Ikelite housing for Oly C4040

Hi,

I just got an Oly C4040 and need to get an U/W housing for it. I checked my local SCUBA shop and they can get it, at a great price too. But, they're not in stock right now and Ikelite said that they won't be until mid-February. It shouldn't be a problem, but I'm going to need the housing before March so I can bring it to Phuket for some awsome diving and I'd like a guarantee that I'll have it in my hands in time.

Does anyone know of a mail-order type place that has the Ikelite housing for my camera in stock so I can order it now and not have to worry about getting it in time?

Thanks in advance,

~Todd

I bought my Ikelite housing through Helix. You might want to check and see if they have one in stock.

www.helixcamera.com

Good Luck!

James Wiseman

Try emailing Ikelite, and ask them.

Contact info on their web pages at

www.ikelite.com

Don

I just bought that housing from B&H Photo - good price and prompt shipping. Check their web site (bhphoto.com) to see if they still show availability.

It's out of stock at B&H, Helix, and at Ikelite. Helix has the Tetra housing, but it's expensive (like twice as much), and I can't use the built in flash which adds to the initial expense... Besides, I like the idea of a clear case anyweay. I'm eventually going to get a strobe either way, but I'd like to get familiar with just the camera first.

Any other suggestions?

If I have to, I can go with the PT010 housing from Olympus. Any idea where I could get one of those if I can't find an Ikelite housing in time?

Thanks,

~t

Ikelite should be shipping housings for the Olympus camera by the end of January.

Hi,

You can get the Olympus PT-010 @ [email=http://www.underwaterdigital.net]http://www.underwaterdigital.net[/email]

Ikelite won't have availability of that housing

until mid-February.

If you bug Ike, he might accelerate the production

of a housing for you.

I have the PT-010 in stock as well.

Cheers,

I initially wanted the ikelite housing, I really liked the clear walls. I once flooded a gates video housing, and clear would have saved me. I closed the housing on a the lens cap leash.

Anyway, I got to handle a lot of housings before I bought, and I went with the tetra. It's not clear, but it does have dual o-rings everywhere, and it has really nice latches. The cam latches most housings have, including ikelite, don't impress me. They close so fast that I am never sure that my o-rings got time to seat properly (yeah, clear helps). The other thing I like about the tetra is the size, it's easy to travel with and dive with if you leave the strobes behind. The ikelite is big enough to be a burden. True, you lose the internal flash in the tetra, but it's so tiny that it just runs down your batteries and causes backscatter.

just my opinion, though. your milage may vary.

Hi - just wanted to add my comment here... I just bought a Tetra and a 4040, and although I've only had it on two dives, I must say I'm thrilled with it. The double o-rings and closing mechanism are totally idiot proof (I know, cuz I'm an idiot).

The downside: you need an external strobe (but you'll want that anyway to avoid backscatter). Speaking of, I bought mine from Backscatter.com, and I can not speak highly enough of the guys at Backscatter. Total pros, whom I will patronize again and again.

I have some photos from my very first dive with the Tetra:

http://www.ecreative.com/webgallery/lesdav...s2.02/index.htm

There's only one photo there that I'm really pleased with, but this was my first time down with the camera so I'll give myself some slack.

My favorite part of the Tetra - you just get the feeling with this housing that it can handle anything you could throw at it. It is perfectly machined and perfectly solid. The size and handling are excellent, and the wide angle port is really cool. I do some wreck diving and frequently go beneath 100', so the ability to deal with depth and take some punishment was important to me. The double o-rings and aluminum housing did the deal for me.

Anyway.... my $.02

-David

I got the housing a little while ago. I wound up getting the Ikelite.... From what I can see, I'm already happy with it. It feels REALLY solid!

I've got to say, the Tetra looks like a nice housing. It looks small too. If I had the money right now, I may have gone that route....

adobedavid:

Those pics are sweet! I can't wait to try mine out... 3 more weeks! Seems like eternity!!!

