Transport solution for Ikelite DSLR UW housing?

Hi,

I purchased an Ikelite housing for my Canon 5D III some time ago, along with the 8" Dome port.

Until now, I've been carrying it in a duffle bag with some cardboard as padding.

Not really ideal in terms of protection for the housing.

I'm probably going to need two solutions: one for just the housing, dome, 2-3 extensions and 2 small underwater lamps; and the other for all that plus strobes, arms, etc when I get around to purchasing strobes. The first solution must allow me to transport the underwater housing assembled, with the camera inside.

I was thinking Pelicase or some similar off-brand knockoff, but I'm not sure what size? I'm not even sure there is one which allows for transport of an assembled housing with dome port.

What do you guys suggest, and what do you use yourselves?

Cheers

Have a look at the ThinkTankPhoto Airport Series (in particular the Airport Security V2)

Hi Istiophorus

This has to be one of the most asked questions on Wetpixel! And there have to be dozens of solutions with everyone having their favourites.

The solution, I believe, if you want to move all that gear in one one box is called "a house".

Pelicans cases - or similar - are great. They sure take the knocks, protect the gear really well and will last for ever. The downsides are that they are heavy and expensive. If you want to take one on a flight you need to check that the one you chose is within the limits of the airline cabin baggage allowance. I think the Pelican 1510 roller box is about the limit. You should be able to get a housing, strobes and EXRs into that - but probably not, say, an 8" dome port as well. But DO check carefully as Ikelite housings can be quite big.

And watch the weight! A fully loaded Pelican case can easily weigh 15kgs. Let's not discuss how you get that into the cabin inside the usual 7-10kg limit.....

I haul a D800 housing, a 9" dome, 2 Inons strobes, a flat port and then all the usual bits and pieces by air; The housing, flat port and strobes go in my Pelican case as cabin baggage (no problem so far - 15 years on); the 9" dome in a padded out cool bag hand-carried; and the rest (arms, clamps etc) in my hold-loaded bag with my dive gear. I also have a softish camera bag with me which has 2x D800s and lenses.

If you want something to haul your gear around at the location, a cool bag works well; and my own personal favourite, the humble laundry basket. Self-draining, cheap, disposable, buy one at any hardware store or supermarket, donate it when you leave, available in a range of colours. Stick a bin bag inside and you also have your own rinse tank - great on dive boats with small rinse tanks or where people happily throw their mask and snorkel in the camera rinse tank.

So, there's a couple of ideas..... they work for me.

Richard suggested the ThinkTank Photo Airport Series. They sure look great. Toss up between that an a Pelican I'd suggest. Advantage of the Pelican is that if you have to hold load the bag (God forbid), you might worry less with a chunky Pelican case over the softer ThinkTank. But for hauling gear around, the ThinkTanks looks terrific.

But you have to face it, there is no perfect solution: we all chase one. We never find it.... a bit like the Holy Grail.

The problem I found with the Peli cases was that the only decent one for carry on was/is the 1610? (with the wheels) and by the time you take away the space for the large sliding handle and the loss of space inside (and the weight) it wasn't very deep to put domes on their sides and you are sacrificing a lot for the protection. I have the 1510 which is slightly bigger, but no wheels and once that is full of camera gear it rather heavy - too heavy really to lug around an airport for 2-3hrs.

The ThinkTank Airport rollers, however have much more space, don't shout 'camera kit' and are great for larger housings - but Tim is right I'm nervous of the day when I'm told its too big and will have to go in the hold - have a few heavier cases on it and it won't be pretty

As for local diving, I use a 48 can AOCooler bag - this is great for the day diving, back and forth from home for example.

Are you sure that's the 1510 (with no wheels), Richard? Mine sure has wheels and the extending handle is outside the case. The only thing that intrudes into the interior space of the case are the arches that accommodate the wheels.

You are right for sure on the weight! I would not want to have to hand carry that bad boy around once it's got my housing etc in it. The wheels are essential. I think we've all done that "shucks, ma'am, this is no weight at all" to the cabin crew when trying to get the case into the overhead locker.

The 1520 hasn't got wheels. Have you got that one? It's a similar size to the 1510.

The one thing I did find with the 1510 is that my housing can't stand up in it because of the extended pentaprism part of the housing (to accommodate a raised flash to trigger the fibre-optic links). It has to lie-down in the case and this takes up more space.

One thing I dislike in the Peli cases, that they are heavy, the 1510 alone weighs 6kg-s, which was the cabin weight limit on my latest flight to Egypt... For cabin use, I'd vote for a well-padded, maxi-size soft camera bag/backpack, even custom-made.

My DSLR rig (aside from body and lenses) goes checked in a SKB (similar to Pelican) case. Full, it weighed in at the airport pretty much at the limit - 66lb (30kg). Housing, strobes, dome, macro port, arms, clamps, batteries, etc all go in the case.

It came with foam I plucked to give everything a specific spot. All the gear made it to the Maldives and back to the USA without any issues, aside from one lock on the case is being lost.

You just can't always carry on all the weight anymore, with new cabin baggage limits of 7kg per bag which are often strictly enforced. All my gear is fully insured, so while I don't love checking all that stuff, it's only one trip that is at risk (on the way out).