D70 Housing is Here!!!

First of all I'd like to thank Ike for being so tremendously accommidating in getting my rig to me in time for my Key Largo trip--actually it came earlier than expected which is great so that I can do some pool testing and familarization beforehand. I pre-ordered this housing way back in Feburary when Ike first suggested that he would have one of these so I'm very excited.

I picked up my Ikelite D70 housing from my LDS yesterday. I only had about a half an hour to play with it in the shop--must tread carefully at home as I've been spending every available minute playing with my D70 lately. I plan to get it in the pool on Monday.

Here are my first impressions:

Very rugged build--really thick polycarbonate.

I love being able to see through the housing. Maybe its just me but I can't imagine how hard it must be to use one of the opaque housings. I had trouble at first getting all of the arms and control pins out of the way to insert the camera (learning curve); but this was easially solved because I could see inside and quickly spot what was wrong. I also like being able to see it push the buttons.

You can clearly see the top LCD display to check, shots remaining, aperture and speed etc. Its on a flat spot of plastic on the housing with no buttons obscuring the view.

I was initially having some trouble getting the zoom gear to work. It kept slipping in the gears when I tried it out without the port. But once I installed the ports it all worked perfectly. I promise to read the instructions cover to cover before I get it wet, but I was just tinkering last night.

For those of you who haven't seen the Ikelite housing system, the ports are cylindrical with a O-ring on the end and slide straight in to the housing which acts like a sleeve. Then the port is secured by two sliding pins that slide in on either side to keep the port pushed up against the housing. It takes some pushing to get the pins locked so the O-ring must be well compressed.

The handle tray looks like some sort of cast metal. I'm not sure what kind but it seems heavy.

The housing with port installed fits nicely in my Lowepro Trekker Pro on the top where the camera body normally goes. It's too wide with the handles on so they must be removed. The height of the housing is no problem. I'm optimistic about getting the whole rig in a single bag with two ds125s, two manual controllers, camera, housing and 3 lenses. I'll try to get a minimum set of arms in as well. We'll have to see about my digital elph backup rig, and topside SB-800. The additional ports are going to be a problem though. However, if I can get at least one complete working rig in there and all of the lenses, I will be happy. That way I can still shoot if my luggage gets lost.

It looks like the 5503.55 port fits with the kit lens and a B+W +4 diopter from B&H without hitting. It is difficult to test this and I understand how you could damage the port if it didn't fit. It's hard to tell how much pressuree to put on the mechanical linkage.

Some initial curiosities:

It seems that the pop-up flash will still work inside the housing for those that are so inclined. Must be careful not to use the scene modes as once the flash pops up you can't get it back down. Maybe I'll put some foam packing in there to prevent this. I'm not sure how you set flash exposure compensation though. At first look it seems there was no control for that button on the left side of the flash? I'll do more investigation on this. Is there a way to set it on the menu?

All buttons seem to line up perfectly, but the af/m swing arm needs a bit of tweaking. I was thinking about slightly bending it?

The zoom clamp is a bit tricky to get on. Must be careful not to scratch my lens collars.

Thanks and I'll post more when I know more about this. Any advice for an SLR novice is appreciated.

Sounds great!..........I would guess that with manual strobe controllers..the flash compensation wouldn't be needed?

Is the dome hood removable?

Karl

Yes, the dome hood is removable.

Don't forget to lubricate the port o-ring. It's the only o-ring on the housing that you need to grease, but if you don't, the port will be VERY hard to secure. If you grease it, the port snaps should be easy to snap closed.

Karl, I think what the "popup flash" folks are interested in is underwater wireless TTL. In that case, the flash exposure compensation could be useful.

Cheers

James

For those of you who haven't seen the Ikelite housing system, the ports are cylindrical with a O-ring on the end and slide straight in to the housing which acts like a sleeve. Then the port is secured by two sliding pins that slide in on either side to keep the port pushed up against the housing. It takes some pushing to get the pins locked so the O-ring must be well compressed.  

You need to lubricate the port O-ring. I suspect that you can damage the O-ring by forcing it on, unlubricated. When you put it together right(with the o-ring lubricated), the o-ring is not compresed at all. The port will just slide on with no effort and you the locks will move into place just as easy as when there is no port on. You will be able to wiggel the port even when it is "locked" in place. Once in the water, it is the water pressure that holds the port in place and puts pressure on the o-ring to keep water out.

Yes you are right, I don't need FEC with manual control it would be redundant. I was thinking about possible upgrades to TTL down the line. I won't worry about it for now as manual should be fine.

Thanks for the tip about O-ring grease on the port. I'll definately do that and check my O-ring for any possible damage. (I'm sure its in the manual) :oops:

Any other tips are greatly appreciated. I'm still learning a lot.

Ok, I've had some time with the new housing topside. It works great! I'm very pleased.