Thanks all for your help. I'll post back after I get a chance to use the housing. I'm sure when we get back from Phuket I'll be asking all of you about strobes and lenses.

~Todd

I've been using an ikelite SLR housing, for about 8 or 9 years. And now have added to it, the ikelite housing for the canon G2. Never had any problem at all - no leaks or doubts - because the housing and ports being made of clear lexan, you can see the o-rings seating, even after clamping.

An inspection of this, during and after assembly, and you know that the seals are not pinched, or extruding some direction or other...

In short, I can't imagine why anyone would pay 2-3 or more times the price of an Ikelite, if the Ikelite is available. In almost all ways, the ikelite is superior.

The Ikelite, can support full camera strobe TTL automation. So at least you have the *choice* of using strobe in auto for macro, or wherever TTL just works...

I mean, saying, "Just learn to shoot manual", is all very well, and is not, actually that hard a thing to learn. But I hear it more and more from folks who have just purchased a manual only housing....

It seems to me, that spending 2-3 times the cost of an ikelite, for a non-transparent housing, which *prevents the option* of using auto strobe, and prevents seeing the o-rings after latching closed, just doesn't make any sense....

Just my own opinion.

And the question about the OLY pt-010 as the first, because cheapest, digital housing to buy - this may be fine, if you can live with the depth limit. I like to go to 130-150 feet pretty regularly, and so I knew I couldn't use the oly.

Don

Derway, all I know to say is that I'm glad you are happy with the Ikelite! I've never heard anything bad about Ikelite, and in fact, their customer service seems fantastic based on reports I read here (I have an Ike SS50, and have been pleased with it).

I bought the Tetra for a handful of reasons, and they start with "handful". I really like the ergonomics of the Tetra, in that it offers true one-handed operation of the camera (I have big hands, and I wear dry gloves, so ease of operation and handling were very important to me). I also especially like the double-o rings and the camlock mechanism, which, despite being opaque, provides what I think is a totally foolproof closure. I also am fond of the lenses/ports. I have the ULCS strobe arms and the ULCS swivel tray, which are both outstanding.

You mention TTL metering, which frankly, I don't buy as an advantage. The camera (3030, 4040, etc.) to my knowledge does not offer a true TTL metering system, at least not like the Nikon cameras do. I do buy the ability to use the internal strobe as being a benefit, but not where I live (Seattle) where backscatter is a real problem. If I had the Ike housing, I would still have to turn off the internal strobe.

Anyway... as I said, glad to hear you are pleased with the Ikelite housing. At the end of the day, a camera is just a light-tight box, and all the housings in the world do nothing but provide it protection from the water.

I'm very pleased with my Tetra, and glad I spent the money for it, and I strongly recommend it based on my admittedly limited experience. It's good to know you feel the same way about your housing.

-AD

Sounds like I coudn't have made a bad choice had I gone either way!

~t

"true TTL".

In fact, very few digital cameras do. Nikon digital cameras have the flash sensor on the outside of the camera body (like the sensors on the old "automatic" flashes), so you can't really say they are measuring the light that actually goes through the lens. In contrast, the Oly cameras actually do measure light going through the lens (their "strobe sensor" is inside the camera). While neither is as good as a film SLR measuring the light bouncing off the film, they both do a pretty good job (providing your housing doesn't block the "TTL sensor" on the Nikon camera body). What the Nikons do offer, for housing makers, is the ability to hard-wire a connection to the camera that will follow Nikon protocols. This means that you can use any existing strobe compatible with Nikon cameras.

Also the Ike housing comes with two plates that fit over the port. One is a flash diffuser and one is a flash blocker. With the flash blocker, you can still leave the internal flash on (to allow the Ike strobes to still work with the remote sensor) and avoid backscatter.

Having said this, the Tetra is a very well engineered housing. However, at this point, I didn't feel like spending the extra money as I'm still funding my film camera habit, too!

Mike