Does anybody know where I can purchase the Titan L & M housing for the Olympus E10/E20 in the UK.

I have tried on many occasions to contact L & M without success.

Frustrated.......:angryfire:

Mark H

I could see if the shop here would order you one and then ship to you. Not sure if the shipping would make it cost effective or what extra steps are needed to ship to the UK.

Let me know if you think that would help.

I think that FEP Ltd. is the UK distributor and service location. Here's a link to their website:

FEP Ltd.

Many thanks guys.

As I expected the Titan retails for £2300 ($3500) over here compared to $2600 over in the US. This is quite common with a lot of gear and it pisses me off! Why should we have to pay extra mega bucks for the same product just because a pond separates us? :angryfire: (maybe worth a separate thread?)

Todd, I would be interested to see the best deal you can get for this in the US? Keep me posted.

Regards

Mark H

I will check but it will be in Canada. But I'll convert it for you.

I'll let you know.

Have you ever thought of another housing? The bruder E-20 housing is far cheaper than the Titan and offers quite a lot value for money. It's about EUR 1300,- and you get dedicated ports for wide angle lenses as well.
See Bruder UW-Technik.
I use it with 2x50W video lights. I'm now checking the possibility to get TTL flash working with the E20.

Helge ;-)=)

For samples and a brief description of my equipment, see my webpage

Thats very interesting. Thanks a bunch. I will check out the threads and let you know what I think.

May be worth considering..................

Mark H

Helge,

The Bruder web site carries no info on the Oly housing. I have checked out your own website & would be interested to know what limitations this unit has.

Can you manual focus for example?

Mark H

Hi Mark,

It is my opinion that you would be better off holding onto the E10 and getting another system if you want an UW digital SLR setup. If you want to go the cheapest route, then the Oly 5050 w/ PT-015 housing is the cheapest option. I put together a cost comparison to help illustrate my point:

Here's my attempt at an estimate for an S2 camera system with equivalent lens to the E10/E20. I'll then list lens and port options which would roughly match the Titan wetmate lenses. All equipment is available on the retail market for purchases and equipment quotes are from B and H:

Fuji S2pro: $2,400
Nikkor 24-85AF-G $299
Ikelite S2pro housing: $1,149
Ike flatport w/ focus: $149

Total: $3,997

Add Wide:

Sigma 14mm f2.8 lens: $799
Ike Extended dome: $149

Total: $948

Add Macro:

Nikkor 60mm Micro: $389
Ike Flat Port: $Already Included above

Total $389

Total system cost with three lenses and ports: $5,334

Be advised that this is NOT necessarily the system I would buy, but it is my attempt at an apples to apples comparison. Note that all lenses can also be used topside and/or on a Nikon mount film camera body.

And the cost for the E10/20 Setup:

Olympus E10/E20 - $500 or $900
Titan Housing - $2700
Wetmate Macro and Wideangle Lens Set - $1500

Total $4,600 (E10) or $5,100 (E20)

So, for a few hundred dollars more, you can get an interchangeable lens Digital SLR system and some nice lenses. In my experience, the S2 and lenses will also hold their value well compared to the Olympus.

Cheers
James

Kind of an unfair comparison, James - an aluminum housing to polycarb, and remote strobe controllers on the Titan.

I really wish you could get your hands on the Titan system for a few dives, you'd understand that there are some tremendous advantages of the housing, despite the supposed limitations of the camera.

Hi Kasey, is there something wrong with Polycarbonate besides it not being as "sexy" as a machined aluminum housing?

I was trying to do an apples to apples cost comparison and let Mark decide what's right for him. But you're right, I couldn't resist throwing in one or two lines of "my opinion" as well.

But since you brought up strobe control - the Titan has the ROC fingertip manual strobe controller which is nice. The S2 does TTL with any strobe, which is also nice.

Cheers
James

I think polycarb is great, but you just can't compare price/value with aluminum - its just apples to oranges. As frequently as I dive, I'll always spend for aluminum - it seems more substantial, and I'm just not confident housing in plastic for hundreds of dives.. With film cameras, aluminum holds value better, but I guess the digicam inside will depreciate the value of the housing as well.

As far as the strobe system - I won't stir up the manual vs TTL again - but clearly the TTL is a funciton of the camera in the S2, versus the manual strobe controller that is engineered into the titan housing, and will soon be offered as an option on the Ikelites.

KC

Kasey aluminum preference is the stigma I have fought for forty years. Unfortunate and exactly opposite from the truth is an honest evaluation by the person who has probably made more housings than everyone in the world combined. The aluminum housing may look sexier coming and going, but I would not care to hide my camera in one............

OK, so aluminum looks really cool!!!

Hi, back again!

Ok, bruder is a bit more in housings than in web pages ;-) The main features are the same for all the housings. 80m standard limit unless you want them to stand 150m.

The controls are negotiable and currently:
Shutter, primary wheel, secondary wheel, zoom ring, four-way cursor, ok, menu, LCD, macro, exposure +/-
There's a window to use the optical finder and the LCD as well.

As I (up to now) don't use flash, there's no flash connector. Olympus has its own ways to do TTL and I'm not sure, if there will be other flash manufacturers willing to implement it. Maybe diskussions during the Boot at Düsseldorf will sed some light on this. The possibility of using the Metz MZ54 in a housing is still under investigation. The manual focus is a bit close to the zoom ring but should be possible to be implemented. I didn't need MF for most of my shoots yet, although there were some I wished I had one.

The way they build the carbon fibre housing let you decide a lot of the features later on. Adding a control is quite easy without the hassle of corroding aluminium etc.

Let's call the bruder E-20 housing a very mature prototype. I'm quite happy I did it this way. Currently, I'm waiting for my wideangle port to arrive. It is designed for the Raynox x0.24 converter.

Helge ;-)=)

Ike, she's right you know. The aluminum housings ARE much more "sexy."

Maybe you should consider hand painting some women (or men depending) on your housings. You know, kind of like they used to do on WWII aircraft?

Just kidding...

Cheers
James

PS - Helge, your photos will improve a lot once you start using flash. I highly recommend it.

Good idea!

How about the Memphis Belle!!!

Or the "Indianapolis Lady!"

Cheers
James

Crikey, the housing would need to be the size of a BUFF to fit that on!!

Crikey! I've just checked out the FEP web site.

I now know what FEP stands for..... F***** ExPensive!!!! :angryfire:

Hey James where did you see a E20 fpr $900.00?

Nemo

They are $939 from the following site:

http://www.cameratopia.com/prodshelf.asp?dept_id=1085

Mark H

I have just noted from the previous link that the camera is labelled as a USA E20?

Does anybody know if this relates purely to the USA warranty or is there something in the construction/operation that renders it useless outside US? Possible power/voltage compatability?

Any ideas?

Mark H

It's usually just the warranty or repair service.
The camera doesn't cease to function the minute it crosses the border...

Cheers
James

Thats OK then, thanks.

I have just noticed that cameratopia http://www.cameratopia.com/prodshelf.asp?dept_id=1085 are now selling for $829 !!!

At this price I will upgrade from my E10.

I'll have a word with my overseas agent on this (Yahsemtough)....lol

Mark H

Hi!

There is a significant difference between US and European versions of the E10/E20. It's the -P and -N, standing for PAL and NTSC. If you want to be able to view pictures on a TV or video beamer straight from the camera you need the right video signal.

US standard is NTSC, most parts of Europe stick to PAL.

All other features are identical.

Helge ;-)=)