Ikelite housing for G3

I have been shooting with a Nik V for the last 8 years or so and I just recently got back from trip to Cozumel still waiting on my slide film to get back. My wife shot her Oly 3030 in one of the first Pt-xxx housings with an epoque strobe and got decent shots with it. I have been shooting with a dslr for the last 2 1/2 years. First with an S2 and now with a D70. I have been looking at housings for the D70 but don't think I want to go there yet.

My wife has a G3 that I think Ikelite makes a pretty nice housing for with a strobe setup. I guess the larger strobe DS125? is the one to get with it. Of note we also have the INON wa lens that fits on the PT housing will this fit on the ikelite housing as well? OK guys I need a little help here trying to cobble something together for me. Or maybe I should continue shooting with my Nik? heh....

Sorry if the question has been asked but there are very few post about G3 and have been reading all evening.

Tony

go for the D70 underwater ....you won't be happy with shutter lag and slow focus with a prosumer camera

IMHO 8)

Karl

How do you like your setup with the Ikelite housing? Would you recommend it? Would the aquatica housing be better? I know nothing about ports which ports to get? I have a plethora of lenses...nikon 24-120VR, nikkor 28-105, sigma 15-30, tamron 90 and 180 , and nikkor 50 1.8 . The camera uses ittl is that going to work? Is it at all compatible with my sea and sea ys120 strobe that I already use? I also have ultrlight tray and arm and sea and sea to nikonos synch cord. Thanks

Tony

Tony, welcome to wetpixel

I'm very impressed with the Ikelite housing and the way everything works. I've owned two other Ikelite housings so I'm familiar with their reliability...plus Ike's after sale service is second to none. First dive will be next weekend, so I'll know more then. I have to say that I get aluminum envy when I look at Nexus and Aquatica, but when it comes down to it....I really like being able to see the camera and controls thru the housing....seems silly, but I know where everything is and it's one less thing to worry about........I also bought a rig for my wife's D70 so the cost of two rigs was a major factor in my decision....Now that we've got them set up, I don't regret my decision at all.....after all, it's just a box to keep the camera dry

Besides the obvious difference between aluminum and polycarbonate, here are a few things to consider:

1. Cost difference is approximately $1000 -$1200 with ports, etc...with Nexus being even a little higher than Aquatica

2. Ikelite mounts the camera to the rear lid of the housing and the others mount the camera on a removable tray in the main housing. The rear mount assures positive contact with the control buttons, but the camera needs to be removed from the tray to change memory cards. Not a major deal to me because I use 4GB microdrives. The removable tray will also let you easily use the camera between dives for topside shots. I haven't experienced changing ports between dives yet...so there may be some other differences between the two setups that I'm not aware of yet.

3. Ports - Aquatica and Nexus have excellent ports that can support different lenses by changing out extension rings, etc. So, one would only buy one dome and/or one flat port and then just get the proper sized extensions for the lenses you have - Ikelite makes a different port for each lens, so you end up with more complete ports to carry around.

4. Aquatica and Ikelite are working on iTTL and that circuitry can be retrofitted in the fairly near future...I prefer manual strobe control unless they design it so that you can switch underwater between iTTL and manual. I would consider that if it happens.

5. Nikon 70-180 micro....Nexus and Aquatica support this lens and Ikelite doesn't...Ike did offer to look at housing the 70-180 if I would send him one to work with...I sold mine before pursueing that option....I'm satisfied with the 60micro and 105micro and a couple of close up lenses

I'm sure others will add to this list. All of these units are excellent and you'll be well served with any one of them. It becomes a personal choice more than "one's better than the other".

I can't help with your strobe and sync cord questions.

Karl

So I take it then you are shooting full manual with the camera and the strobes. Just set the camera around F8 and 1/100th of a sec and bracket away. I can really appreciate what you are saying about the cost especially If I only dive 3 weeks out of the year. Egads I just have a lot of film equipment which will be very difficult to get rid of. Where did you get your rig at? Saw they had some at adorama.

Tony

Hey Critter,

I've been thinking of housing a G1 or G2 in an Ikelite (I've bid for both housings on Ebay, but lost). So I've done as much reading on the subject as posible, which isn't much. There's not much on wetpixel in this regard, as I don't think the Canon G-series ever became a popular underwater choice.

BTW, I was only ever planning to house the prosumer Canon as a stopgap measure while I wait for Ike to work out how big a 10D is, or Aquatica to make an ICU which actually works. I sort of wish I'd bid an extra $5 for that G2 housing now cos at least I'd have a readily useable underwater in my hands as we speak - but I wouldn't recommend it as a long term plan. These cameras are ultimately pretty crap compared to a DSLR - in terms of shutter lag, picture quality etc

Tony, I bought my setups from Ryan at Underwater Camera Pros.....they are a sponsor here....click on a link to the right....Ryan is very well informed and his enthusiasm for his work/passion is infectious

Karl

Hey Critter,

I've been using the G1 in an Ikelite housing for the past few years. Ikelite housings are very nice to use, as their setup ensures that all buttons are reached, and the clear housing lets you immediately see any problems (which saved my setup when I tested the seal in the rinse bucket before a dive and noticed water seeping in). You will get some very nice pictures from the G3 underwater, and it is a lot cheaper than going to a D-SLR system. I say that now, as I am upgrading to the Digital Rebel. :wink:

Well dvingmedic I have already bit the bullet and I am awaiting from Ryan the housing for my D70. When I started adding up the housing price and the special strobes and cabling necessary to hook up a digicam it was within a few hundered bucks of housing my D70 so it was really pretty much a no brainer. Good luck with the drebel it should give you nice shots.

Tony