waja

Thanks. I think the platinum has worn off of this card. Time to dig through all my old stuff and see if any of it will sell. I think the AquaShot will need to sit this one out.

I've been quite happy with my Canon 20D and Aquatica A20 Housing. I had the housing modified for the AquaView and that worked great. When the Canon 50D came out, I thought that would be a great upgrade. I snatched one up when they first came out and it worked fine for me. I started saving for the Aquatica 40D housing. Three days ago, I had enough money. I bought the 5D mark II. So now I'm saving up money for the Aquatica 5D MK II housing AND new lenses for the Canon. AND I'm sure I will need to get a spare battery (Ouch) and will probably now need a bigger compactFlash memory card. It would really be nice if people on this forum would not ooh and ahh so much about these housing and cameras so much until the economy picks up.

Aquatica A20 Housing. Excellent Condition. This is an Aquatica Modified Housing that can use either the standard viewfinder or the AquaView viewfinder. No ports included with this item. The standard viewfinder is included. US$1200 plus shipping or best offer. Canon 20D DSLR. Mint condition. Includes battery, charger, manual, original software, box. No lenses included with this item. Kirk Enterprise PZ-95 Quick release included. Two Sandisk 2.0GB Ultra II CF memories included. 18930 Actuations. US$325 plus shipping or best offer. Photos here: Aquatica A20 Housing

I have an Aquatica A20 that I am willing to sell. This is the upgraded model with the ability to use the AquaView viewfinder. Let me know if you are interested. Rick Levesque

I was looking over my A20 housing with the modified rear for the AquaView. The size of the opening for the AquaView caused Aquatica to lower the LCD viewport. If you look straight into the LCD viewport, you will not see the top portion of the display. From the pictures on the Internet of the 40D, there looks to be significantly less space between the top of the LCD and the bottom of the viewfinder. Will this be an issue?

I did order the regular eyepiece since Aquatica offered it for about half off of their list price. This allowed me to check the housing out and if/when I upgrade to something like a 40D, I will have a complete A20 housing to sell. Today I ordered the AquaView from B&H. Great price reduction that more than covered my cost of the regular eyepiece. B)

My Retrofitted A20 Housing back has arrived! Looks beautiful. But..... did I miss something? I knowthat the retrofit was to allow me to use the AquaView Viewfinder but I didn't know that it was going to be required . I really have mixed emotions about this. I'm glad that Aquatica had a program to retrofit the housing, but I really did expect that there would be the standard viewfinder attached to the housing and not just the hole. With everyone talking about how easy it is to attach/detach the viewfinder, I was thinking that I could switch viewfinders depending on conditions. The AquaView is rather large and I know that there are going to be times when I will want to have the standard viewfinder.

Hi James, I am using the Canon 100mm Macro with the 20D. This is the only macro lens I have used in a housed camera. Using this lens is not that difficult. 1:1 and being able to manually focus when set to auto-focus is nice. When using this lens, I put the auto-focus on the on the rear button and use my thumb to focus. If I have a problem focusing, I switch to manual or a combination of manual and bumping with the thumb. Then it is just a matter of looking in the viewfinder and getting the shot when everything is lined up and in focus.

Jean, Any word on how the 20D retrofit is proceeding? Rick

Jean, Is the retrofit a retooling of the existing back piece or is it a replacement backing? -Rick

I signed up for the 20D upgrade. The cost of the program is US$375.00+shipping and handling. That comes out to US$9375.00+ for 25. It would be interesting to see the count of those willing to get the retrofit. 20D vs D70

Thank you everyone for the feedback. I was hoping to reply quicker, but work is taking over my life. I will try to look at the orginal image again and see what I changed in photoshop for color and white balance. I shoot in RAW mode and I do process everything I shoot to some extent since I never really feel that I get it right the firt time.

I took these in June 2006 diving off Grand Bahama Island. Did all my shots using the 10-22mm lens. The detail in the shark was a pleasant surprise. You just don't see this when you have your face pressed against the back of the camera and you are trying to determine just when to press the shutter release.

I was just reading the preview on DPReview and was wondering about the proximity sensor below viewfinder eyepiece to disable the LCD during composition. Will a housing cause this camera to totally disable the LCD? I didn't see anything about overriding the sensor.

