Anyone seen a review for the actual production housing anywhere?

Chris

No, but there are several (at least 4 I know of) people here that own this housing and can answer your questions.

What do you want to know?

First two production housing photos are on following URLs. I believe Jay Treat is preparing a report to post on the forums.

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/jaytreatphotos.html

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/friesphotos.html

I'm primarily interested whether the bulkhead placement has been a problem for anyone.......and any other idiosyncracies that bothered you about the housing.

Also, any limitations of the 6" dome that you have experienced?

And Ike, are there sync cords for Sea & Sea strobes yet?

Chris

My biased opinion is, of course, three "no" answers to chrism............

Ike, as to the last question, I have heard rumors of plans for such a sync cord. True? If so, any idea when?

Of course, the choice of housing hinges on the answer to this question, as I am not planning on changing strobes at this point in time.

Chris

You could always have Ike install Nikonos connections in the housing instead of the Ikelite version if you really like the housing and can't get the sync cords.

Screw machine supplier has promised components since last December. Surely we will have this month............?

I have been diving twice with the Ike Rebel housing and the bulkhead placement has never caused a problem.

What kind of limitation are you referring to with the dome? The only problem I had was with the kit lens I had been using a Haze filter and forgot to take it off, zoomed all the way it would strike the dome. In my tests I tried both close macro shots and WA (As wide as the kit lens will go) and saw no problems with it.

I have no idea about the sync cords, I use Ike's strobes.

Dave

On my first two dive trips I had no problems with the bulkhead placement. On the third it was allways in the way. The difference was that I screwed the cord in on the 3rd trip so that the cord was pointing away from the strobe instead of toward it.

Only other idiosyncracy was on the first dive and the AV button didnt reach the camera button. But it was very easy to adjust it.

I'd also be interested in anyone's experiences with this camera housing combination. How does is go with the kit lens, any problems with zoom function, what was the picture quality like with kit lens (and have you compared it to a better quality zoom/prime), what ports and lenses have you tried, and any other pros/cons that come to mind.

I'm tending toward buying this housing but am still waiting for Aquatica's version to be reviewed.

Ike, how likely is TTL support for the 300D in 2004? You mentioned in another post that eTTL was next after you sorted Olympus's TTL. And will the 300D fit in the promised 10D Ikelite housing?

If someone here who has the IKE 300D housing could buy the Aquatica and write a comparison, that would be great.

As you know Chris, I've done a bunch of dives with the production Ikelite housing. I'm working on a review but a few things have taken precedence over the last couple weeks.

I noticed the sync cord hitting my regulator at times but after I re-routed the cords, I didn't find it to be a real problem. Like any new equipment, it takes a few dives to get things in a configuration that works best.

I've put together a gallery of photos for each lens I used on my trip to Truk Lagoon. Each gallery has samples only from that lens along with the port used, etc. They're at:
http://jaytreat.com/Diving/Canon_300D/Cano..._50mm_macro.htm
http://jaytreat.com/Diving/Canon_300D/Cano...non_18-55mm.htm
http://jaytreat.com/Diving/Canon_300D/Sigma_14mm.htm

Thanks all - Jay and acroporas both mentioned sync cord routing.... I had just heard that placement of the bulkhead was an issue,.... any chance of posting a pic of what the routing that has worked for you looks like?

Chris

The difference is which end of the cord you plug in to the housing. One end of the cord bends up. The other down. It is easy for me to remember which end to use because as you can see the good end has a band around it.

BAD: THe cord points up and is all in your face.


GOOD: The cord points down is nice and out of the way.

One thing I would like to ask is if anyone has trouble with the veiwfinder.

I have trouble viewing the whole frame, even without my mask on. Makes it tough to compose the shot. This is the first SLR that I have used, so I have nothing to compare with.

ahhh, thank you. picture is worth a 1000 words

Chris

And Two pictures are worth??

Two pics? Bulk rate = 1500 words

thanks

No one has any comment about this? I guess I'm the only one with the issue...

I have tried other masks, any suggestions? Just live with it??

300D and 10D have small viewfinders, this is one drawback of most current DSLRs (1Ds as a full frame camera should be better but I haven't tried one underwater). Using a 300D will be a bit different if you're used to a point-and-shoot. I've found I have sort of got used to using the 10D's viewfinder U/W, just by jamming my mask up against it.

Pretty much. The 300D / 10D / D60 all have pretty small viwefinders. I complained about the VF on my D60 and even spent a little time trying to work out a way to fix it, then just got used to it over time. That being said, if anyone has suggestions, I'd also love to hear them.

When I get my A300 housing from Aquatica I will try my photosolve on it to see if it works and helps.

Yo' Guys,

Just like Todd, now that I have my own production Ikelite EOS300D housing I'm going to try a Canon accessory to see if it makes any difference in the viewfinder. Canon sells the EP-EX15 eyepiece extender and another DR buddy bought one. We both played around with it on the surface (I wear Rx glasses, he doesn't) and it did seem to allow better corner viewing. But we also thought it made the image look a tad farther away......

I'm also unsure if the slight increase in depth (spec says 15mm) primarily designed to get your nose off the LCD plus give eyeglasss shooters relief will prevent it from fitting flush against the Ikelite SuperEye viewfinder.

While many of us lament adapting surface finders to underwater use, the housing manufacturers all try to give us as much capability as they can....And we're all making photos with these tools. My mantra always is to try and go on more trips, spending more time in the water = great photos.

As I've posted many times there is a great TRUTH in VOLUME. And digital certainly gives us that!

Next step most people never learn or work at, editing.......I have one buddy who saves EVERYTHING

See you below,

David Haas
davidhaas@sbcglobal.net

Thanks for the information, everyone!!

After whitey's comments last night I thought of something, I tried to use the camera out of the housing with a mask on (I have several on loan now to test :roll: ) and all about the same and I cannot see the corners of the frame that way as well. So I do attribute it to the small VF on the Rebel, I'll just live it as I really like the camera (Until I can afford a 1D MkII :wink: ).



I DO save everything and have for years, even on film. So I have ALOT of bad shots to show!!

Thanks again, great forum!!

Ikelite reccomends that you add a +4 diopter to your dSLR in the housing if you are using a WA zoom lens. What is this? I have not been able to find one online. From the fact that it was lens dependant, I thought it might be something on the end of the lens. But the guy at my camera store said it went on the viewfinder and would check on availability when my D70 came in.

If that is true, does it help with viewing with a mask on?

Thanks

Yes and Yes.

Old cameras took little screw on diopters on the viewfinder to correct for bad vision. New cameras have a built-in adjustable diopter which you can adjust by twiddling that little thing next to the viewfinder.

The diopter that Ike is talking about fits onto the front of the lens. Do a search here to find out why you need or don't need one.

Sincerely,
James Wiseman

As a side note on the Canon Eyepiece Extender EP-EX15, I have no underwater experience with it, but it works great topside at decreasing nose grease on the backside of your camera.

Looks like it might work! Does it fit in the housing with it on??

Just so everyone knows, it does NOT fit with the extender on. I think it would work better, but it is about 1/8th inch too wide to fit in front of the housing viewer. :cry:

Dave

Maybe needs minor adjustment with hacksaw?

I was unable to see the entire viewfinder on the D60 setup as well. But that won't stop you from taking some nice photos.

Plus, once you're in the water enough, you'll pretty much know what you're going to get in the frame, anyway. Point & shoot!