10Bar LX3 Housing

[octopulse 1]

Hi, I have been in contact with Ada from 10Bar during the coarse of last week and he supplied me the following information.

 

Their housing for the Panasonic LX3 is now up for sale.

Price = US$630

 

Some details on the housing:

External lenses with a M67 thread can be used with the housing.

Options for optical strobe firing as well as hard wiring exist.

It uses two key hole latches for locking, and with double main o-rings for closure.

A target light can be fixed to the top of the housing.

The joystick can be used only for the central downward position.

 

The housing looks rather nice IMHO. Also keeping in mind that the LX3 is getting great reviews, the the latest DPreview it made the top of the list in its category.

Personally I would loved to have seen it in a black finish, not just for the shake of it, but shine things attract the attention of certain types of fish:)

I would have loved a different solution for the shutter button, either a trigger on the side or front of the housing with a pull back action.

 

I will upload the images of the housing shortly.

 

Friends

 

I thought it was about time that I posted a quick overview of my thoughts on my experiences with the 10 bar housing so far:

 

I have been using my 10 bar housing for a little while now and on some fronts I am very impressed - build quality is excellent, the controls once you get used to them are quite well designed with a couple of reservations (old joystick control and the menu / ok selector). The housing came with a bag and maintenance kit that highlights 10 bars intention to provide a high quality product. That said I unfortunately received one of the earlier versions of the housing despite 10 bar's assurance that the joystick issue had been resolved on all 2009 housings. They are in the process of sending out a replacement back for the housing, hence my experience to date has been without access to the quick menu functions.

 

After LERF's post I am now going to contact them re: the overly long port as the vignetting (even though it is slight) is annoying and it means that 67mm thread accessory lenses vignet extensively, in addition I have also seen some miss focus issues when in macro mode the camera focused on some dirt on the inside of the port rather than the subject! Just goes to show how close it will focus! At this stage I have tried adding a 67mm Ikelite wide angle lens with very poor, soft results even when zoomed into the range where vignetting is no longer a problem. It will be interesting to see what wet fit lenses work best with the housing when the shorter port is made available. Anyone?

 

I deliberated for quite sometime between a Sea and Sea DX 1G and the 10 bar housing and the LX3 at this stage the jury is still out. My impression having used both systems is that the ability to add the wide angle lens very easily to the DX 1G is a great advantage and much cheaper than the dome port which then means that you can only really use wide angle on a dive?! On the other side the LX3 definitely wins in terms of IQ. Overall I think that once the teething problems: joystick control and port length are resolved the 10 bar housing will live up to its full potential.

 

Despite these issues I can also state that the housing is a pleasure to use underwater. I will be using this mainly as a research camera for those purposes I think it is ideal. I also own a D300 and ikelite housing and that is just simply too big for most research dives but the 10 bar housing fits in my BCD pocket yet it has many of the manual controls that we all crave in an underwater set up. In addition the bright 24mm lens is a pleasure to use.

 

I have also managed to get my Ike DS 125 and slave sensor to fire with the housing using a fibre optic cable and slave unit cover. This appears to work on land not sure uw as yet. That said the DS125 dwarfs the 10 bar housing and doubles the weight of the rig hence I may end up getting a smaller strobe later.

 

I also wanted to make note of the 16:9 HD video feature. It is really pretty good and gives a maximum of 10 minutes shooting time for each file (I think this is a 2GB limit? - FAT 32?) Anyway playing it back on a large HD lcd panel is very impressive considering the size of the camera and that video is a secondary function. The ability to capture decent still 1028 x 720 off the video is a real bonus for research dives using video transects; not sure how everyone else will use it

 

So in summary; if you can get one with all of the updates outlined by 10bar in their response to LERF I would high recommend it. No doubt someone will have tested the dome port and various wide angle add on lens on the shorter flat port in the near future, I think that the ability to add wet fit lenses will ultimately determine whether this is 'the' uw compact or not.

 

cheers

 

Roger

[mmakay 3]

Roger,

 

I tried to reach Digital Diver using their online form and have not received a reply. Is there another way to reach them ... do you have an email address? Calling is problematic due to the time difference (and cost!).

[allen 4]

Roger,

 

I tried to reach Digital Diver using their online form and have not received a reply. Is there another way to reach them ... do you have an email address? Calling is problematic due to the time difference (and cost!).

 

 

You might also contract LERF as his shop Scuba Symphony also sells the housing (and their website is a wee bit more up to date than Digital Diver's).

Edited March 2, 2009 by allen

[octopulse 1]

Roger,

 

I tried to reach Digital Diver using their online form and have not received a reply. Is there another way to reach them ... do you have an email address? Calling is problematic due to the time difference (and cost!).

 

 

Hi

 

Sure: info@digitaldiver.com.au

 

Speak to Ann or Chris

 

I also agree that LERF might be a good option.

 

cheers

 

Roger

[meeper 0]

I think that the ability to add wet fit lenses will ultimately determine whether this is 'the' uw compact or not.

 

Would this solve the wet lens problem?

 

http://www.fun-in.com.tw/catalog/product_i...mp;osCsid=7b84r

"For INON UWL-105 AD, UWL-105 28AD, UCL-165 AD use only

After release AD mount adapter and replace 67mm thread, then you can install on 67mm mount. D = 67mm"

 

Not sure if it adapts a 67mm thread to take an inon AD lens or replaces the inon AD lens back section to turn into a 67mm thread?

