Canon XTi housing

[jsmharley]

Looking to buy a housing in possibly the next 6-8 months. Anyone that has this camera, please your input is welcomed. I have a 50mm 1.8 that i will probably start out using, also have a 70-300 zoom w/macro feature, and the 18-55 kit, and will be saving for the 100mm macro in the future to be the permenant dive lens. Thanks for the input here from all Jeremy

[dbh]

All of the major mfgs. will support that camera (Ikelite, Sea & Sea, Subal, eyc.). I would take a look at the Seatool houisng. It is the smallest DSLR housing that I have ever seen

http://www.reefphoto.com/index.php?m...75f1dc396ce5a6

Dave

[SilentEcho13]

Thanks, I could use a housing for my EOS 30D as well.

Too bad they cost more than the camera :P

[Wrayne]

I have a Canon XTi as well and I LOVE that camera. I know the housing is pretty expensive, and also I would be crushed if it happened to leak and ruined the camera. That's why, when I finally get to that point, I think I'll look into getting a different camera just for diving. I've heard that the Canon Powershots are very good and they have housings available as well. The Sealife cameras might be good too, but I'll be looking into it more later.

I just wanted to bring this up because I'd hate to see anyone ruin a nice SLR. I think with the price of the underwater housings it would cost about the same to just get another camera. Anyway, it's just something to think about.

[hoop]

Originally Posted by Wrayne

I have a Canon XTi as well and I LOVE that camera. I know the housing is pretty expensive, and also I would be crushed if it happened to leak and ruined the camera.

That's sort of my thoughts on it. I love my 400D, but I just don't want to risk getting a housing flooded and ruin it.... Not to mention the cost of a housing. If I were a professional photog, then it might be justifiable, but at the recreational level, it would make much more sense to get one of the powershots and housings.... Just my .02

[bversteegh]

Watch on ebay for an ikelite housing - best value for an occasional diver IMO (Subals/etc are great, but cost big bucks). Even it is "well used"; Ikelite will service the housing for around $100 (check/replace/lubricate seals), and the housing will be as good as new from a water tight perspective - they aren't really that complex.

I have my Canon 20D setup insured as a rider on my homeowners policy - $50 a year for camera, lenses, housing, and strobes; so don't stress out about flooding your camera. I have over 200 dives and thousands of pictures using Ikelite housings - had one strobe battery compartment flood that Ike fixed for free.

Modern housings are very good - if you are just methodical and take your time setting up the camera, very low odds of a flood (most floods are caused by grit on the o-rings - get one of the microfiber lens cloths to keep the o-ring and o-ring seat clean, use the silicon sparingly as it attracts grit). Of all the floods I have heard about (several friends are uw photographers), probably half occur in the rinse tank - so either always handle your own gear on the boat; or make sure the boat staff know how to handle cameras.

Having shot both P&S and DSLR's uw, you will come back with a lot more keepers with a DSLR just because of the reduced shutter lag. If you already have the camera and lens, the major remaining costs are housing and strobes. The strobe cost is pretty much the same regardless of camera (buy the best strobe you can afford - they can move from camera to camera, and a strobe will make more difference than the camera as to the quality of your pictures). Inon or Ikelite both make great strobes - you can get an Ike DS51 kit (strobe, arms, sync cord) for around $450, the Inons are a little more, but a more powerful strobe. HTH

[BobArnold8265]

I've never heard of Seatool housings. Are they any good ???

[Aussie]

Originally Posted by bversteegh

Having shot both P&S and DSLR's uw, you will come back with a lot more keepers with a DSLR just because of the reduced shutter lag. If you already have the camera and lens, the major remaining costs are housing and strobes. The strobe cost is pretty much the same regardless of camera (buy the best strobe you can afford - they can move from camera to camera, and a strobe will make more difference than the camera as to the quality of your pictures). Inon or Ikelite both make great strobes - you can get an Ike DS51 kit (strobe, arms, sync cord) for around $450, the Inons are a little more, but a more powerful strobe. HTH

I have to agree with bversteegh. The results from a DSLR are far more impressive. The quality of the lenses that your using makes all the difference (especially if your going to use something like the 100mm macro) as well as shutter lag, manual controls, and true TTL.

I use Ikelite for a couple of years now and never had a problem. They are one of the cheapest options for housings and you can buy the housing for around the $1300 mark new or cheaper used. I prefer to spend money on the less fancy housing like an ikelite and put the savings towards a new housing and camera in 3-4 years time.

Strobes are important. I believe the ikelite ds50/51 are a little on the lite side and suited for more compact P & S than a DSLR. I think your better off in spending the money towards the larger and more powerful Ikelite ds125. They cost around the $900 for a strobe, arm, and sync cord. It has a 1 second recharge speed and a much wider output if your looking at shooting wide angle. The only option to upgrade from the DS125 (other than the ds200, suited mainly for ultra wide angle) is to buy a second DS125. This gives you a better spread of light and reduces the shadow effect in your shots. It also an idea in shooting wide angle and you have more light covering the subject. This strobe has been used for a few years and would continued to give you good service in years to come. Maybe you have to buy new batteries for them every couple of years or so.

After you have shooting with the 100mm macro then you might look at something wide like canon 10-22mm and something in between. Sorry I shoot with Nikon so I can't recommend a particular lens from the canon range.

It does come down to money and sometimes your better off spending more on a item which you wont need to upgrade down the track.

Thats my 5 cents worth......we dont have 2 cents here anymore.

Aussie

[bversteegh]

Agree strobes are important - but don't discount Ike DS51's. I have shot with a pair for almost four years now (actually their prior version the DS50) - and they are a great macro strobe; the small size makes them very easy to position, and a lot easier to pack. They are actually a little brighter than the DS125s, but have a much narrower angle of coverage (100 degrees for a 125, 70 degrees for a DS51) - here is a macro example



The DS 125 are nice strobes (Inon Z-240s are nice also, and smaller than DS 125's with equivalent performance). This class of strobe is where you should start if true wide angle is what you want to shoot. All that said, I have actually had pretty good success using 2 DS50's even for wide angle - you just have to be close to the foreground object to light it - here is an example.



For wide angle, the 2 best lenses available right now for Canon is the Sigma 15mm Fisheye, or the Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye zoom.

[allison finch]

this is my rig with the XTi


I just got back from a trip to Belize and love how it handled. I learned a lot from my P&S, but love the XTi results. I'll post some soom.

I'm shooting macro with the Canon 60mm and a Woody's diopter. I might check out the 100mm soon.
Wide angle is a Tokina 10-17 zoom with a dome. NICE!