After posting this write-up, I sent email to Blake at Aquatica. He did reply back that the upgrade is free and that anyone interested in the upgrade could contact him directly at info@aquatica.ca I don't know the procedure if you want to send your housing. One thing that Blake did say about my write-up - "We had the end of the spring stop on the small boss that the set screw is screwed into,this is about 180 degrees from your current location,I think it gives a bit more tension. " I'm not really sure on how this is accomplished. (Maybe the looped end is wound closer to the shaft to prevent it from slipping off the boss.) If you do get yours updated by Aquatica, I would be interested in seeing a picture of the finished product. Thanks,

james, I did the install myself. As far as recommending others to attempt the update, I believe that some people could get it done perfectly, some satisfactorily, and some will send the parts and housing back in fustration. Here are the steps that I took. Updating the Illumination button is very straight forward. If you can remove the tiny circlip without losing it or damaging it, you are more than half way there. When the old button is removed, you must check the opening for calcium deposits or other debris. I used a cotton tip swap with vinegar to clean opening. I then used a small amount of grease on the o-ring when installing the new button. Updating the '*' lever is more tricky. Two hex wrenches are needed to remove the lever and the activator pin. Remove the lever rod by first removing the outside lever and then push the lever rod into the body. Clean the opening as before and disassemble the old lever rod. Grease the new lever rod and insert from the outside of the housing. This is one of the more difficult steps. I had to use quite a bit of pressure to get the lever rod to go in. I also used my finger nails to push in on the rubber seals while trying to get the rod into position. It took a bit of work time and patience to get the rod in. Also, when the last seal is finally slips into the correct position, the rod will just keep going and may push all the way through. Control is needed. Once the rod is in, insert the inside circlip and attach the lever to hold in place. In general, attaching the spring and activation pin should be very easy. Slide the spring on, insert pin, tighten the hex screw, position the spring around the pin, stick on the pad and you are done. I found that the spring was too loose, so I bent the spring arm back a little. Adjusting a spring is a little tricky in that you do not want to change the shape of the spring. I used needle-nosed pliers to hold the spring and to prevent the windings from getting out of shape. I also shorted the sping arm by about 12mm. Here is a picture of my first attempt. The spring is sitting crooked and the u-bend is further down on the pin. I had extended the pin to get the hook away from the end, but this did not work well. At this point, the spring was working. But the activating pin was not doing its job very smoothly. I used some chalk on the end of the activating pin to see if it was missing the '*' button. It was off a little but not much. I realigned the pin and it did not help. I could feel the button being pressed, but I had to push a little harder on the lever to get th button to activate. The activating pin pressed the '*' button in about 95% of the way toward activating very easily. I added chalk to the hook part of the spring and found that it was hitting the camera body just above the '*' button when pressed. It appears, the hook is meant to go around the bare pin and not the black vinyl protector. Pushing the lever harder at the end compressed the spring into the vinyl and activated the button. I could have cut the vinyl protector to be shorter, but it would have been very short and may be proned to coming off. Instead, I reshaped the hook to be closer to the spring windings. (The hook original contacted the pin after the bend, it is now just at the bend.) I then opened the hook just a little to allow more room to go around the vinyl protector. The lever now operated the '*' button easily. But with the spring installed, the lever travelled further than I liked. I added the vinyl bumper and pad, and now the lever travels about 7-8mm.

I didn't see any mention here about the updates that Aquatica has provided for the original A20 Housing, so I thought I would go ahead and post my experience. Back in July, I sent feedback to Aquatica about my A20 experience on my dive trip to Grand Cayman. Two of these problems have now been corrected in the current release of the A20 Housing and are also available as free updates to the original A20 Housing. Problem 1: LCD Illumination button is hard to operate. In the picture below, the illumination button (far left), is no higher than the rise in the housing. In the picture below you can see the replacement button is longer than the original. The picture below is with the new longer button installed. Problem 2: The lever used to operate the '*' button did not have a return spring. I found it difficult to use my thumb to both press and release the '*' button. Also, if the button is not released, the camera would continue to focus until released. The picture below is the original release. Here is the upgrade kit along side of the original parts. I installed the new lever arm and spring, but I wasn't really happy with the results. The spring didn't sit well and didn't have much tension. I adjusted the spring and retried the lever. Better, but the travel was too long and I had to really bear down on the lever to get the button to press. I made more changes in the spring bringing the hook closer in. I also went to the hardware store and purchased a package of vinyl bumpers. I used a knife to trim the bumper for a better fit. I then used epoxy to secure the bumper in place. I put the felt strip from the kit on top of the bumper and the final result looks good and works great.

First image posted and I cannot leave well enough alone. Canon 20D with Aquatica Housing. One Ikelite DS-125 and one borrowed Sea & Sea 90DX. Canon 100mm lens.

