I have been an UW e6 shooter for 23 years. I have evolved from the Nik3, Nik 5, RS, Seacam N8008/f801, Subal N9, Sea & Sea NX100 & NX5. I have owned and sold a little of everything. I am not an Ikelite or Aquatica fan. I have owned several consumer and prosumer digital housings; ie. Mavica F7 & F9, Olympus 2020, D40 and the 5050. I have always hated the lag time and have just decided to put the Mark II in a housing. Problem is I would rather risk a 10d. I already have 2 bodies but my lenses are not the standard Nikkor I have used for years. [12-24,16,20,24,60,105,180] I have 3 Canon lenses and they don't seem appropriate.I have these 3 Canon lenses: 17-40L f4,24-70L 2.8, 70-200L 2.8. Which Canon lenses are most practical to house? Which housing is the most functional and economical but with good security and ergonomics? I feel like I am a newbie to UW photography with 4000 rolls of slide film shot UW. I need real help!

I had the same questions and ended up with the Subal. Very sweet, and obviously good quality. I looked at the Sea and Sea (I had the d60 version) and was not pleased with the availability of service in Southern California and spare parts seemed to take absolutely forever. I also looked at the Jonah but several people warned me against them from both a fit and finish and reliability standpoint. The Subal is a little pricey (OK a lot pricey) but my old film Subal was as reliable as a tank so I went that way. The 17-40 will be a good lens underwater, I have the 16-35. For macro I have the Sigma 50 mm (1:1) and the Canon USM 100 macro. Both see lots of use. Looking for a wider lens, waiting for Canon 12-20 or something like that but I could use the Sigma if it will fit inside the ports, I haven't tried it yet.

Bill

I also purchased the Subal. Like others, I had talked to several people before deciding and ultimately purchased the Subal for its tremendous reputation, customer satisfaction and superior fit and finish. I decided against the Sea and Sea and Jonah for exactly the same reasons. I have heard the the Jonah is much improved now and that the manufacturer has worked through the initial problems. My buddy, Scubajack, however just bought a Jonah for his 10d and had to send it back to the distributer because some of the buttons didn't line up/function. He'll be out here in Hawaii in a couple of weeks to dive with it and we should be able to tell you more then.

I shoot with both the canon 17-40 and 50mm macro. You can view pictures that I have taken using these at my web link below. Both work exceptionally well for me but the 17-40 is only the 35mm equivalent of 28mm on the 10d, so you may want something wider. The canon 15mm FE currently seems to be one of the better options but I'm waiting to see if canon comes out with a 12-something zoom.

Scubastu also uses the Subal housing so you may want to seek an opinion from him as well.

For me the Subal was worth the extra money to avoid the frustration I was hearing about with other housings. I have not been disappointed.
If money is not much of an issue, you may want to wait for the Seacam housing for the Mark II. The camera is awesome and I have heard the same about seacam housings...but definitely out of my price range.

Well, since Bill brought my name up..

I've had the Subal C10 since late October of last year, it's been on over 40 dives and likely past the 4000 exposure mark. I love it. My film Subal was a tank, this is built even better. The controls worked right away, no need to fine tune them compared to what some friends went through with their S&S for the D60 and D100s. I didn't really miss TTL at all with the histogram. The 10D images are incredibly clean, and I have a 30x40 blow up of a shot I took in the Philippines with a 15FE that will blow your socks off! I've also used the C10 diving in cold water, with thick mitts and all controls are still operational.

I've shot the 15FE, 16-35, 28-105, 50mm Macro and 90 Tamron. All with outstanding results.

I can't recomend the Subal enough.

Stu

Stu,

Is that shot from Beatrice?

I guess DebF and I will have to come up there to see it.

Hey Tony!

Yup, Beatrice it is! The invite for you and DebF is always open....plus need to go for dimsum again!

Stu

p.s. DebF's Beatrice shot, the one in your living room... blows mine away!