a 4 month trip in 3 weeks and have been wrestling with similar issues.

What I have settled on is to take my Oly 5050 in an Ikelite Housing with 1 Ds-125 strobe and a 1 handled tray. This lot adds a number of incidentals though such as strobe charger, battery charger, phototainer and charger for photo storage, wide angle lens and plug adaptors for these items

I was initially planning to take my sub-notebook but I have decided against this. The 40 gb phototainer should suffice for this trip although I am sure I will have to delete some shots. The bonus of this device is that it can display raw shots on its screen.

In terms of weight I am not that bothered but it is the bulk that is concerning me. I also want to take my reg and BCD as I will be visiting some places where the quality of rental equipment may be suspect.

I think a housed SLR would be prohibitve on this type of trip but mainly as a result of bulk rather than weight.

I am packing everything in a 75 Litre rucksack and a 25L camera bag. My problem is this doesn't leave much room for clothes and my trip will cover extremes of temperature from skiing in New Zealand to diving in the south pacific.

FWIW if you're coming to South Australia and would like to look for Leafy Seadragons, get in contact with me.

I need a bit of warning to get around work/wife issues, and the weather obviously has an impact, but I'm happy to take kindred souls to see my leafy friends.

We have nice reef in the NW but no leafy seadragons that I know of.

Road trip by car as you mentioned sounds appropriate for Australia, certainly makes traveling with lots of photo gear easier.

I've spent a fair bit of time O/S with a pack on my back. I used to believe in the "pack light" theory, but now I've decided that's for wimps! It adds to the adventure to try and pack some unfeasibly heavy or bulky object through some godforsaken land (like South Australia, for instance ) During my last rostered-year-off I used a 90 litre backpack and a 45 litre pack (on the front) to pack my camera gear - not an elegant way to travel, but it does the job.