junior2725

I just recently got everthing fixed and back from my flood incident. I was in Roatan last week and tried out the 105 VR again. Even with the new wider port, I still have to be very careful putting the port on so that the M/A swich doesn't get moved. For the life of me I still can't get the lens to manual focus at all. I think that I will give ikelite a call as soon as I get back from my Canada trip. Maybe they need to modify mine also. Michelle

Juan, Thanks for the post. I am definately going to modify my setup like this. Twice while I have been carrying my rig after the dive, the port has fallen off. It doesn't seem to have any problems while diving but seems to get turned while am carrying it. Michelle

It is insured. I have a feeling that I may be dropped from my policy after this one. Almost all of my equipment was stolen a couple of months ago and now this. I was using the 105 VR when the flood occured. I didn't find anything wrong with my o-rings although I wasn't the one to open the back of the housing after the flood. The divemaster on the boat did that for me. I'm thinking that the camera got hit on something during the hand down or on the line at the surface. The boat had a line from the boat to a bouy and then down to the wreck. Surface conditions weren't great alghough they were better than the night before. It was choppy out and a decent amount of current. Geting down the line was sometimes difficult. The night before I got my masked knocked down by the bouy. That is the only conclusion that I have come to. That or one of the o-rings in the port system was pinched or something. Didn't see anything when I opened each one of them up. Now I just have to wait for the whole process of dealing with getting the ttl circuitry fixed and the camera and lens replaced. Michelle

I went on a trip to Pompano this past weekend. We were mostly diving wrecks and I was using my wide angle lens but on Sunday I decided to try out the macro lens again. Unfortunately the first dive of the day I flooded my camera. I can't figure out why it flooded. I spent about an hour the night before making sure everything was clean and set. So now it will be quite a while before I get to try out the modular port system. Although I did get the lens to autofocus while in the port. I taped the switches as you suggested.

Thanks. I am pretty sure that the MF wasn't getting hit as I kept taking the port off and trying to see what the problem was. I did notice that the VR switch had gotten moved one time. Perhaps the switch was somehow getting hit both when I put the port on and when I took it off, so that when I looked at the lens it seemed like the switch wasn't getting hit. I do want this port setup to work out for me at I want to use my 5T diopter. I did read in the manual about the pressure on the focus knob but it seemed no matter how hard I pushed topside it would not turn. Thinking back I don't even think I tried it underwater. I had determined before my dive that I was just going to have to have a fixed focal length and deal with it. I didn't get any descent pics because the surge made it almost impossible to just stay in one spot. It probably didn't help that this was my first dive with the camera in my drysuit. Thanks for the advice. I will try it out. I plan on sending my 5510.22 back to ikelite for modification once I receive the 5510.16. Michelle

I just also received my focus extension and flat port. I tried it for the first time the other day but for the life of me I could not get the lens to AF or MF. I was using the 5510.22 port with the nikon 105 VR lens. It seemed like the setup was just a little too long and the focus extension was not catching correctly on the lens. It seemed like it was positioned on the edge of the manual focus ring. I'm not sure why the lens would not AF. The camera would always think that it was in in focus (the focus point would light up and the shutter would snap) with the camera set to single shot so the camera shouldn't take the shot unless it is in focus. I went ahead and ordered the 5510.16 body which I have to wait for because Reef Photo is waiting for the new modified ones. Anyway, do you think there is something I am doing wrong. I just thought my port configuration was wrong but it seems like you weren't having any of these problems??? Michelle

Thanks for the input. I will definitely take that into account in the future. This was my first real usage of a dslr underwater and two strobes. I got to try it out a couple of times before my trip to Cozumel, but am still learning the system. I had never been drift diving before and found it really difficult to be able to think about switching too much around before taking a picture because I would burn too much air trying to stay in one place.

Please help me critique this image of a turtle from Cozumel. I have edited using photoshop raw. What are your thoughts. This was my first trip with my newly housed Canon 20D with dual DS-125 strobes. Ironically, I am now shooting with a Nikon D300, as my 20D was stolen shortly after coming home from the trip.

Thanks for the advice. I have been installing the port as the manual states. I think it is getting rotated as I carry the system. I will try the duck tape. Also, I will look again at how the shade is situated on the port. Some of my pics show the shade and some don't. Hopefully, I can get this problem solved and my port won't be falling off anymore. Michelle

I have the focus extension and flat assembly on pre-order with reef photo to use with my 5510.22 body. I'm looking forward to being able to use manual or auto focus underwater with my Nikon 105mm macro lens. I'll let everyone know how it all works together once I receive it. Michelle

I just got the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye lens for use with my D300 and Ike housing. I am using the Ike 8" dome #5510.45 with the super wide angle port body #5510.10. I am having a problem with being able to see the dome's shade in the corner of my pics. Here is an example I am also having major trouble with securly attaching the super wide body to my housing. You have to turn it onto the port locks instead of just clicking down the port locks like other port bodies. Anyway my trouble comes while trying to carry my rig around. Twice while I have been holding it the dome has fallen off and hit the concrete. I had to carry it up and down a narrow stairway to enter Devils Den. When I turned my rig sideways so it would fit the whole port system fell off and hit the ground. Of course, now there a few scratches but I am really worried that this is going to keep hapening and break my port. Any advice? Michelle

Dmoss - thanks I will try that. The buoyancy was much better in salt water. I think it will be fine in salt. I may look into those other arms to help out, especially if I'm diving the springs at all.

Thanks. I'm going out on the boat tomorrow and am going to leave it all as is. I'll see how it is in the salt water. I'm sure it will be a little better. I'll search for those ideas because it may be a problem when I dive the springs.

Thanks. I will call Ikelite and see what they say. I also have two DS-125 strobes for my setup. I took it all into the pool for the first time today and was practicing shooting a plastic reef thing my instructor made up. The whole setup was really negative. Does anyone have any ideas to make it more buoyant? Does anyone else have this same setup? Is it a lot better in saltwater? It was really heavy underwater and kept pulling me around because it was so negative. My understanding is that it should be slightly negative, but not much. Thanks for any ideas.

I just received a new ikelite housing for my Canon D20. I just put the camera in the housing for the first time and can't seem to change the program control (not sure it is called this). Anyway I can't seem to change the camera from aperture priority to shutter priority while the camera is in the housing. Am I doing something wrong. The control that ikelite has made for this is just a round thing that sits on top of the control. It won't turn the thing. How do I get this control to work? Thanks, Michelle