Nikon Coolpix 995 & 5000 Housing with TTL

[Edited on 3-25-2002 by underwaterdigital]

Cool! More pictures would be great.

Cheers

James Wiseman

[Edited on 3-24-2002 by underwaterdigital]

[Edited on 3-24-2002 by underwaterdigital]

In an effort to keep up with Allan's commercialism, following photos are of our Coolpix 5000 housing which should start shipping the last week of March.

Imagine without the handle bar and removable base to understand that this installation is extremely small. Larger photos are on the Ikelite web site.

[Edited on 3-20-2002 by ike]

This is your chance to shine Ike! I noticed that your housing has a control for the AE/AF lock button - something the Nautilus housing does not appear to have. This is a BIG feature that I definitely want in a housing.

And what about the Nikon 19mm lens? It doesn't appear that the Nautilus housing can accomodate this lens either - but I could be wrong. That would be a big bonus as I own the 19mm lens (WC-E68) and it is an AWESOME piece of glass. 95 degree field of view baby!

Cheers

James "Wiseman" Wiseman

[Edited on 3-19-2002 by jamesw]

James,

The Nautilus Coolpix 5000 Housing also comes with a control for the AE/AF lock button It's funny you said that it does not come with the AE/AF control button because I don't think Nautilus would produce a housing that will not give you full control of the camera's functions.

The picture shown here are the top control buttons though if you look closely at the first picture you'll see that there are several control buttons located on lower right side of the back cover. It's a little difficult to see the buttons from the picture.

Allan

Hi Allen,

Which button on the housing are you talking about?

I have had a Coolpix 5000 for about 3 weeks. I grabbed your picture and drew an arrow showing the location of the AE/AF lock button:

It's on the front of the camera. Nikon recommends that you use your middle finger of the right hand to press the button.

Personally, I think it's an EXCELLENT addition. I have taken a series of shots, metering first the sky and holding down the AE/AF Lock button, then taking another picture metering the darker foreground. Here, I'll show you:

Metering the sky:

Now, what if you could illuminate the foreground using your strobe? You'd get a good overall exposure. Look at that starburst from the sun and the highlights in the clouds...fabulous!

Metering the foreground:

As you can see, you can really get some interesting effects using this feature. I think it will be GREAT underwater. Meter the blue water, press the button, then aim at your subject for the correct TTL strobe exposure of your foreground subject. Wouldn't that be great!

Cheers

James Wiseman

[Edited on 3-20-2002 by jamesw]

[Edited on 3-20-2002 by jamesw]

Thanks for the info guys! I love a good cat fight. I've owned a 5000 since Jan and am definitley looking to house it. James is right about the location of the metering/focus lock button and that it should be essential to proper use of the camera underwater.

With me the following are important.

1. Compatible with the DS125. (I have two)

2. Compact. This would be asecondary system for me and compactness for use and travel is essential. I note the nautalis housing has a little handle on it. I wonder about it's location though. CP 5000 owners know how you hold the camera is essential for strobe use as the flash sensor is very near the hand grip and you must not let light reflect off your fingers or anything else as they will cause an improper exposure. The handle system for the Ikelite housing is rather bulky. I am tempted to get one, get my drill out and mount it on a ultralight plate. The Ikelite single handle may be the best choice. Might it be possible to get the housing with this handle? Preferabley with a slight reduction in cost?

3. Use of the UW68 19mm nikon lens. This is a great lens and will make or break this camera for UW use. I see that Ikelite and Subal say that they will have a dome port to use with this lens.

Whoa nelly!

I don't want to give the impression that I am just "flaming." That's not what this board is about - it's about sharing information.

I certainly appreciate Allen posting some photos of this new housing here, thanks! I also want to make sure that we understand how the housing works...it's not easy to tell from a few photos...hence the questions. I'm not trying to compare the two and say "Housing X is better."

Cheers

James Wiseman

[Edited on 3-20-2002 by jamesw]

no criticism James, I like it when two manufacturers debate their products. It improves the product and gives me more data to work from.

