housings for CP5000

[MD4P 0]

I'm leaning toward buying a CP5000, and I already have an SB105 strobe to hardwire. Any thoughts on pros and cons of the Tetra 5000 vs Aquatica 5000? The ROC system on the Tetra is intriguing, but is it worth the extra cost? The Aquatica looks great - compact, rugged, and rated to 100m. Any experiences with the companies I should consider?

[TJO 0]

I like the ROC on my Titan a lot. But it is expensive. Sea & Sea launched a house

that looks ok at USD 800 in Japan. I would have a look at that. The page is in

Japanese.

 

http://www.seaandsea.co.jp/f-product-dx5000.html

[davephdv 0]

Look at the Ike housing. Very strongly built, accesses all the controls and easy to use with the 2 handles. Add the Ike manual controller for great control over Ike strobes.

[rstark 0]

One thing to consider. One of the great things about the 5000 is the 19mm accessory lens. Some manufacturers do not make a port for this lens and you are stuck using their wide angle lens. Here is an incomplete list of housings that do or do not use the Nikon 19mm:

Aquatica - Yes

Ikelite - Yes

L&M Tetra - No

Sea&Sea - No

I do see another problem though. You say you have a SB105. I believe that it only has TTL or full power manual. The problem you will run into is when your shot requires you to turn the strobe to manual (some shot will not work with TTL) and at that point the only way you have to control the out put is to move the strobe or change the aperature. The 500 does not have a broad range of aperatures so you might be in a sticky situation. The one way around this with the 105 is to use the Tetra but again your lens choice will then have to be L&M which is very expensive.

[Rob Esaw 0]

Hey guys.

 

The SB105s power down to 1/16th, and my first dive with the A5000/CP5000 on Saturday found that 1/16 is fine for macro. In fact, it seemed to expose better (cooler) than the ttl setting. So, no problem with the Nikon strobes - keep in mind, though, you have no modelling light, which is posing somewhat of a problem for me.

 

On the lens issue, I bought the dome port for the 19mm W/A lens. There are some downsides:

 

You have to put the camera in the housing, then, screw on the 19mm lens, then, install the dome port. This is an extra step, and an extra ring (there are two rings on the dome port). This could be a drag when you have to uninstall this after each dive to change batteries/flash card. The extra ring is not really a big risk/issue as there are many rings in the system already.

 

I'm not sure how Ikelite handles this, but I think Subal doesn't require this step.

 

Ike's housing looks good, but the Aquatica housing was a far better value for me (I earn Canadian dollars eh, not US).

 

I did have a look at the Subal housing, and I must say it looks sweet. The dome port is huge, like a proper slr dome, and is glass. The angled lcd is I'm sure a great feature too, but again, this housing is a few bucks. It's also significantly larger than the other brands, but I don't really think that is a crucial consideration.

 

I chose the 19mm w/a lens as the optics from Nikon should be superior, and the lens/port combo is about the same price as the removeable lens. The Nikon lens is awesome and can also be used topside. I use it more often than not. However, the ttl sensor on the A5000 housing could be bloked by the dome port. I'm not sure how the other manufacturers handle it, but it could be possible that the removeable add-on lens gets around this.

 

Hope this helps. I probably just confused the issue...

[MD4P 0]

Thanks for all your comments. As Rob mentioned, the SB105 does have intermediate settings between TTL and full, and the advantage of the Tetra would be the ROC allowing 12 incremental adjustments. I'm pretty sure I can figure some way to rig a modelling/focus light to whatever housing I get.

 

I was intending to buy a wide angle lens that could be attached underwater so as to maximize my options during each dive. It's one of the prime reasons I'm moving from my Nikonos V to digital. We're going to Palau next January and the thought of missing out on sharks or mantas because I planned to shoot macro that dive is awful. So, the optics of an add-on may not be ideal, but the versatility is more important for me. That being the case, is there a big difference between the Tetra wetmate and the aquatica w/a lenses (besides the price)?

[james 0]

You can leave the Nikon 19mm lens and dome port on all of the time. It is great, even for macro work. Seriously, ask Dave for some sample pix.

 

Cheers

James

[ikelite 0]

Interesting what is perceived as best in the Coolpix 5000 housing foray. Can't turn the camera on, use ae/focus lock, or the outstanding 19mm Nikon lens with the new Sea & Sea offering? Subal housing is absolutely enormous. Remove 19mm lens to install in Aquatica port that will block the TTL sensor? Then you add strobe arms onto this exotica with no provision for handles that provide leverage and stability should this fancy stuff ever go underwater. Whew!

 

We may not look it folks, but we did get the housing right. It is very well thought out and leaves little or nothing to be desired. Read the design comments described on the following URL:

 

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/cp5000com.html

[rstark 0]

As James said you can shoot both w/a and macro with the 19mm atached. I think most people that use the 19mm on the 5000 leave it on most of the time. I would really think about this as it is very versatile, maybe even more so than the underwater removable ones.

