11 replies to this topic

[Dr. T]

Hi,
I love snorkeling and water sports and have gotten some OK photos with a digicam in a Fantasea housing. However, I'm tired of the shutter lag and "point and hope" shooting. I'm a pretty serious dry land photographer and would love to use either my 20D or 1DMarkIII while snorkeling and playing in the waves. The surf housings sound like they would work well. Has anyone used them for fish, turtles etc? I would love to try to capture the big waves as some have posted here but that's obviously too much of a contact sport for me.
I travel to Hawaii a few times every year and seem to spend most of the time snorkeling or in the surf. I'm constantly wishing I had one of my dSLRs in my hands. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Some of the lenses I have include the 10-22mm efs, 16-35mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm. I would think the 10-22 on the 20D or the 16-35 on the MarkIII would work well.
Thank you.

[photovan]

The purpose-built surf housings are great for getting beaten about in the waves.

If by serious you mean you like to have complete control of all your camera's functions, some of the surf housings are a bit limited with which controls you can operate.

If you are putting your very wide zooms on to shoot underwater, don't forget that the system will need a well-matched dome port, and probably a diopter.

[pmooney]

The Aquatech housings are a a good option. Check out the guys at Backscatter - they have them available for hire & sale.

[NorthShoreSurfPhotos.com]

i know alot of people who have had numerous problems with aquatech. a good friend of mine has sent his in 3 times because of leaks. not saying they are bad but there are known problems. if you want a dive or snorkle housing look at the dive housing manufacturers if you want a surf housing buy a SPL. good luck.

[Dr. T]

Ideally I will find a housing I can use in the surf, kayaking, on the jet skis, sailing and snorkeling. From what I have read, the dive housings are most reliable under pressure and the surf housings are more what I'm looking for. I'll check out SPL. Any other recommendations would be great.
Thanks

[NorthShoreSurfPhotos.com]

Ideally I will find a housing I can use in the surf, kayaking, on the jet skis, sailing and snorkeling. From what I have read, the dive housings are most reliable under pressure and the surf housings are more what I'm looking for. I'll check out SPL. Any other recommendations would be great.
Thanks

Sounds like you are looking for an SPL honestly. i have took mine down to 25 feet deep and it has also been in 15 foot surf too. good luck

[alexboard]

Have a look at liquideye housings. after much searching i decided to go with them!

[worldwide]

Doin a little shamless advertizing here haha. About a year ago my buddy (who already has been making housings and knows the industry) called me and wanted to get together to build the best surf housings available. Were getting pretty close. The web site is constantly changing as well as our housings. Ive personally been working w/ some of the top photogs making these exactly how the guys want them...full controlls, light weight, strong, comfortable, reliable...
Thanks for checking them out.
Jay
www.cmtwaterhousings.com

[mcd2000]

Look at these people in San Diego http://www.delmarhousings.com/

[james]

Hi Jay,

Letting us know about a new housing is fine, as long as it's not a commercial post - i.e. a solicitation to buy something, with prices, etc. If there's something new out there we'd love to hear details about it, features, ports, etc.

Cheers
James

[worldwide]

Hi Jay,

Letting us know about a new housing is fine, as long as it's not a commercial post - i.e. a solicitation to buy something, with prices, etc. If there's something new out there we'd love to hear details about it, features, ports, etc.

Cheers
James

I plan on chatting a bit on here also.
Thanks!

[Mike L]

Housings look great Jay. Id love to check one out someday soon since we are located close by!