It's HERE!!! (Ike 20D Housing)

So...after days and days and weeks of waiting...I received two somewhat large packages in the mail today, containing none other than the elusive Ikelite 20D housing with eTTL2 support (which, if I might add, has exposed shots perfectly in my very short and simple testing)!!! Special thanks to both Ryan of UWCP.com and Ike Brigham of Ikelite for managing to get everything together for my trip.

These horrible pictures that I took do not do the housing justice whatsoever...but, I'm tired (it's 11:30PM) and going to bed, so more pictures tomorrow as I figure out how to pack everything

Getting used to the viewfinder will probably be the greatest challenge...we'll see how it goes. I leave for Turks and Caicos early Saturday morning

To whet your appetite

~Matt Segal

Looks Great Matt .........Ike has really done his homework on these new housings.....I think you'll be surprised how easy it is to get used to the viewfinder.....I'll bet that after a couple of dives you'll never miss the LCD and will actually prefer the viewfinder....at least that was my experience with the D70

I'll be interested in how the eTTL works for you....I expect that it will ROCK for macro.....it sure cleans up the rig to not have the manual controllers adding to the bulk of the system.....are you planning on using a focus light?.....how are you going to mount it?.....we mounted a ULCS ball to the lower arm and it works great whenever we use the light....however, in clear water, we don't really need a focus light....at night, we hang on a Light Cannon next to the lens and it's awesome

A couple of pearls of wisdom Be sure to lightly grease the port o-rings....it makes changing ports a snap....you've probably already done it, but be sure to go thru the mounting sequence for all your lens/ports/sleeves/zoom gear before you leave on your trip....unless you've done it before, it's not something you want to figure out on the liveaboard.... the other tip I might add is to make attaching the sync cord to the rear of the housing your very last task as you assemble your rig.....you don't want to have it attached when you lay the housing on it's back to change ports....after you do it a couple of times, changing ports/lens/batteries/cards becomes second nature and is very easy.....we use 2gb cards which insures that I can do 5 dives in RAW without opening the back....then I download and change batteries once a day....all my lens can be changed through the port opening without getting into the back of the housing.....very, very easy and quick to change between dives.....I've even done it on the small Cozumel boats

I hope you have a great trip and I know you will enjoy your new system.....can't wait to see your pictures

Karl

Looks Great Matt .........Ike has really done his homework on these new housings.....I think you'll be surprised how easy it is to get used to the viewfinder.....I'll bet that after a couple of dives you'll never miss the LCD and will actually prefer the viewfinder....at least that was my experience with the D70

I quickly realized how much easier it was to frame and judge focus with a viewfinder.

Congrats on the new housing. Maybe now Ike will bless us D70 users with some iTTL love.

Wow, looking good! Thanks for posting the photos. This looks like an excellent Ike housing!

I like how you've fitted your Ultralight tray to the housing - pretty neat. I think this will be an excellent rig as with Canon cameras it's much easier to get the card out as it comes out the side.

As soon as you get some sample underwater photos - even in a pool - please post them. Canon users say that eTTL2 is supposed to be MUCH better than eTTL, so I'm hoping for spot on exposures in macro.

This just may be the stray that gets me to buy a Canon camera folks. Oops, did I say that out loud? :-)

Kudos Ike and thanks again Matt.

Cheers

James

Thanks all for the kind words and luck - hopefully I'll adapt quickly...best to do it while I'm young, no?

it sure cleans up the rig to not have the manual controllers adding to the bulk of the system.....are you planning on using a focus light?.....how are you going to mount it?.....

Re: cleaning up the system - I love how it's a little less cluttered as well, both aesthetically and logistically. With regard to a focus light, so far I've just been using the light on the DS-125s...I figure if I get desperate I can either a) rubber-band a small light under the macro port, or B) purchase a ULCS triple-clamp and mount it right above one of the arms...

Be sure to lightly grease the port o-rings....it makes changing ports a snap....you've probably already done it,  but be sure to go thru the mounting sequence for all your lens/ports/sleeves/zoom gear before you leave on your trip...

Interestingly enough, the ports slid in without too much resistance whatsoever. The macro was slightly more difficult to set in, but the #5503 was a piece of cake.

the other tip I might add is to make attaching the sync cord to the rear of the housing your very last task as you assemble your rig.....you don't want to have it attached when you lay the housing on it's back to change ports....

Same procedure as with the 5050 setup...I'm not sure about the tolerances of the cables, but even in packing I'm very hesitant to ever position them in a manner that places the cord right next to the connection at any angular bend...not sure how they take the stress? :-

Trying to get *everything* packed I realized that I will *not* be able to take any of the old C5050 setup...no room

So far, I've noticed one problem. It's not even a problem really, just a small annoyance. The TTL cord inside the housing, when attached, is pushed against by the Mode Dial (even when fully pulled out) when putting the housing together...*so*...I just stick a pencil in through the front to hold the cord down until I slide it past the dial. I guess a different solution is tape, but not going to worry about it since it works fine.

A few more pictures just to tempt James some more :wink: :

1/250, f/13, ISO800, 100mm, single-strobe eTTL2

1/250, f/20, ISO800, 100mm, dual-strobe eTTL2

Straight out of camera, no flash compensation, USM applied and resized. Considering these are *highly* reflective surfaces...I don't see *any* problems whatsoever when using this on sand...we'll see

BTW James - no way in the world I'm going into my freezing cold pool right now...lol...

~Matt Segal