First dives with Subal C20 for Canon 20D

This past Saturday I was able to pick up my Subal C20 from Backscatter. This was the first delivery of a C20 to the shop. I preordered last October. My wife and I did two shore dives with the housing on Sunday (yesterday).

First off I should state that I do not feel qualified to technically �review� this housing. I have no UW SLR experience to compare to. My experience to date consists to six years shooting with a Nikonos V. These first dives with the 20D were my first time composing through the lens and also my first use of manual exposure settings (I used TTL exclusively on the Nik V).

I purchased a flat port for use with my Sigma 50 mm F2.8 DG Macro lens. All UW shots were captured with this lens. I used two Sea&Sea YS-90 Duo�s (not DX) so I had only 1/2 and full power settings available.

Exposure without TTL turned out to be simple. I adjusted my strobes to 1/2 power and a reasonable location, set the shutter for 1/125, aperture to f22, LCD to histogram and shot a test image. I was too dark so I moved to f16. These settings were fine for small sculpins and gobies. When I came across a large Cabezon I readjusted the strobes and set the aperture to f11.

Notice the proper placement of the * button. This is different then what was shown in the BOOT expo photo posted last week. Yeah!

Note: I use an LCD scratch protection film, mostly to prevent abuse while land shooting.

Images from first dive:

I handed the camera to my wife and she outdid me by capturing this:

I can't wait to get back in the water with the new rig.

Next purchase: the 8 inch dome to be used with my Canon 15 mm FE.

-Brad

Great shots Brad, especially considering this was your first time out shooting a housed SLR and manual exposure. Did you shoot autofocus or manual? I am looking at getting the Sigma 50 and curious what your thoughts were on this lens.

Regards, Keith

Congrats Brad on getting the housing so quickly. I really thought that you might be waiting for another month or so.

Thanks for sharing your initial thoughts. And don't feel afraid to share them - since you are probably one of the very few who have this housing - your opinions are doubly valuable.

Good to see that the * button is in the "right" place.

Alex

Great shots Brad, especially considering this was your first time out shooting a housed SLR and manual exposure. Did you shoot autofocus or manual? I am looking at getting the Sigma 50 and curious what your thoughts were on this lens.

 

Regards, Keith

Thanks,

The shot's look a little dark on my monitor here at work on a PC. I really need to calibrate my Mac monitor at home for PC gamma.

I shot autofocus.

-Brad

Edit: Ok, I've adjusted the brightness of the above UW photos so they look good on my PC here at work, then re-uploaded them. Nothing like Microsoft Photo Editor when you're in a pinch.

The big viewfinder looks very nice. How easy is it to compose through it?

The big viewfinder looks very nice. How easy is it to compose through it?

I should preface my comments with the reminder that I have never peered through the viewfinder of a housed SLR that did not have the GS viewfinder so I can't make comparisons.

I can say that I found composition relatively easy. Your eye needs to in the correct position relative to the viewfinder for the image to be sharp. I'm told it takes around three dives until you will be able to instinctively position your eye correctly. I've only done two dives and the second dive does not count.

The first shore dive was at the Monterey breakwater. There were no waves and very little surge. All UW photos above were from that dive. The second dive was at much more difficult site: Lover's Point third beach in Pacific Grove. After observing the site for 15 minutes (while I took photos of the C20 housing that are posted above) we decided the beach entry looked fine. As soon as we wandered into the water with fins-in-hand we were pounded by overhead waves. After a surface swim we did a shallow dive accompanied by lots of surge. We saw almost no subjects worth shooting. I think the animals were hiding from the rough water. The viewfinder was difficult to use in the surge. It would have been just as difficult shooting with my Nik V. Exit from the water was a bit complicated. I was rolled in the rocks once but the camera survived without a scratch. We should have stuck with the breakwater for the second dive.

Brad, you won't need the 8" dome, I shoot the 15FE behind the DP-SWC without vignetting.

Might save you a few hundred bucks.

stu

very nice. congratualtions on your new housing. what do you think about the new viewfinder? were you able to do a side by side comparison with the old style viewfinder?

thanks,

Marty

Brad, you won't need the 8" dome, I shoot the 15FE behind the DP-SWC without vignetting.

 

Might save you a few hundred bucks.

 

stu

It's my understanding, after doing some research, that the FE2 dome would be better in terms of corner softness then the smaller SWC Subal dome when paired with a 15 mm fisheye lens. The FE2 is also better suited for over/under shots. The downsides of the FE2 would of course be greater cost and increased bulk in my packed bags. Can anybody else comment on this?

I've noticed there have been some new threads concerning the 20D and lens choices. I though I might add some data points to my own earlier thread.

These shots were captured using a Canon 15mm fisheye lens behind a Subal FE2 8" glass dome (picked up on ebay), no diopter of course, and no extensions. I'm very happy with the field of view provided by this lens (~107 degrees). It's wide enough to let me get close to a subject but not so wide that I have difficulty filling the frame.

I'm leaving for a live aboard trip in Vanuatu next Tuesday. I can't wait to really put my rig through it paces!

These shots were taken at a dive site called Metridium Field in Monterey. The beach entry is almost directly across the street from Backscatter. The visability was around 15 feet.

Cropped a bit so I could print an 8x10.

Not cropped.

-Brad

Hi Brad,

Sounds like you really scored picking up that 8" dome on ebay - good job! I too like the FOV of the 15mm fisheye lens. It's sharp and focuses close.

Great photos of a difficult subject.

Cheers

James

Great photos of a difficult subject.

I'd almost be offended if you said that about my dive buddy