vortexted

The G11/G10 and to a lesser degree, the S90 lens are optical marvels and several lens tests have shown this to be the case in particular regarding the G series lens.

The other James

Yes the photos are amazing for a P&S from this camera. I think I'll keep the G11 for topside photography, and use the S90 mostly for UW and a pocket camera when needed.
I'm sure I'll be happy with either one of these cameras uw, but the wet lens idea really has me wanting to go with the S90 for uw photography.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

I just noted that Inon eliminated the EA (External Automatic) mode on the S-2000 and this is no good! The G11 can not expose TTL in manual mode and the EA Mode of the D-2000/Z-240 "emulate" this quite good. This means now that if you would like to shoot in Manual mode you have to use the S-2000 in manual mode as well.
Not a "big" issue, but you have to get used to that.
Chris

Hi Chris,
Thanks for all your help with this and explaining all that you certainly are a big help. You know the Fix G11 housing with wide angle lens will view 165 degrees according to that backscatter report. And your telling me the Patima wide angle will give 131 degrees. 34 degress sounds like is a big difference.
BTW, how do you make that degrees symbol on your keyboard?

It seems like there is +/- to all these different set ups. One of the reasons I chose the Canon G11 over the S90 is the 5X zoom instead of 3.7X. But with the Patima Wide lens I wont be able to zoom. I thought I read somewhere I could zoom with the fisheye wide housing.
Such a big decision to make, the wet lens idea really sounds more practical.
I think I'll probably go with the Z240 strobe since it seems to be the best and easiest to use.
Does this z240 strobe fire wirelessly, or is an optical cable required?

Another thing I was thinking about, do any of these strobes double as a video light or are they strictly flash?

 
The housing is a slightly bigger the the FIX housing but much less smaller than the Ikelite but both are much more heavy than the Ikelite.
The Patima housing is VERY sturdy, depth rated to 120 meters and has 2 bayonet ports, 1 wide angle port 82-32mm and one "generic" port 28-140mm where the wide angle port have a 67mm tread to mount wet lens and Austrian shop Underwasser.at is building a slip-over the "generic" port 67mm adapter.

Chris

You gave me something more to think about. One of the reasons I was shying away from the Ikelite housing is the size, I assumed it was also heavier.  I guess since its a plastic housing vs. aluminum, its lighter eh? What about the Ikelite strobes such as the DS161, are their strobes much larger then the Inon?

Thanks

 
The housing is a slightly bigger the the FIX housing but much less smaller than the Ikelite but both are much more heavy than the Ikelite.
The Patima housing is VERY sturdy, depth rated to 120 meters and has 2 bayonet ports, 1 wide angle port 82-32mm and one "generic" port 28-140mm where the wide angle port have a 67mm tread to mount wet lens and Austrian shop Underwasser.at is building a slip-over the "generic" port 67mm adapter.

Chris

I think I'm still a little confused about how the "ports" and lenses work as I've never actually had one of these in my hands. Does this Patima housing come with the 2 ports? Then the lenses attach to the ports and the ports screw on and off easily underwater?
I can see the advantage of this type of system. How wide with the wide angle lens for the Patima view? Also how do you like this buckle system to close it up?
Is  it more costly to buy all these lenses for the Patima system?
Does the ULCS arms and tray work with this Patima housing?

As long as I can fit my camera, housing, arms, and 2 strobes in a small enough case, or even a camera backpack and travel with ease with it i'm all for it.

Is the Inon Z-240 much bigger then the D2000?

Thanks

Welcome to the world of not being able to change lenses underwater, when you gear up to a DSLR you will be already used to that....
In any case that's only true with the FIX housing as my Patima housing has a 67mm tread on the wide angle port and will accept all 67mm wetlenses. There is a austrian company building a slip-over 67mm adapter for the Patima zoom port to expand the possibilies of possible lenses. So you might think about your decision for the FIX housing and go with the Patima.

If the higher price of the Z-240 over the D-2000 is it worth, well it's you to decide as the difference are 4 GN's and a electrical bulkhead. The D-2000 -as the Z-240 too- work perfectly as optical triggered slave strobes, so there is no need for a electrical connection. If weight is a serious concern, get a S-2000 (295g/10.4oz) as he weights almost the half of a D-2000 (544g/19.2oz) but you have some functions (External Auto) less and without a diffuser a slight oval beam.


Chris

Hi Chris,
I havn't seen any photos or any info on this Patima housing, just a few posts on here talking about it. It seems there is some debate on these forums weather needing to change lenses underwater is really necessary. Rather get your mindset on shooting wide angle or macro for that particular dive. Is the Patima housing the same size as the Fix G11? I've seen the Ikelite for G11 and it's surprisingly big so I want something smaller and lighter for travel.

Would it be better to go with 2 of the smaller S-2000 strobes compared to 1 Z-240. How much bigger and heavier is the Z-240 compared with the  S-2000?