There are no off-the-shelf housings for the Sigma SD9/10 DSLRs. Such a housing could not be cost-justified, given the volume of sales and the profile of the user-base In researching the options, it very quickly became clear that Ikelite would be the only reasonably-priced choice and for all practical purposes, the only choice. After some discussion with Ike and a review of the camera by his staff, it was determined that a custom housing could be done from their standard digital mold.

Front of housing showing dome port, snaps, handles with quick-release buttons, twin DS125's and ultralite arms.

The housing was done in a matter of a few weeks, and exactly to my specs. Ike was even kind enough to give me a manual–focus option. I asked for this as I was (justifiably) concerned about the performance of the Sigma AF. The system cannot be shot using TTL. The housing can accommodate either the SD9 or the SD10 since the physical configuration of the two camera bodies are the same for all practical purposes. I have had the housing to 140 feet and everything worked at that depth.

The housing is large and negatively buoyant, especially with the heavier lenses. With the lighter ones, it is still negative but not as much. As with most DSLR's, the camera is not light, although it is about the same in dimensions and weight as the Fuji S1 and substantially heavier than the Canon digital Rebel (300D). Sigma lenses tend to be large and heavy, especially the 14 and 105. I have shot with (all f2.8), the 14, 15 fisheye, and the 50 and 105 macros.

Back side of housing with digital buttons, flash connector, on-off button on left, and shutter speed button on right.

The port and housing assembly mechanism is vintage Ikelite with the two-clip for the port and the 4 snap for the body. When I got the housing, I checked out the digital controls and they seemed to be accurately placed and work very smoothly. There are controls for almost everything including on/off, menu, viewing with magnification, delete, info, mods, exposure adjustment, AE lock, mode selection (M,A,S,P), aperture and shutter. A nice feature of the housing is that the push buttons for the digital controls vary in how far they protrude from the body of the housing. This helps the user to know which button is which without having to look down at the housing and is a good feature for night diving. The shutter-release lever is long and very comfortable to use. The ability to see the top LCD display is another very nice feature. Although large and heavy on land, the size is not an issue underwater and the grips have a very good feel to them, noticeably better than the old ones.

The mounting mechanism for the camera is a friction slide-in one with the plate attached to the camera sliding into a female receptacle. There is a rubber-type rectangular piece that is glued onto the wall of the housing under the camera and helps support it and keep it in place. Mine shifted and the housing has been moving forward a bit probably due to jarring or vibration from my boat. If the camera moves enough, it can affect the working of some of the more position-sensitive function buttons. The screw for mounting the base plate to the camera does not have a lock washer and will fall out if turned too far. For buttons that turn like a wheel, Ikelite uses friction-driven controls. I would have preferred to see a cap fitting over the wheel such as that used by some other manufacturers as once in a while they have slipped. There is no friction plate on the bottom of the housing and the housing can easily slide around out on a boat if one is not careful.

The DS125's are wonderful. They have a twist, snap and push-in lever for easy opening and closing. The recycle very quickly and at f5.6 with the diffusers, I find that ¼ power is usually adequate and sometimes too much. I have done over two hundred shots on a charge. One small issue is that the diffusers tend to fall off. I put a small nylon tie-cord on them and attached it to the strobe arm.

Sample Photos:

A 100% crop from a full-sized photo, showing the detail