A "few" housing and port questions :-)

I’ve decided to go with the Canon 300D with kit lens. I’m thinking about buying a macro lens as well. The lenses I’m choosing from are: Sigma Macro 50mm F2.8 EX DG, Sigma Macro 105mm F2.8 EX DG, Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro and Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM.

Now a “few” questions about housing and ports:

1. Ikelite 6870 VS Aquatica A300. Pro-Cons?

2. Is it a dome port included in the Aquatica A300 housing package? If, can I use any of the macro lenses with it?

3. Does Ikelite port 5503 fit any of my suggested macro lenses?

4. 50mm macro VS 100mm macro. Pro-Cons?

5. Flat VS dome port for macro? Pro- Cons?

6. Prices… Probably me going blind but I’m having a hard time to find prices for Aquatica ports. Which Aquatica port should I use with my macro lens suggestions?

7. Exactly what do I need to buy except housing and ports to get my 300D underwater? Any accessories like zoom gear, shades and diopters?

Now you have something to bite on... ;-)

Regards

Pedda

1/Ikelite's cheaper, possibility of good eTTL support soon. I like the Aquatica ports better, especially the 8-inch dome.

2/No

3/The 5503.50 is listed as fitting the Canon 50mm macro

4/Opinions differ. The Canon 100mm USM is generally regarded as a great lens above water, and there's a very nifty manual focus Ike port available for it. Canon 50mm is 1:2 only, and has a non-USM motor. Both good for underwater. I use Tamron 90mm macro, but would not particularly recommend it underwater due to slow AF and limited port information. Some like the Sigma 50mm.

5/recently discussed at length in this forum.

6/Check BHphotovideo.com for prices as they stock both Ikelite and Aquatica (even if you buy elsewhere, it's a good source of information)

7/I have Camera, lens, port for lens, strobe arm, sync cord, strobe, manual Ev controller, sync cord, batteries, 1 gig flash card, backup flash cards, Lowe-pro dryzone backpack,zoom gear,+4 diopter. I think I have just about finished my underwater digital shopping spree, except for the housing (quite an important component). But I may have forgotten something. If you choose Ikelite, check the port chart on their website which will explain about port,zoom gear and diopter for your choice of lens.

I just went through the same exercise as you and I ended up purchasing the Ike housing, mostly because it was an easier and cheaper experience then purchasing an Aquatica product. B&H had everything in stock and the Ike website has a good port chart.

I was in La Paz 2 weeks ago and shot exclusively macro with the Canon 100mm behind a flat port (5505.45). I think it's a fabulous lens, although the small field of view took some getting used to, and it the lens takes a lot of light.

All in all I'm quite happy with the housing. For the price I think is a very good value.

If you're shooting wide angle you will need a zoom gear. And of course don't forget arms, strobes and a sync cord.

1/Ikelite's cheaper, possibility of good eTTL support soon.

Everybody but Ike speak about Ikelite's eTTL. Are there any tests with the eTTL conversion circuity already?

No. I don't know why Rob keeps mentioning. Just about every housing manufacturer has mentioned the "possibility" of iTTL but none have shown any results. There have been rumors of dTTL conversion circuits for years but none ever turned up.

Cheers

James

Ike himself has posted several teasers on this board about eTTL support but it doesn't exist yet so no tests all talk so far. Ike claims that the order will be 1) eTTL for Canon , then iTTL for Nikon. He has had some great success with solving Olympous TTL though so I have "faith" that he'll crack it.

Others may be looking into the same thing but no one else contributes to this board (and the roumors it generates) like Ike. Hopefully iTTL will be around long enough for the housing manufactures to catch up. The problem with dTTL is that it looks like it is dead so there is no sensense working on it anymore. Presumably most of the owners of older cameras already bought their housings and the money is in the new buyers.

50mm vs 100mm macro. No One said anything about this one so I'll give it a try.

50 mm is generally considered a more versitile lens because the appearent image size is smaller you can get more in the frame if you need to. I shoot the 60mm macro on Nikon (basically the same as the 50) because I can't pin down exactly what I want to shoot at the beginning of a dive. The 60 was just right for fish portraits as well as small stuff if you get close enough. The 105 mm (100mm on Canon) is better for skittish creatures and very small stuff but is more limited. You will also need to use higher shutter speeds because of the longer focal length so it is more limited in that respect as well. The advice I received was as a beginner start with the 60 and then add the 105 as an advanced lens.

Alternately, I would get one macro lens (50mm) and one Wide Angle lens like the sigma 15mm instead. That would give you two very different options to cover a broader selection of subjects.

All good advice so far, but....

You will also need to use higher shutter speeds because of the longer focal length so it is more limited in that respect as well.

Not with flash as primary light source.

Yes, it was Ike who started all these darn eTTL rumours. I wonder if they're true...

4-5.

You most likely want the canon 100mm with a flat port and a manual focus port/gear setup. If you buy the 50mm, you're going to eventually

end up buying the 100mm.

I am totally setup for either the 50mm and 100mm underwater. The 100mm sees about 10x as much usage as the 50.

There's a good chance you will find the 100mm frustrating UW at first.

Stick with it.

I’ve decided to go with the Canon 300D with kit lens. I’m thinking about buying a macro lens as well. The lenses I’m choosing from are: Sigma Macro 50mm F2.8 EX DG, Sigma Macro 105mm F2.8 EX DG, Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro and Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM.  

 

Now a “few” questions about housing and ports:

 

1. Ikelite 6870 VS Aquatica A300. Pro-Cons?

2. Is it a dome port included in the Aquatica A300 housing package? If, can I use any of the macro lenses with it?

3. Does Ikelite port 5503 fit any of my suggested macro lenses?

4. 50mm macro VS 100mm macro. Pro-Cons?

5. Flat VS dome port for macro? Pro- Cons?

6. Prices… Probably me going blind but I’m having a hard time to find prices for Aquatica ports. Which Aquatica port should I use with my macro lens suggestions?

7. Exactly what do I need to buy except housing and ports to get my 300D underwater? Any accessories like zoom gear, shades and diopters?

 

Now you have something to bite on... ;-)

 

Regards

 

Pedda