First experiences with 20d and Ike housing

Just arrived back from a week in the Red Sea at Marsa Alam. Took with me my first dslr, Canon 20d with my first grown up housing from Ikelite and a DS-125 strobe. I wanted to share my initial experiences and get your own thoughts.

Pretty much every aspect of using the housing and strobe from taking the images, swapping the ports to charging the strobe battery were faultless. Very intuitive, very simple even when feeling a little dodgy in a 12 foot swell.. I did have an issue with the camera not quite sitting correctly on its mount which meant that either the play button for reviewing images would work, *or* the scroll wheel would work. Unfortunately you really need these to work together, this was rather annoying but I should have found this before I left, strictly speaking..

The biggest issue that I'd like to get opinions on is the drag when swimming against a current. Having the housing seemed to add significantly to the work required to push through the current causing me to go through air at a frightening rate... The question is, should I just get to the gym more or is there a significant difference in terms of streamlining between the housing manufacturers? I don't suppose anyone has done any wind tunnel experiments or worked out drag coefficients have they ?

The extra weight and size of the housing coupled with some dodgy current experiences have got me questionning whether I've made the right housing choice given where and when I dive (mainly holiday, involves much lugging of much kit, and diving in currents to try to spot the big stuff). Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences or should I just actually use that gym membership I paid for just after new year when it seemed like such a great idea???

Here's a couple of images that I'm quite happy with, hints and tips gratefully accepted..

Regards

James

The biggest thing with streamlining is how you hold the camera relative to your body - if you hold it in one hand sideways (so the strobes/camera are in line parallel to your body) you create significantly less drag than if you hold the camera in front of you in the same position as if you are shooting. The position of your strobe relative to your housing also will affect the amount of drag you expirience - just make sure everything is streamlined, and you should do alright. Consider your dive gear's configuration also - you can compensate for your housing having more drag if you make sure your bc/etc have less drag.

I do not believe that there is a significant difference in drag among different manufactures.

Yes pusing around a big camera does have an effect on air consumption.

Some tips to reduce your air consumption.

your camera adds weight, take 1-2 lbs off your weight belt. Too much weight really sucks up air.

Slow down. You can see the whole area a little or a small area a lot. Not only will you use much less air, you will find more subjects and have more keepers with the later technique.

Hold camera against chest when traveling. When you are swimming fold up strobe arms and hold camera close to chest, this reduces drag a lot. You should stop and think about a shot before you take it anyway. Folding camera up between shots slows you down which will force you to think and not just point and shoot which will imporove your photography.

your camera adds weight, take 1-2 lbs off your weight belt.  Too much weight really sucks up air.

I wonder what the general consensus is to this strategy.

At first I also compensated for the added weight of the camera by taking lead off my belt. Then someone mentioned that by doing so placed me in a dangerous position if I ever felt the need to dump my camera rig in an emergency. The result could become an uncontrolled ascent due to insufficient weight on the belt.

Exaggeration?

btw, I compensated by adding buoyancy arms to the camera rig....

I wonder what the general consensus is to this strategy.

 

At first I also compensated for the added weight of the camera by taking lead off my belt.  Then someone mentioned that by doing so placed me in a dangerous position if I ever felt the need to dump my camera rig in an emergency.  The result could become an uncontrolled ascent due to insufficient weight on the belt.

 

Exaggeration?

 

btw, I compensated by adding buoyancy arms to the camera rig....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your rig as a whole should not be more than 1 to 2 lbs negative. I weight myself so that I'm neutral at the end of the dive breathing naturally with the camera ( I don't dive without it ) which I estimate is no more than 1 lb negative. You should be able to compensate for 1 to 2 lb difference in buoyancy with just changes in breathing.

I have owned Ikelite and Nexus housings for the same camera and used to travel with both.. I did not think there would be much difference with drag in water but from my un scientific observations underwater I felt the Ike housing for my D70 was more difficult to swim with in current. If you are just cruising around at slow pace you will probably not notice..

M.

[i did have an issue with the camera not quite sitting correctly on its mount which meant that either the play button for reviewing images would work, *or* the scroll wheel would work. Unfortunately you really need these to work together, this was rather annoying but I should have found this before I left, strictly speaking..

Try loosening the set screw on the knob for the control wheel and pulling the knob out a little. Will give the control arm more reach to make contact with the wheel.

I wonder what the general consensus is to this strategy.

 

At first I also compensated for the added weight of the camera by taking lead off my belt.  Then someone mentioned that by doing so placed me in a dangerous position if I ever felt the need to dump my camera rig in an emergency.  The result could become an uncontrolled ascent due to insufficient weight on the belt.

 

Exaggeration?

 

btw, I compensated by adding buoyancy arms to the camera rig....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The boyancy change resulting in dropping your camera is much less than the boyancy change between inhale and exhale. If you dont fly toward the surface when you inhale, you wont fly to the surface when you drop your camera.

So yes that is an exaggeration. It would be a legitimate concern if your camera weighed 15 lbs but the 1 or 2 lbs is no risk.

william and herb,

thanks for the reply to my question.

Try loosening the set screw on the knob for the control wheel and pulling the knob out a little. Will give the control arm more reach to make contact with the wheel.

I'll give that a go - thanks..

I wonder what the general consensus is to this strategy.

 

At first I also compensated for the added weight of the camera by taking lead off my belt.  Then someone mentioned that by doing so placed me in a dangerous position if I ever felt the need to dump my camera rig in an emergency.  The result could become an uncontrolled ascent due to insufficient weight on the belt.

 

Exaggeration?

 

btw, I compensated by adding buoyancy arms to the camera rig....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am a diver first and foremost. For me, being safe in the water includes reducing my exposure to decompression injuries.

I weight myself to be neutral, at the surface, with an empty cylinder(s). This way I can hold a 10' stop easily, as well as maintain a very slow ascent rate over that last 10'. Being a couple pounds light here takes a lot of sculling to hold depth.

So, the extra couple pounds from the camera is just something I live with.

For me, a camera is just another tool that I'll throw away if that's what it takes to save me or my buddy.

And back to the original question...I'm a drag-by-one-handle-at-my-side diver.

All the best, James

You know that problem with the camera not sitting right so that the thumb wheel doesn't always makes contact... try cutting a little piece of the adhesive rubber off of the strip that comes with the zoom ring for the ports, and stick it on the housing body where the CANON logo on the flash will rest against it. This keeps the body from tipping forward and holds it firm against the thumbwheel. Fixed the problem for me.

Larry