1) The port 5503.50 works great with the 12-24mm lens. I'm still waiting on the clamp band from B&H. The standard one doesn't work--just like Ike said. Make sure you orient the sun shade correctly. It does vigenette slightly at 12mm if it is not. Otherwise I couldn't see it in the picture.

2) The port 5505 works great with the 60mm macro.

3) The port 5503.55 works with the kit lens. Edit: It does allow you to zoom all the way to 70 mm with a B+W +4 diopter from B&H with room to spare.

4) all the ports fit much easier with lubricated O-rings--just like others have stated. They go on like butter.

5) Terriffic! The DS125s can keep up with the D70 continius 3fps motor drive for all levels on the manual controller 4.5-2. At 2.5 and above it misses some shots. This will be fun. I'll try this on auto-bracket and fast sequences. Why would you want an SB-800?

6) The manual controllers work great in my topside tests. I'm running one manual controller with a sync cord and the second as a slave. This works well once you have it aimed correctly.

7) There is no way to use Flash Exposure Compensation in this housing. Not an issue now without TTL, but may be in the future.

8) Be careful while latching this system. The latches are quite stiff and its easy to catch your finger between the handle and the latch. It just takes a bit of practice to latch the two side latches simultainiously.

The manual controller cords are just long enough for my two 8" ultralight bouyancy arms. This is a bit tight but functional.

The whole system with 2 strobes just barely fits into a Summerville 30-can soft cooler from target. I like the oarnge.

I get in the pool on Monday to test and Leave Thursday for Key Largo. I'm really glad to have this early. There is a whole lot to learn on this system. Thanks again Ike.[/b]

A Beauty!

I'm quite jealous...

Let us know how you find the viewfinder to work with.

Jack

Thanks for the update........nice looking rig and well thought out

I'm also interested in your experience with the viewfinder.........

Have a great trip to Florida....we'll be anxious to see your pics when you return

Karl

I've got to ask since I ordered two Ikelite D70 housings last week........Ike whats the deal with the 18-70 w/diopter hitting the port?

Can this be corrected?

Also, if iTTL becomes available in the future....can the housings be retrofitted for access to the Flash Exposure Compensation button?

Karl

Thank you for the information, good work. I hope you can show us some pics...

1) The port 5503.50 works great with the 12-24mm lens. .....

 

2) The port 5505 works great with the 60mm macro.  

What about the 60mm in the 5503.50? Ikelite web site tell its posible, work ok? Its better for me two lenses and one port....

I'm thinking to ask for this ports:

12-24mm - 5503.50 + 5509.12 (to operate the zoom)

60mm micro - 5503.50

18-70 mm - 5503.55 + 5509.28

105mm micro - 5508.05

It's ok? Some help? I forgot something?

Thank you very much

The 18-70mm length question depends on thickness of the + diopter lens. Next 1/2" longer port can be utilized but seems ridiculous to gain something like 5mm more range at the long end of the zoom. We will offer an upgrade migration to TTL when available if at all possible. We are close on Canon eTTL and believe Nikon iTTL will be much easier.

ike,

would that be for ike only strobes, or would inon strobes also be compatible?

in any event great news

/paul

UWphotoNewbie has us confused on the port question. We just used the 18-70mm kit lens with a +4 diopter in the recommended #5503.55 port on a D-70 without a problem. Makes us wonder if he stacked like a +3 and a +1 or included some filter in his stack that prevented full zoom.

Ike, what brand diopters did you use?

Karl

Our +4 has no identification markings, but there is room for a second in the port. This makes us believe the confusion is which port was used because both #5503.50 and #5503.55 ports were purchased.

G'day from downunder

I have been folowing this thread with interest as I am considering moving to a dslr (in particular the D70) from the point and shoot CanonS50. Has anyone yet taken any sub surface shots with the D70 to show UW picture quality, WA and macro?

Does anyone have any advice for someone making the transition ? (sorry if this is not the forum, just point me in the right direction )

Cheers

Shaune

Check out "Wiseman Beginner Column" in Features above.....I believe the first Ikelite D70 housing is heading for the Florida Keys this weekend.....I'm sure we'll see some shots next week

Karl

I guess I'll have to eat crow. I was certain that I was using the correct port based on comparing length. But the fact is that I indeed had the two mixed up. I have to come clean--there is no way to hide my mistake. I appologize to anyone that may have been confused about this point,. I tried this again tonight and in fact there is pleanty of room inside the port for the kit lens with a +4 diopter. The ports are not marked but this should have been clear to me by a size comparison.

Sorry about the confusion.

Seems like a real company would mark some identification on the different ports............?

One more question about lens and ports. The 60mm micro can work in this ports: 5503.50 (dome port) 5505 (flat port) and 5506 (flat port but only manual focus) If the 5506 is only for manual focus I understand that the other two ports (5503.50 and 5505) let me to change ¡t from manual to auto focus.

Is this idea correct?

Can I really change it in the lens?

Thank you very much.