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Underwater Housings?

Discussion

8 replies
Posted by Richard Shaffer on July 21, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Does anyone know where I might be able to rent an underwater housing for a Canon EOS 5D, 1D Mark ll or 1D Mark lll? Thanks :smile:
Posted by Vandit Kalia on July 22, 2007 at 9:37 AM
Try www.backscatter.com - I believe they have housings for rent.

Vandit
Posted by Marc Bautista on July 23, 2007 at 1:35 AM
first place to check is your local dive shop. If local diving is not popular in your area then you might have tough time finding one, however, if you are traveling to a diving location, I am quite sure you can find one. Check bergerbros.com as they carry variety of line like Sea & Sea, Nexus or Aquatica. Are you a diver? if I may ask.
Posted by Sharon Menke on July 23, 2007 at 12:34 PM
I just copied and pasted bergerbros.com in my address bar. They are a building products site. Is there another one that I can check out?
Posted by Marc Bautista on July 23, 2007 at 3:09 PM
Is this housing for the purpose of taking shot while skin diving or scuba diving. Best way to go for skin diving is product like ewa-marine- soft pvc and flexible plastic for camera access. this product is relatively cheap but can't withstand the pressure of deeper water. For scuba; try calling adorama or b&h.They sell underwater housing. Not sure if they will rent. If you're diving and have soem estra funds, it is definitely worth getting dedicated housing and strobe. It is great!!! Hope these directions help and goodluck!!! :cool:
Posted by Richard Shaffer on July 23, 2007 at 4:20 PM
The housing will be used on a trip to photograph humpback whales next March. It's a snorkle only sanctuary off the Dominican Republic. After reading your posts I think I may end up opting to buy an Ikelite housing for the 5D. Anyone had experiences good or bad with Ikelite? Thanks for all the replies they did help me reach a decision. So far anyway. I still have time to change my mind. The cost of the rentals turned out to be about 1/2 of the price for the new Ikelite housing by the way.
Posted by Henry Posner on July 27, 2007 at 1:26 PM
The Ikelte housing for the 5D retails for $1200.00+. Since you're current trip is snorkel-depth only you could buy an Ewa-Marine housing for considerably less than half that amount. Admittedly the Ewa-Marine is not in the same league as the Ikelite, but neither's the price.
Posted by Elaine Whiteford on July 29, 2007 at 2:46 AM
Richard, you asked about experiences with Ikelite. I have used their housings with 3 different cameras and can recommend them. Touch wood, I have not had a problem with them. They are sturdy and robust and allow access to all controls. One thing to think about, though: you need to remember that with SLR housings, you will need also to hire the right port for whichever lens you will be using (wide I am assuming?). So you need to check if you are hiring that the retailer has the relevant port available. May or may not be a problem.

An alternative option might be (dare I suggest?:wink:) buying a compact with a wide zoom and a housing. Then you don't have to worry about ports. Plus it will be a lot less bulky to travel with.

As it happens, I am trying out an Ikelite housing on a 20D today and I will let you know how it goes!
Posted by Elaine Whiteford on July 31, 2007 at 4:29 PM
Update on the 20D Ikelite housing: I was very happy with it. All controls are accessible and work smoothly. The housing is quite heavy but you get used to it. It feels like a solid, dependable housing. I would expect that the 5d housing would be equally well built.