DEMA 2007: Ikelite Underwater Systems 
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Author: Eric Cheng ( echeng )
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IKELITE
November 1, 2007 - 3:21PM
Ikelite had a few new products on display in addition to their popular line of SubStrobes. Jean Brigham took me on a tour of their new dive lights, housings, ports, and more.
Ikelite's PCm LED is a compact little dive light that now uses a single super-bright LED. It uses 4 AA batteries, which will power the light for 3 hours. The PCa now lasts 5 hours, and the PC Lite, 7 hours. All of Ikelite's dive lights will be LED-based by January. Ikelite will continue to offer both halogens and LED lights.
There is now a flat port for the flared extension used with Ikelite's 8" dome port. It can accept a Woody's diopter, and various extender pieces will be available so photographers can match port lengths to specific lenses. One of the extension pieces features a focus knob, and a single port works both in manual focus and auto focus (supporting lenses that having moving focus rings even during autofocus). The image below is a prototype, so you can expect the final knob design to be a bit more refined.
Ikelite is currently shipping Canon 40D housing and Olympus E-410 and 510 housings. A D300 housing will hopefully be available in December, and they are planning on doing an Olympus E-3 housing as well.
A new iTTL adapter is now available for the Nikon D2X. It looks like like the normal adapter, but has a little "D2X" stamped on it.
The Autoflash AF35 compact camera lighting system, which was showed off in prototype form last year, ships in 2 weeks and looks to be a nice little setup. It features both Auto and manual flash modes, and also has exposure compensation via a dial at the side. The Autoflash AF35 should work with most compact cameras in various housings.
Jean also showed me a new, working prototype of a smaller, contoured housing. It is rated to 200', and the camera just drops in without any fuss (plastic guides ensure that it always falls into the same place).
 Ikelite booth |
 Ikelite Canon 40D housing |
 Ikelite Canon 40D housing |
 Ikelite's new port extenders -- flared port extender, middle extender with focus knob (prototype -- will look different when finished), and flat port for extension. |
 Ikelite -- assembled flat port (for 8" dome extension) |
 Ikelite's Nikon iTTL adapter. They have a new one for the Nikon D2X. |
 Ikelite housing with Autoflash AF35 system |
 Ikelite housing with Autoflash AF35 system |
 Working prototype of a smaller, contoured housing, rated to 200' |
 Working prototype of a smaller, contoured housing, rated to 200' |
 Working prototype of a smaller, contoured housing, rated to 200'. Camera drops right into housing. |
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Comment(s):Interesting - are the smaller housings only for their PnS lines, and how broadly will they ‘retrofit’ existing PnS housing line? Or are they also looking at reducing housing size on their dSLRs?
(I’m aware of the arguments to not do so - keeping space for minor leaks to stay away from the camera, for dessicant packets, maintaining neutral buoyancy - so please note I’m not trying to *advocate* such a choice, simply asking what Ike’s plans are out of curiosity.)
RTRski
Posted by rtrski on 11/03 at 09:25 AMTo avoid confusion, we will not be retrofitting cameras in our current product line to the new housing. Once the new housing completes final testing and goes into production we will be installing new models that are small enough to fit in the case. This will include most of the very slim “pocket-sized” point-and-shoot cameras.
There are no current plans for a new digital SLR housing.
Thanks, Jean
Posted by Ikelite / Jean on 11/06 at 09:55 AM
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