I leave in 6 hours. Still need to pack. I can't believe that the time has gone by so quickly. I didn't do half of what I wanted to do. If I can get on the plane with all the stuff I have, then half the battle will be won. I will post pics when I get back.

There is an 8" Aquatica Dome Shade on eBay at this time. It is at US$24.00 at this time. This is the same one I have. It has 8 set screws. 4 are close to the edge and allow the shade to be rotated but prevent the shade from coming off. 4 are lined up with the edge of the dome and will lock the shade to the dome.

kriptap2, Thanks for the info. I don't have the 17-85mm :-\ . I do have a Tamron 28-75mm lens, but don't plan on usinging it for diving. I've signed up for the Super Course, so I'll be diving with Cathy Church the first week I'm there, staying at the Sunset House. I did the Super Course 2 years ago with the Nikonos V and really enjoyed it. This time the class is digital, so I've done the switch. The following week, I'll be taking it easy, hanging out with the wife and our youngest daughter. My wife dives, but my daughter needs to be a few more years older. A question for anyone. The ULCS T - Groove Adapter comes with tiny screws that screw into the top of the Aquatica Handle. I don't think much more than two threads actually make contact. Is there any reason not to use longer screws? I bought some longer screws from a Marine Shop on the Internet. I got 1/2", 5/8" and 3/4" length screws. The 1/2" give 3 full threads. The 5/8" contacts all the threads and sticks out just a little from the thread insert. (Doesn't stick out from the handle though.) I put the 5/8" in for now. Is there any issues with the threads sticking out? Corrosion? The ones I bought are SS Marine Grade. Thanks,

I saw that B&H had a couple of new housing caps in their used department, so I picked one up. When the rain stops and the pool heats up a little more, I plan on checking the housing out for leaks.

Thanks meister! The dome and shade certainly takes up a huge amount of space. I'm guessing that I should keep the dome attached to the shade and jettison the original neoprene cover since it will not fit over the shade(?) If the dome is in the container facing down (supported by the shade) did you still put something in the bottom to protect the dome?

acroporas, Thanks, there is quite a bit to digest from the other threads. I haven't seen any pictures yet, but there are references to them so I'm guessing that sooner or later they expire. Well, I'm still reading...

I have purchased the Canon 20D, 100mm lens, 10-22mm lens, Aquatica A20, Port Extension, Dome Port, Flat Port, DS-125 Stobes, Digital Controllers, ULCS Arms, Acer 8104 Notebook, LowePro CompuTrekker AW Computer/Camera Backpack, and Pelican 1510 Case. I laid it all out on the floor and I'm just a little (ok a lot) overwhelmed. My first concern is how to get it all packed up and carried onto the plane. I have less than 5 weeks to go for a trip to Grand Cayman. Should anything be put into checked luggage? My first candidates are the ULCS Arms. (Has anyone had an issue in carry on?) These are 12" long and should be safe in the luggage. My second candidate is the Aquatica Dome Shade. Huge. In to the Pelican 1510, I could put the Housing (remove the handles?), both strobes, the flat port and port extension, battery chargers, Digital Controllers, and Synch Cords. And that is about it unless I want to mount the camera in the housing also. Another question. Should I get the body cap or port cap? Does anyone worry about dust and such when transporting the housing? I was planning on just getting some ziplock bags (big ones too). In the backback, I am going to put my laptop, camera lens, 8" dome, and anything else that I need to carry on. I will also carry on my dive computer and dive mask. If I have room, I will add my regulator, but I think that I have run out of space. Once I get to Grand Cayman, I need to assemble things. I can see how they go together (well sort of), but in what order? Do I put the camera lens on first and then put the camera into the housing? Do I put the port on before I put the camera in the housing? Does it matter? How well is the housing suppose to work? The controls that work by friction don't appear to work very easily. Is this normal? The on-off switch takes more pressure that I thought should be needed. The knob that turns the wheel on top of the camera (sorry, don't know the name) needs just the right amout of pressure. Too little and nothing happens. Too much and it will slip off of the wheel. The knob that works the manual focus is not very smooth. Is this normal? And is there a direction for mounting the focus gear? Or a trick to mounting the zoom gear on the 10-22mm? Anyway, say I do get everything together and I'm ready to jump in. Can someone tell me what setup you start with on the 20D? By this, I mean if you were going to shoot macro, what settings are on the camera when you jump in the water. Do you always try to have the same settings or do you do your setup once you are in the water? How is that * button set? and used? Sorry to have so many questions but going from a Nikonos V to the Canon 20D has increased my options just a little (or a lot) beyond what I know. Thanks to everyone in advance. I will be taking notes.