House modification

Hello to you all,

I've been reading and looking on this forum for a while now and its fun and very usefull. I've been searching in the database of wetpixel for my question and I couldn't find any answer direct, so I will ask it here.

I am planning to go digital (D70), but I don't want to buy a new housing for it. I am planning to modify my Ike SLR-MD f601 case, since its still in very good condition. The SLR-MD is large, so the D70 should fit in.

My questions are:

- Are the push buttons of the case, sold seperatly? (I know that the levers are)

- Does anyone have experience with these modifications?

- I am making a list of the functions I really want to control: shutter, aperature, zoom, power, replay, whitebalance, ev-control.

Which other funtions do I really need to control?

Thanks.

I'm confused - do you already have the Ikelite MD case for the f601? If so, are you thinking of buying some buttons and levers to "rig up" the housing to work with the D70? I'm sure it's possible, but good luck! It won't be easy.

I wouldn't worry about the buttons. It's the shutter and front and rear command dials that you will need to access mostly.

HTH

James

Yes, I already have the MD-case. Shutter won't be the problem since it's at almost the same spot as at my f601. When I shoot in RAW, I don't think you really need acces to the command dials, acces to the apperature is most important then and that's already availible in the case.

In the end, I don't think I have to make new entries in the case. I will not be able to control everything, but that's fine when I can save a lot of money. I only have to align the cameratray in the case: Does anybody know where I can find the detailed measurements of the D70?

But I have encountered another problem:

My Substobe 100 will only be triggered by the D70 in manual mode, I saw that Ikelite have a nice manual controller, but the manual controller does not work with the Substrobe 100 Is there anyway to work around this problem? Otherwise, I will only have the "half" and "full" settings on the flash. (It should not be to difficult to modify the flash with another controller)

P.S.: Don't worry about my luck, since I was a child I have modified and improved almost everything to my needs, most things still work, by the way, who said that underwaterphotography was easy.

Yes, I already have the MD-case. Shutter won't be the problem since it's at almost the same spot as at my f601. When I shoot in RAW, I don't think you really need acces to the command dials, acces to the apperature is most important then and that's already availible in the case.  

Are you going to use the front command dial to control aperture? The aperture control of the MD601 housing is set up for rotating the actual aperture ring of the lens, which you can't do with the D70 (if I recall correctly).

If that is the case, you'll need the front command dial to align correctly as well...

FWIW: I think this whole "I can shoot in RAW and fix in post" attitude is misguided (not directed at just you individually, as you're going to have to do this to work in the scenario you are describing, but it is pertinent to this discussion). Yes, shooting RAW gives you the ability to make changes after the event, but I still think that you are better having all the necessary controls for the camera accessible so that you can get settings as close to what you want/need for a particular shot, then making subtle changes in post-processing, rather than relying on gross corrections at a later stage. One of the big advantages of a dSLR (so they tell me ) is the ability to change ISO on the fly shot by shot, which you will not be able to do. What about whitebalance... yes, you can do this in post-processing, but if you do it at the time, you spend less time in front of the computer.

Just a few thoughts... Personally, I'd be looking at a new housing for the D70. As an added bonus the new Ikelite housings for the d70 are quite a bit smaller than the MD, which (as I'm sure you know) is a tank!