Canon EOS 20 D -please advise on lenses,port, strobe w/Ikeli

Marty: I like your choice of housings, if we could only get a 20d to fit and use the 10-22 lens

Bill

In terms of optical quality both Sigmas have slightly overtaken the Canon originals especially wide open (which is not that important with a macro lens). However the differences are so small as all those telecentric designed macro lenses perfom very well with DSLRs in general.

Canon 100mm Macro has faster focus for sure including manual override (USM).

I am really not sure if the Canon 50mm is faster than the Sigma 50mm as stated? Both do not have USM/HSM, just regular focus drives. Did someone tried both side by side? I did not notice the Canon to be faster focusing.

Julian

I have a Canon 50mm macro and really the autofocus is not fast as USM lenses, the big issue with autofocus happens when you are taking pictures very close to subject and then try to get a closeup picture from a medium fish... When you need to change the distance between you and the fish from 0,5m up to 0,50m.. If the focus distance change just few centimeters, slow focus could not be a problem.

I tried the sigma one and occurs the same about Canon, but I think canon a little bit more fast.

Best Regards

Fabio

I finally took the plunge after advice on Wetpixal and purchased a 20D and Ikelite on very short notice rushed me a eTTL housing and Ryan coordinated the sale and is sending me the strobe package. I only started looking last week in last minute deperation ahead of my trip this friday to Tahiti and New Zealand. I should have everything in hand tomorrow! Ikelite went out of their way to help me out. I'm sold on their customer service. I got Ryan's name from Matt Segal's trip report (thanks Matt). Very responsive. I didn't get a steal on the deal but got a fair price and excellent customer service. Thanks to Ryan and Ike I will shooting my first uw digital pics in a few days! Of course, I'm still bringing my Nik V and 15mm lens. ANY SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT TO CARRY ALL THIS STUFF IN????

Jim

re: 20D in a Subal C10 housing - I'm hoping someone can confirm if this will really work or not. I've emailed Subal asking as much and they have not answered my questions. I'd like to try one of the 20D's before the Wetpixel Shark trip in March. Even if I had to buy a replacement backplate it would be cheaper than buying a completely new housing (which I'm not prepared to do).

btw - has anyone else noticed the price of Subal housings has increased significantly since last summer? Is this the result of the falling US$ ??

Marty - I seriously doubt that they would let on about a method of adapting a C10 to allow for the 20D that would lose them a sale of a brand new C20... :?

~Matt Segal

re: cropping and macros. I totally agree with you Bill, throwing away pixels is not desirable, and it's not something I do in gross amounts often - but it is an option if I feel the final composition is better served by eliminating distracting elements around the periphery of the image. so now we're into personal preference. neither is right or wrong, it's what gives you the most pleasure from your work. I have the 100mm USM macro as well and while I use it rarely, the results are always beautiful. and I like the extra distance I can get from the subject with this lens.

my typical dive weekend arsenal is the 15mm fisheye, 17-35/2.8L, and the 50mm macro. I like the 17-35 in warmer waters where I can pull back, but here in the cold dark northwest the 15mm is what gets used the most so I can get close and get more light on my subjects. For weeklong trips I bring the 100mm as I'll probably only use it on 1 or 2 dives the whole week.

Marty

Marty - I seriously doubt that they would let on about a method of adapting a C10 to allow for the 20D that would lose them a sale of a brand new C20... :?  

 

~Matt Segal

not so fast Matt. the upper controls already line up as do the main dial and half the back buttons are close to the 10D's locations. The new multiway controller is obviously a problem, but really the only button I would want for sure to work is the info and the play buttons. And possible the '*' button for CF4 focusing.

I'm quite happy with the 10D as it is in the current C10 housing. 6Mpix vs 8Mpix doens't make a noticible difference for my use, the only thing that really bums me out is that the 10D isn't EF-S compatible and so I can't take advantage of the 10-22EF-S lens.

re: 20D in a Subal C10 housing - I'm hoping someone can confirm if this will really work or not. I've emailed Subal asking as much and they have not answered my questions.  I'd like to try one of the 20D's before the Wetpixel Shark trip in March. Even if I had to buy a replacement backplate it would be cheaper than buying a completely new housing (which I'm not prepared to do).

Berkley at Backscatter told me he was able to try fitting a 20D into a Subal C10 housing a few months ago. He said the fit was close, but not perfect. You might try giving him a call if you want more detail.

How important are focusing lights and targeting lasers? Is there any way to get eTTL-2 AND a focusing light AND targeting laser? I wish there was a strobe that combined the DS-125 with the Inon Z-220.

Rick

I have a Canon EOS 20 D with Ikelite eTTL Housing, dome ports and 2 X DS 125 Stobes. What an excellent combination. I have a range of Canon lenses that being 100mm f2.8 Macro USM lens, 10-22mm lens, 15mm Fish eye and the standard 18-55. With that lot one has a full range of the best gear and lenses. I recently dived with someone who was using a 18-85mm lens which has an incredible range underwater is is certainly an option to consider.