Robert Jewett
Posts: 2,257
al-MarsÄ, Tunis, Tunisia
Working on a budget here. Yeah, don't laugh.
Looking at an Ikelite housing, and it looks like the chart on their website says they don't support the use of the 16-35L, 24-70L, etc. Well, gee, it looks like they hardly support fast glass at all.
I've been using Ikelite for years (for my Nikon gear). The problem with the fast glass is the lens barrels are too big. Their housings have a standard size front port opening. Other than that the housings are reliable and should give you full control over your camera.
There are better housings but the cost is way more. Nauticam makes excellent cast aluminum housings if you want to take a look.
http://www.nauticamusa.com/
If you want to shoot Ikelite and Canon FF then have a look on Ebay for the Tokina 17mm prime. It's a pretty good lens for the money and while it's only f3.5 that should be fine as you should be shooting higher f-stops to get good results when using a dome port.
HTH
James
PS I have that lens and shoot it w/ my 1Ds MkIII underwater
Robert - no matter what you're going to need a dome port and wideangle lens. Underwater you have to be CLOSE to your subjects so you can't shoot w/ anything wider than about 35mm equivalent unless you're just shooting headshots.
So I'm afraid you'll have to factor the dome into your cost. And if you think the Ikelite dome is expensive wait until you see what Sea and Sea and Aquatica charge. Which is STILL lots less than a nice optical glass dome...
Every housing worth it's stuff will have a special waterproof connection for strobes. You connect a cable inside to your camera's hot-shoe.
You can get old underwater strobes "non digital" on Ebay pretty cheaply and they will optical trigger slaves. Or you can get a super long cord that runs from the housing to the surface.
Robert Jewett
Posts: 2,257
al-MarsÄ, Tunis, Tunisia
Under H2O wrote: Robert - no matter what you're going to need a dome port and wideangle lens. Underwater you have to be CLOSE to your subjects so you can't shoot w/ anything wider than about 35mm equivalent unless you're just shooting headshots.
So I'm afraid you'll have to factor the dome into your cost. And if you think the Ikelite dome is expensive wait until you see what Sea and Sea and Aquatica charge. Which is STILL lots less than a nice optical glass dome...
Every housing worth it's stuff will have a special waterproof connection for strobes. You connect a cable inside to your camera's hot-shoe.
You can get old underwater strobes "non digital" on Ebay pretty cheaply and they will optical trigger slaves. Or you can get a super long cord that runs from the housing to the surface.
I've been using the Ewa-Marine U-BXP100 the past two years with decent results. I didn't have the budget for a hardcase with only less then $1000 to spend.
A few weeks ago I tested it on a stablizer rig I built that held the Ewa-Marine (with 60D
Robert Jewett
Posts: 2,257
al-MarsÄ, Tunis, Tunisia
Thank guys. I really appreciate all of the help. I am frantically researching each suggestion right now because I have a friend coming over in a couple weeks (and he can bring the equipment with him).
Robert Jewett wrote: Thank guys. I really appreciate all of the help. I am frantically researching each suggestion right now because I have a friend coming over in a couple weeks (and he can bring the equipment with him).
Selecting an underwater housing really does require a lot of research. Each housing is custom built to the model of camera. It's not a one fits many type of thing.
So the first question you need to resolve is which camera, the 7D or MIII.
The 7D you may find a used case, the MIII, doubtful.
With the 7D you could use the internal flash to optically trigger remote strobes with fiber-optic cables.
Even once you selected an underwater housing, it still isn't a one size fits all, you need to get various extension rings depending on what lens you are using for your dome port.
For me I selected Aquatica and I shoot with the 7D, the reason for my choice, a fairly local company within an afternoons drive for me.
My go to lens for underwater figure photography, the Tokina 12-24.
Take any advice given from James (Under_H2O) seriously. That guy knows his stuff. He helps run wetpixel.com ... a site you may need to check out if you are getting into the underwater game.
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