Ikelite Canon 100D / Rebel SL1 : review ?

got mine in the water earlier for a quick dive...was just using my kit lens and a single D1. trying to figure how to post pics -__-

here's a question...will the 60mm macro fit behind the 18-55/10-17 dome? I haven't ordered the 60mm port yet but would like to use the 60...

there is serious vignetting with the tokina 10-17 @ 10mm...minor vignetting @ 12mm. I am a bit disappointed with the 10mm vignetting.

What about edge sharpness? Can you post some examples?

there is serious vignetting with the tokina 10-17 @ 10mm...minor vignetting @ 12mm. I am a bit disappointed with the 10mm vignetting.

Would love to see some examples of the vignetting at 10mm and 12mm...if you wouldn't mind posting examples it would be really appreciated!

not sure how to post pics on here now...

Chile, are you on a normal browser? use the "more reply options".. You can attach a picture from your computer using the Attach file control under the screen you type in.

Or if the picture exists elswere on the net, or post the picture on flickr, photobucket etc and use the "forum link" option. Click the "image button" that is in the tools above the text, give the URL for the picture and voila.....

Flickr and Photobucket give you also an option to copy when you get the HTML / BB code straight away. If you copy that link it will automatically embed.

Phil, I read your article in UWP, thank you.

Chile, if the explanations you received are not enough, try

to find help around you. These pictures showing the vignetting

are highly interesting.

okay...here we go (unfortunately all terrible shots):

the lionfish is at 10mm

the gorgonian is at 12mm

Hey Chile,

thanks for posting pictures!!

To me that looks like the dome shade showing up in the frame due to the wide angle. As opposed to vignetting which often occurs with wide angle and is just a darkening of the corners. Is it possible to remove the dome shade?

-Gareth

I was only provided the "kit" 18 to 55mm zoom lens for students at Underwater Digital Fiesta 2014 (our fourth year) at Casa Del Mar, Cozumel Mexico. My review of the system with the KIT lens will appear at UWPMAG.com in the coming issue due out around the first of May.

Phil

In your article i kinda got the feeling that you categorize this as a DSLR beginners camera? If so can you explain why and what it would take to make it a experts camera in a smaller lighter travel friendly package.

Hey Chile,

 

thanks for posting pictures!!

 

To me that looks like the dome shade showing up in the frame due to the wide angle. As opposed to vignetting which often occurs with wide angle and is just a darkening of the corners. Is it possible to remove the dome shade?

 

-Gareth

Hi Gareth

The shade is not removable. There is a bit of a lip on the shade that also is not helping the situation at all. Please see the attached poor quality cell phone picture.

Hi Bill,

This is what I said in the article, "This is an excellent little housing system for travel, those entering underwater photography looking for a moderately priced system and for those die hard Canon fans looking for a backup system."

First I don't see a distinction in regard to an entry level system between a DSLR or a mirrorless interchangeable lens system. I think I pointed out that the 100D Rebel is the entry level camera and that the current T5i is the top of the Rebel line. Above the Rebel line you have the 70D, 6D, 5D Mk III and so on. An "expert" could use any underwater system but they would likely be looking for things this camera does not have like a much larger viewfinder, greater AF speed and so on.

This is a great little system for travel and I can see why many are interested in additional lens choices. Unlike most manufactures ports for "kit" lenses Ikelite has chosen to use a dome rather than a flat port. To expect that it will work well with all wide lenses is just not what it was designed for and I would think that Ikelite has future plans to accommodate additional wide lenses. I am sure some may want to use a 100mm macro lens with this housing but the 60 port is the one that makes the most sense for first release. This is a housing system that Ikelite will build on but I think that the intended target market for this system are as I said those looking for a moderately priced, small quality system.

Phil (and Bill),

Actually the Canon SL1 has a Hybrid CMOS AFII newer version autofocus than the T5i......Yes, the T5i has all cross type 9 AF points versus the SL1 having the center point of 9 total being a cross type. But in real world shooting the SL1 is more than fast enough (I owned the T4i for a year, same AF specs as the T5i.)

The included dome port will fit the following lenses physically: Canon 18-55mm IS STM kit lens, Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye, Sigma 15mm Fisheye and even the Canon 8-15mm F4L Fisheye. I'll have all with me on Bonaire next week so we'll see how this tiny SLR does in real world shooting........Along with the Canon 60mm Macro lens many if not most Canon SL1 shooters won't nee much more......

I think Bill may be alluding to many of us in the "F" days (film) used a lowly Nikonos III or V with great glass and that's what really makes the photo........Plus time in the water of course

This housing is designed to keep it simple and deliver great pics.......

Stay tuned..............

Thanks for the clarification Phil. As a photographer interested in this small camera and housing, what I am looking for is a list of things that would to make the rig better.

So on my list so far I have:

a better viewfinder

more port options

maybe fiber linked strobe connection

I do like the SL1 a lot... Great little camera that takes great action or still shots. I've taken some fairly good shots of local surfing in addition to the landscape, flora shots and have not been disappointed. And so far, I like it underwater as well...Now, I just need a dive where I have more time than I've had on these test dives so I am not just snapping away randomly...

Thank you all for the feedback !

There is a bit of a lip on the shade that also is not helping the situation at all. Please see the attached poor quality cell phone picture.

Do you think part of this lip could be removed with a dremel or equivalent

to reduce the vignetting ? I am not asking for you to do it on your brand new

equipment of course. But I just wonder if this would be doable.

Thank you all for the feedback !

 

 

Do you think part of this lip could be removed with a dremel or equivalent

to reduce the vignetting ? I am not asking for you to do it on your brand new

equipment of course. But I just wonder if this would be doable.

Yes you could remove some of the lip on the shade. you would only have to do that in 4 places that show up as the corners of the picture. the end result would be maybe no vignetting at 12mm but I would not recommend this to anyone. Some of the problems are that the dome is very close to the shade at the point where material is needed to be removed, depending on how much shade material you remove you could end up weakening the dome seal as the o-ring is right there and the improvements will be marginal.

Since the dome is not a true hemispherical dome that is in the right position for the Tokina 10-17 lens the field of view (coverage in the picture) is also reduced to what a correctly placed hemispherical dome would deliver.

In other words either live with 13mm or get a new custom dome.

Thank you for your feedback, Bill. Sealing integrity is critical, of course.

I will wait and see if ikelite comes up with a dedicated dome port for fisheye

and maybe for rectilinear too.

We just came back from testing the Ikelite package with the 18-55 lens and we were very pleased with the results.

Haven't had a chance to try it out with the Tokina 10-17 but I must say I loved the range I had with the 18-55.

You can get some really nice mid-range shots and even some close-ups nearing macro.

I used a single YS-D1 with the setup, and encountered some odd issues where the strobe would fire a second time after each shot. Sync was OK but batteries drained faster because of this...

Here are some shots and a link to the short review:

http://blog.housingcamera.com/product-reviews/package-review-canon-eos-rebel-sl1-100d-ikelite-housing