Which controls are the most useful underwater?

[tjaz 0]

Hallo!

I am customising an a old Slr housing to fit a eos 20d. I am trying to keep things as simple as posible so i will put in just the basic controls. Controls that are working at the moment are: shutter, front and back wheel, zoom, and autofocus selection. Which other controls do you think i should add? I am planing to use this for push buttons: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22663

Any other suggestion?

Thanks!

[rtrski 20]

Other buttons I've found myself using (granted I'm on an Olympus, so I'll talk function instead of actual 'actuator' since your layout is obviously going to be different) include:

 

Metering mode (spot, center/weighted, etc...depending on subject FOV sometimes)

That little button that alters the function of the back wheel (e.g. between exposure and aperture in full manual mode)

On/off switch

Auto-exposure-lock button

INFO button (to turn on or off histograms or otherwise modify what's displayed)

 

One thing funny I just noticed - seems the Ikelite housing has a control for the little button that releases the lens pin! Why the heck would I ever want to do that inside the housing????

[PRC 2]

One thing funny I just noticed - seems the Ikelite housing has a control for the little button that releases the lens pin! Why the heck would I ever want to do that inside the housing????

 

When you want to change from WA to macro without taking the camera out of the housing - hook the port off - lens off, using the lever as you will not access the button without - new lens on then replace port with the new one. All without removing the camera from the housing.

 

Quite useful IMHO.

 

Paul C

[davephdv 0]

Don't know Cannon, but I really like having a button for the AF that is separate from the shutter button.

 

 

The ability to change ISO underwater is too me perhaps the biggest improvement that digital has over film.

[ATJ 1]

Actually, the ability to change anything that you forgot to change before you put the camera in the housing. I use my D300 above water, too, and often forget to change things such as White Balance.

[ATJ 1]

When you want to change from WA to macro without taking the camera out of the housing - hook the port off - lens off, using the lever as you will not access the button without - new lens on then replace port with the new one. All without removing the camera from the housing.

 

Quite useful IMHO.

Very handy.

 

I also use it when assembling the rig as I put the lens on after the camera is in the housing and often remove the lens before the camera. This is especially so for my Tokina 12-24mm which is so large that the zoom sleeve won't fit over the front. I have to put the zoom sleeve on the lens before I put it on the camera and the camera has to be in the housing already. I can't remove the camera from the housing without taking the lens off.

[rtrski 20]

When you want to change from WA to macro without taking the camera out of the housing - hook the port off - lens off, using the lever as you will not access the button without - new lens on then replace port with the new one. All without removing the camera from the housing.

 

Quite useful IMHO.

 

Paul C

 

Funny, I never even thought of that...makes perfect sense now you say it. I think I even assembled that way (lens-on-last) for my first assembly, but then after that I carefully threaded the camera out the back thru the zoom gear/sleeve thingy to remove the card or take it off the TTL assembly to swap batteries....and to take the lens off to move it to my above-water body for the afternoon walks thru town etc. It never even entered my mind to re-access the lens from the front. Talk about tunnel vision!

Edited June 15, 2008 by rtrski