lauri

Hi, I pm'd you earlier, what do you have left of the set? Lauri

Could you expand a bit on the TTL circuitry issue? I'm assuming that Ikelite has had to reverse-engineer the eTTL II protocol for the circuitry, but according to spec the 450D and 500D both use eTTL II? I probably wouldn't bother upgrading for the video control alone, or even accurate TTL as I expose manually 90% of the time, but camera lock-ups would be pretty inconvenient... It seems some more testing is in order here. I already had the 450D housing in water with the 500D and the old video button is ergonomic enough for me, but didn't have time to test strobes.

Perfect fit! I'm using the Ikelite XSi/450D housing. Reaching the rec button wasn't a big problem, even with dry gloves. BTW, the 18-55 IS kit lens seems to work fine with the .22 stalk of the 8" dome, Ike's site lists .16 for it. I haven't had time to check the video or pics on my computer though, got to sleep sometime...

I'll let you know - I'll be taking mine to the pool tomorrow evening. Also, I've already got some ideas for making access to the rec-button easier. Got to experiment a bit first, though. //LN

I clip on the camera last, with the dome facing outwards. When passing tight places I switch light to right hand and use left hand to protect the camera and shuffle things around. Won't probably work with scooters, but I'm still waiting for my N-19... Last I heard it was being shipped to Europe from FL... I'm thinking about mounting the camera on the scooter for travel. Not very streamlined, though. I don't like to have the dome cover on when underwater, but I may have to use one as I start using more tanks. We've made an underwater cover for our video dome with some spare neoprene and bungee cord; it's a bit easier to put on underwater. Yeah, for video we've had up to 6 people in water, as 2 3-diver teams. There's always something to do for everyone, lighting etc. Works as long as you plan the shots and don't improvise too much... //LN

I've been shooting on cold water (2-4 deg C) cave (or mine, to be precise) and trimix wreck dives for about a year now; there's still quite a lot to learn, but this is how we currently do the stuff, with some slightly-of-topicish-ranting too: -I started with a lanyard, made of cave line pulled through some silicone hose to prevent entanglement, but I found that it's not really necessary, now I have the camera rigged stage-style with clips under both handles. During descents and deco I usually hang the camera from the crotch strap d-ring, during longer swims I clip it like a stage or just let it rest on my arms, so that it's ready to shoot and I have both of my arms free at the same time... But I'm still trying to come up with a better way to swim (or scooter, in the near future) with the camera and maybe some bottom and deco stages -handing the camera off during deco gas/stage pickups and gas switches might be a good idea too, as long as your team's on the same page... -I try to make all the photo gear as neutral as possible. negative kit is annoying enough on rec dives, on tech dives I consider it hazardous to have to wrestle with the gear. it does take some effort to make even Ikelite stuff neutral in fresh water, but I've had some success with deep sea trawl floats -if it's a photo dive, it's a photo dive. it gets planned as a photo dive, not as ordinary dive with just one of the divers lugging a camera -try to limit the shooting to a pre-planned portion of the dive, when you start your exit or ascent, you concentrate on that 100%... when there's a good moment during deco or say, during slower reelwork I've been tempted to take some snapshots, but lately I've been trying to avoid that -tech dives are not good for photography practise. you can do shallower, easier dives in cold water to learn to handle the rig with dry gloves etc, so that you don't get completely absorbed by the camera when shooting - you need to able to just take the shot and maintain team, gas and plan awareness at the same time -I'm all for the three-man team... But then again, I tend to dive with the same guys all the time.. It just takes more diving and practise together, and some more discipline, but it's perfectly doable, and in caves it also give you a lot more opportunities to play with slave strobes, more light to see stuff, and quite a lot more team gas reserve - but definitely only one photo- or videographer in the team... //LN

Yes, I've understood that NiCads give more current than most NiMHs, so the NiMHs might be better for the strobe, considering the warning on Ikelite web site. A separate plug would be neat, but I think it will be too much work trying to fit one to to the pack. I think the Smart charger uses a standard DC plug, and it would probably fit in the place of the old plug, but the adapter isn't that expensive or bulky to travel with, so I'm thinking about buying adapter. Until now I've been using the older Quick charger for the SS batteries, but it seems a bit dodgy... I think the adapter bypasses the thermistor. //LN

Hi, I'm considering rebuilding or getting rebuilt my old SS400 and SS300 battery packs. This should be a fairly straightforward operation, but I have a couple of questions some of you might know the answer to: 1) I intend to use my Ike smart charger and the plug adapter to charge the batteries from now on. Can I just bypass the charging electronics on the pack? I'm pretty sure I can do this... 2) What type of cells would work best? I'm considering 5000mAh D-cell nicads, but there's a warning about modern nicads on the Ikelite web site, have any of you had problems? The smart charger can also handle NiMH, would they work with the strobe electronics? BR, //LN

AFAIK Titanium may ignite in presence of high pressure O2 (or high fO2s) at as low as 70 deg C. Tha is not a problem when dealing with a 1 atm camera housings, unless you have a habit of filling the housing with pure O2. Why we're not seeing titanium housings has more to do with the not-so-nice machining properties of Ti. Titanium regulators, however, are a bit scary... //LN

This might sound a bit impolite, but what the hell... This far I have thought that solo diving is generally a result of poor diving skills, poor social skills or lack of thought, or combination of all. This thread hasn't really changed my opinion. Not having a qualified buddy or team for the planned dive is a reason to change the plan, not to go solo. Consistently failing to find buddies or failing to co-operate with them should prompt a look in the mirror. //LN

I don't really worry too much about CA, as it is really easy to fix in postprocessing. What does annoy me is corner softness. In this regard the Tokina 10-17 seems to really beat rectilinear WA lenses, zooms at least. //LN

Oceanic shadow with black skirt... Very low volume, nice field of vision, comfortable (for me at least) and looks good too. Needs to be thoroughly cleaned to avoid fogging in tropical water, but one time seems to be enough, since then I've managed with spit. Looks very good on divers in pictures, too. I do carry a more robust spare mask, however, since I've seen quite many in pieces. The strap attachment is a bit crappy too, I usually just switch to a neoprene strap and pre-emptively 'fix' the attachments with black hockey-tape. //LN

My wishlist - you'd get my cash if you implemented this: - a way to install the camera in the housing permanently --> - needs a way to DL photos from outside of the closed housing, USB plug on the housing, that is... - a battery that connects to the camera the same way as a battery grip and can be charged from the outside - neutral housing, that doesn't flip dome-up - a way to activate live-view and focus lights by pulling the trigger lever halfway - dryglove-friendly controls - sensible synch-cord placement and a choice of connectors ... that's about all I've been missing. //LN

If we talk about only underwater photography, is there really any reason to choose the 20/30D over 400D now that the 400D has the same AF unit as the 30D? I can't really think of any major differences between them in underwater use... 400D: + cheaper + smaller & lighter --> better chance of having a neutral rig 30D: +rear control wheel (marginal '+' IMO) +spot metering? +5fps +tiny bit bigger viewfinder, still a pain Topside I'd choose the 10-series anytime over the 100-series, since the 350/400D simply don't fit in my hand, but I can't think of any compelling reason to dish out the extra cash for 10-series if I used it only UW. //LN

Actually I think it just might work, you'd just get ugly vignetting at 10mm and end up with the "proper" diagonal fisheye view somewhere around 12mm. Considerably wider than the 15mm FE... Here's the FOV on a 5D, for example... //LN