flexible housings

Hello

I'm hoping folks here with lots of experience with different housings can share their wisdom

I am a kayaker and adventure photographer, not an underwater photographer, so I don't need a housing that can go to 50 or 150 feet. Most of the housings discussed here are too expensive for my budget, but also much too heavy and bulky to use in my situation. I'm looking for any wisdom related to cheaper, lighter housings that don't need to be as rugged as a housing for diving.

I need a housing for 3 different situations:

1) while in my whitewater kayak so I can take photos without getting out on shore. Often I am beneath a waterfall with spray everywhere or in a small eddy in the middle of a rapid.

2) for over/under shots of kayakers or shots of snorkeling or the bottom of a kayak looking up from a few feet under water.

3) while in a sea kayak with rain, salt spray in the wind, etc

I have a flexible housing from a company called AquaPac. I can operate button controls but no dials, which is very restrictive. The largest lenses I can use are filter size 72. Plus, the front element of the housing does have a negative effect on sharpness...and I can't zoom...basically, it sucks.

I've seen the Ewa Marine products on the web, but I can't tell if they'll be any better than what I have.

I have a 20D and 15mm fisheye, 20mm (72mm filter), 16-35mm (77mm filter), and 28-200 (62mm filter).

thanks,

Doug

Hi Doug,

It sounds like what you're looking for is a surf housing. The Ewa bags aren't rough enough for whitewater, IMO.

Cheers

James

The Ewa Marine could be a slight upgrade to the AquaPac. You have (on the SLR model I've been using with a Canon EOS) access to trigger and main dial. You can reach back dial with a bit of fiddling. And the front glass doesn't degrade the picture too much.

I've taken my EM down to 25meters and down rapids (rafting) with reasonable result. (that said I ended up buying a proper UW housing for diving..) However you will be frustrated by the lack of access to controls on the EM too. And of course you'll have to adjust the amount of air inside realative to the depht you will be using the camera at. I've seen surf kits that are lighter than a proper UW housing, but they too are pretty much point and shoot, and fairly bulky too. Boils down to: what you want may not have been invented yet: light and flixble like an EM, yet with the control and quality of a big bulky UW housing... sorry I'm not sure that was the answer you were looking for?

oh by the way , you can use your ø77mm lenses too on the EM.