Is exonerate a good term? I can't have Wiseman's reputation ruined by people accusing him of any association with someone as disreputable as Crazy Ike.............

ROFL, well, I DO have an Ikelite CP990 housing...but I didn't buy it from Ike, I bought it from Helix...

Here are some photos that I took with that setup:

http://www.reefpix.org

So no one can accuse me of bias. I just like the Ikelite product.

Cheers

James Wiseman

James,

Nobody is accusing you of being bias. I also think you are entitled to your own opinion and I'm actually glad you brought the AE/AF button subject.

I am not really affiliated with Nautilus but I thought it would be great to post some info here.

Allan

James,

One more thing, could you point out the AE/AF control button on the Ikelite Coolpix 5000 Housing. I am curious where exactly the button is located on the Ikelite Housing.

Allan

I have not actually held the Ikelite housing in my hand but I can tell by looking at the photos that the AE/AF lock control is the lever on the top left side (looking at the back of the housing) of the housing. You would use your left thumb or forefinger to press the lever.

This my feedback...Ike would really be the one to ask about this feature. Am I correct Ike?

Cheers

James

Can't fool those engineering types. Wiseman is correct about the AE/AF lock control lever on our housing............

Hey guys.

Just wanted to say high, and get more posts in, so that I too, may become a full fledged member, and rise up, from the low status of the junior member...

Hi Ike. Hi James.

D

Ike is a junior mumber and he went to school with Archimedes.............

OK, since we're taking about housing comparisons, let's talk about some other features...

I've got an Ike housing for my 950. I've also got several 990s, a 995, a 5000, but have not housed them... yet. Harbortronics can justify the cameras, but I have a hard time convincing myself that I need a housing to develop future DigiSnap products...... OR DO I????

Going from film to digital made a huge positive impact in my U/W photography. My current frustration is in the interface designs. I dive up here in the cold cold waters of the Puget Sound, where the giant octopi and wolf eels like to eat novice divers... well, maybe I stretched that too far ANyway, I use very thick 3 fingered gloves which make any interface difficult. To add to that, my favorite spots are in rocky holes where the critters live. Trying to manipulate the housing at arms length, laying sideways on a rock in the current, and then activating the shutter release is a real challenge.

What I'd prefer is to use a shrink fit housing, that has a sandbag attachment for the bottom (magnetically attached?) to make is strongly negative, and make for a good steady rest, and use a remote control to trigger the camera. Geez, with the small size of the 5000, just think how small a housing could be made, if all of these mechanical gizmos weren't required? Then I could poke the camera deep into holes, and see who's home. I've got some nice small homemade HID lights, so getting light in there is not as bad as it seems.

Seeing how we're already the world leader in digital camera remote controls (plug), I feel pretty confident in pulling off the remote control aspect. What I'd like to see is someone come up with the housing... Frankly, who really needs access to all of the camera buttons underwater? Our time is too limited down there to dink around... the camera needs to be set up on the surface. All I need to do is zoom, and trigger the shutter. If there's not enough light to autofocus, then I need stonger video lights.

How about it guys???

Hate to disagree, but I need more than the shutter and the zoom. In fact, I'd give away the zoom to be able to change exposure settings underwater! As far as small size goes, I think Oly has it about right with the PT-xxx series. I could easily stick my PT-010 into holes and at that range, the internal flash was adequate. Unfortunately, the housings just aren't as robust as I'm used to (though that definitely helps to keep them very inexpensive). My Ike housing for the C-4040z is close, but really can't be used without the tray and handle, which add significantly to the size.

Finally, since you live in the Puget Sound area, you might look into some SeaSoft Edge gloves. They make them with the trigger finger and thumb less thick than the rest of the glove. I just received my pair, which are 3mm except for the trigger finger and thumb, which are 1.5mm. the palm and fingers are covered in Kevlar. They're pretty sweet, but they ain't cheap! Go to www.watermark1.com to chek them out.

Mike