Grant Gunderson

Fair enough.  Didnt realize that E-ttl controlled high speed synch, as I've always done high speed synch manually with a pocket wizard and my large Elinchrom strobe on land where they simply dont make any e-ttl gear thats powerful enough for me (p;us the t.5 flash durations on almost everything but Elinchrom and Broncolor is way to slower for what I normally shoot), even if they did, I'd still shoot on manual as I like having full control.  Not having the joystick on the SeaCam housing would be a deal killer for me, as I am constantly using it to set the AF point.
 
Sweet just learned something new!
 

Grant
The 1Dx high speed  continuous shooting is 12fps if shutter is 1/1000 and ISO is set under 25600.  JPEG lockdown mode is 14fps.  I know I'm being pedantic but now you have an extra 2fps you don't need!
 
As for high fps, as Alex says, it's very useful when you need it, but useless when you don't .  I shoot different things than Alex, who is a master of fish behavior.  I shoot predation behavior of big animals like sharks, whales etc in very fast action.  One could say a good photographer would know when to pull the trigger, but for my modest talent (or lack there of), that's in the realm of "use the force, Luke" and I'd rather use the inelegant approach of attrition. 
 
This brings up high speed flash, which allows me to lfill light animal subjects with ambient backgrounds, especially with cameras with excellent ISO performance.  In baitball and other predation behavior, one could be trying to light up a 2m shark in a baitball, something the little INON would not be able to do but my big 250W Hartenberger chomps for breakfast.  This ties into the higher shutter speeds which leads to the eTTL protocol.  The Canon eTTL controls high speed sync, and so eTTL is essential for high speed sync.
 
And eTTL also ties into program modes which can also get you the shot when the action moves unpredictably.  Most people will say TTL for wide angle underwater is not a good thing, and manual is preferred. Normally I agree but for certain situations, it works well to control your fill flash.  It can also get a shot you aren't ready for.
 
That leads to strobes that can do eTTL, which only a few manufacturers can, including Seacam's SeaFlash.  I did a review of them a couple of years back so you can find it in the archives.  Lastly, only the SeaFlash can do rear curtain, which is also part of eTTL, so if you need that function, you'll have narrowed your choice.
 
Like I said before, list down the things you want to do with the housing, then choose the housing that fits your needs.  Personally, I'd wait for the Seacam to show the 1Dx housing before putting money down.  With the 5D3 housing, Seacam tossed out full joystick control which made the Q menu functionality limited. I personally use the Quick Menu constantly for stills.  So I didn't choose the Seacam because of that.  I have no idea what the Subal will look like either, since they aren't delivering yet.
 
Good luck!

Drew,

 

Actually the 1Dx tops out at 10 FPS when shooting RAW, the 12fps is useless IMOP because it only works in JPEG, that and I cant think of a single subject where more than 10fps is useful.  Even when I am shooting skiing, I very rarely fire off more than just a frame or two at 10FPS, whats more important to me, is the very fast AF that tends to come with higher FPS bodies.

 

I dont understand the desire to be able to routinely fire flashes at a high FPS.  At least in my experience when working with flash, you take your time to dial in your flashes manually and compose your shot the shoot. If i'm going to take a second frame then I'm either going to re-compose or make an adjustment to the light position. Plus if your going to try to do it at a high FPS, then your going to most likely be pushing your shutter speed to max synch killing your ambient, or your not going to have a fast enough t.5 flash duration to stop action unless your either shooting near stationary objects, or with the flashes set to a really low power.  If there is a need to be able to fire the flashes at a high FPS, then please enlighten me. I'd be very curious to know when you guys need to do that.

 

The other thing I dont understand is what everyone's obsession with E-ttl is.  The key to really good stunning flash work is understanding the relationship between your flash and ambient portions of your exposure and the impact that light position plays.  I just dont see the need for it, unless your basically shooting with an over priced point and shoot.  Anyone that takes the time to learn to shoot flash manually is going to get to a point where they are going to quickly do a way better job than what the camera would do with E-ttl.

 

Thanks for the info on the housings.  I'll have to do some research on the Subal one as well, but right now I'm leaning towrads SeaCam if they can deliver before my first scheduled shoot date.

 

 

That's right David. As Grant knows, the 1Dx will only hit 12 fps @ 1/1000+ shutter speed, so it has to be high speed sync to shoot with strobes.  Which is why Alex's statement got my attention.  No one has got high speed sync cracked on eTTL but according to Alex, Nauticam might have hopefully.

As for getting things to work, you would cringe at what else I've used to get things to work the way I want.

Thanks Drew.  After discussing the quote with the shop a lot of the cost difference was that the SeaCam included SeaCam arms and strobes, so if I go with the YS-250 pro strobes and Nauticam arms, the cost diffence is more like $3500, so is the SeaCam housing body and 180 view finder really worth the extra $3500 over the Nauticam body with there 180 view finder?  Either way its a large investment, and something that I want to make sure I do it right from the begining, as it will be commited to that set up for a long time.

 

As for using the 1DX instead of the smaller body, its more cost effective for me, since I laready own two 1dX cameras and getting a smaller body (5Dmk3) and a housing for that would end up being more and personally I own two 1DX's because I hate going back and forth between different cameras.

 

As far as bouyancy goes, it came really easy to me, so I'm not too concerned about having the large housing to deal with.    I'll also be doing a lot of over under shots with it at first for some of my action sports clients before I ever do an actual dive with it, so that will give me a lot of time to get familiar with it. When I do start to dive with it, I'll be starting out with more mellow dives before doing anything too adventurous.

 

 

Thanks again for the help.

Hi everyone.  I am full time ski photographer, that just got into diving last year in Belize and am now hooked! and am already excited about purchasing a housing for my camera gear.  I am looking forward to learning a lot from this amazing community.   You can check out my non-dive photos here: http://www.GrantGunderson.com