 

If your 105 has incremental settings (sorry I was wrong earlier) then you will not need the L&M ROC.

 

The Tetra Wetmate is an Inon w/a lens with a special adtapter that allows it to fit their housing. The Aquatica w/a lens is also the Inon lens but it screws directly onto the flat port.

[Dave H 0]

I'm also going to throw in a plug for the Ikelite housing. I've only been using it now for about 2 months with the CP5000 and I am more than impressed with its quality and functionality. With the two arms and base plate already attached you save money as you don't have invest in other components as you would with the other brands. Plus the housing comes with a red filter which I have actually found to be rather useful.

 

And being able to use the 19mm in the Ike housing is a huge advantage over the others - I've been using the 19mm to shoot wide angle as well as getting 1:1 macro with it.

 

The Ike setup is defiently worth looking at especially when you consider its complete setup is cheaper than some of the other housing packages.

[davephdv 0]

I have never taken my dome port off my Ike 5000 housing. As mentioned above you can get to 1:1 macro with the wide angle lens attached. Easy with the Ike housing to get the camera in and out of the housing. Don't have to Unscrew the dome port. Click below on my web site for pics. Some of the pages are labeled as being taken with the CP 5000. All those images, even the macro were taken with the 19 mm lens in the dome port.

 

I do take the dome port off when I fly with the housing.

[mndiver 0]

I must say Ike did it right! The Ikelite housing is small, well built and real easy to use. Since I only got it this winter, I have only taken it ice diving and in the pool. It has worked perfectly. Even with dry gloves I can operate the camera without problems.

 

For the money, I could not have asked for more.

[yahsemtough 0]

I agree and disagree with IKE on the Aquatica. Yes, the handle that came with the housing is poor. But, I just upgraded to the two handled adjustable version and have been very happy. The only button you cannot touch is the on/off button. Not that big a deal as the camera can go into sleep mod after 30 seconds.

 

This in no way is a comment on the IKE housing. I have not used on so it would be foolish of me to attempt to comment on them or the others. I would rely on the various users comments above when considering. They seem to be very happy with the IKES also.

[Ryan 48]

Sea & Sea USA says that you will have access to the on/off switch, and the CX Dome port and extension ring are designed for use with the 19mm lens.

 

Just thought I'd clear that up.

 

Now, if they ever release it here in the states....

 

Ike, what was the release date on your housing? You slaughtered them on this one. Can you still use the camera's ttl when running the sync cord through your new manual controller? That would seem to me to be an attractive combo.

[rstark 0]

On/off switch - doesn't matter to me as I don't use it U/W anyway. It is faster for the camera to "be ready" from sleep than from turning it on.

I have not seen anywhere that the 19mm lens will be supported. I don't think it will as S&S will want to sell their add-on lenses. you can read the rough tranlation here Sea&Sea Japan DX5000

That said I did like the feel of the DX5000 housing while I was doing some above water test with it. It is very light weight and is ergonomic and it does have a fiberoptic bulkhead and a standard nikonos 5-pin bulkhead

[ikelite 0]

Regarding Ryan's question: The new manual controller provides just that. It sets the strobe TTL circuitry manually to the predetermined exposure values. Everything combination controller will be available when completed by my knowledgeable types.............

[MD4P 0]

Thanks for the recent additions to my original post starting this thread. After doing lots of reading, I think the Ike CP5000 housing with the dome port for the 19mm lens is a good choice for me, as the LMI Tetra + WA lens may be more than I want to spend at the moment. That said, I just need to be clear on the strobe issue. Ike, maybe you can help here.

 

I have an SB 105 and standard synch cord that should work to hardwire to the housing. I should be able to shoot using manual adjustments or "TTL" and should not need any additional controller, right? I hate to sound stupid, but sometimes the more I read, the more confused I get, and I want to order the right stuff soon (I haven't forgotten you, Ryan) so I can start playing with it.

[ikelite 0]

You will need the mounting parts and sync cord as described on following URL:

 

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/c995attach.html

[Ryan 48]

I have not seen anywhere that the 19mm lens will be supported. I don't think it will as S&S will want to sell their add-on lenses.

 

Look at the Sea & Sea USA site, click on the CP5000 housing that pops up, and look at the bottom of the page, you will find this (I'd link directly, but for some reason S&S feels the need to be sneaky):

 

"The Nikon Coolpix Fisheye lens can be used with the optional Dome port."

 

I am holding in my hand an information flyer I got at DEMA, that has a nice little picture of it. Allen (underwaterDigital) has one that is converted to 1's and 0's, and maybe he'll help me out with this. I know he has sold one with the conversion, and Testure on DigitalDiver.net shot some awesome panos with it. You use a CX extension ring, and the CX dome port. (CX is a Sea & Sea Canon housing line, fyi)

 

RStark, what exactly is an above water test? Do you have a Sea & Sea affiliation?