 

Now if I could mount an inon 165 degree fish eye that would really make my day...

 

M

[LERF 0]

Hi Meeper,

 

I'm afraid that's not gonna work! Severe vignetting occurs with WA lens attached, even with the new short port. You can attach any M67 macro lenses though, for WA the dome port for Panasonic's own wide converter DMW-LW46 with adapter DMW-LA4 is recommended.

 

This is LX3 at 24mm:

With Ikelite W20, a 0.56x WA lens...turns the 24mm into 13.44mm:

With Ikelite W20 zoomed in till no vignetting:

With Inon UFL165AD and 10bar ADF-M67 adapter:

Inon UFL165AD zoomed in till no vignetting:

10bar ADF-M67 adapter:

Edited March 8, 2009 by LERF

[LERF 0]

You might also contract LERF as his shop Scuba Symphony also sells the housing (and their website is a wee bit more up to date than Digital Diver's).

 

Hi Allen,

 

Yes, we do have the new improved batch LX3 housings in stock and the fisheye dome port as well, having said that I'm not sure if commercial intentions are against this forum's regulations?

 

Anyway, here are the pics of the new batch:

 

 

Jogdial control for Quick Menu access:

 

 

Top, view of shorter port and hotshoe mount set towards back for more space:

 

 

New tripod mount,works well with ULCS tray and new 10bar slimm dual handle tray with quick release:

 

 

Dome port, to be combined with Panasonic's Wide Conversion Lens DMW-LW46 and adpater DMW-LA4, turns the 24mm into 18mm!

 

[tdc 0]

Thanks LERF for your detailed pictures.

 

I don't think all is lost with regards to the wide angle wet mount lenses. I have a G9 currently with the UWL-100 and you still have to zoom in a touch on the Ikelite short port. Even if I put the wet lens right against the LX3's lens in widest mode I get vignetting, so it is more about the lens than the port. But I did try comparing how far I had to zoom in (compared to the G9) and I think I am getting a better angle than with the G9 in any case. Certainly the wet lens gives a much better angle than with the standard 24mm lens.

 

One thing that is interesting about the LX3 vs the G9 is that the G9 lens is longest in telephoto mode while the LX3 lens is longest in wide angle mode. The LX3 starts in widest mode so you can't really make a shorter port than the one that they've sent, I guess.

 

From what I hear, the G10 also has a wider lens and the wide angle wet mount lenses just don't work.

 

So in the end, I'm very encouraged by what I'm seeing on the LX3 10Bar housing.

 

One additional point, I've been talking with 10Bar about the possibility of a port with a built-in AD mount as opposed to the 67 mm one. This would certainly make it easier to use underwater, although I don't know if the smaller lenses would work. I've tried (briefly) a converter ring as Allen suggested and it really didn't work. As you detach the lens, it has the tendency to detach the converter as well.

 

tdc

[digital-scuba 1]

Hi Lerf, thanks for pics and samples, you're great!

Just a little question.. while using dome port with Panasonic wide lens, is it possible to zoom in and take some macro pics??

Thanks again..

[LERF 0]

Hi Lerf, thanks for pics and samples, you're great!

Just a little question.. while using dome port with Panasonic wide lens, is it possible to zoom in and take some macro pics??

Thanks again..

 

 

Yes, full zoom is possible with the dome port. I'm always standing behind the glass cabinet taking the pics, trying not to shift my position to give you a realistic view.

 

Here's the Panasonic DMW-LW46 at widest 18mm:

 

 

Here's zoomed in 4.5x, macro mode, uncropped, front of dome is about 2 inches from clownfish:

 

[LERF 0]

Hi Lerf, thanks for pics and samples, you're great!

Just a little question.. while using dome port with Panasonic wide lens, is it possible to zoom in and take some macro pics??

Thanks again..

 

 

Thanks! I have all the items here ready stock in my shop, so very easy for me to post samples.

 

Yes, full zoom is possible with the dome port. I'm always standing behind the glass cabinet taking the pics, trying not to shift my position to give you a realistic view.

 

Here's the Panasonic DMW-LW46 at widest 18mm:

 

 

Here's zoomed in 4.5x, macro mode, uncropped, front of dome about 2 inches away from clownfish:

 

Edited March 12, 2009 by LERF

[digital-scuba 1]

OK, it's really a grat thing!

Thanks again LERF

[tdc 0]

LERF, do you have any pictures of a fiber optic cable connection to the housing?

 

I noticed that the strobe window in the pictures looks different between the different photos you have shown.

 

Regards,

 

tdc

[LERF 0]

LERF, do you have any pictures of a fiber optic cable connection to the housing?

 

I noticed that the strobe window in the pictures looks different between the different photos you have shown.

 

Regards,

 

tdc

 

The new batch has a clear flash window, no special adapters are needed now to attahc the fiber optic cable. Picture here with strong 3M velcro but duck tape works too!

 

[tdc 0]

Hi Lerf,

 

Do you know how the old batches worked? I saw a photo of the G9 housing and the cables came out perpendicular to the housing. The adapter that you showed has the cable horizontal to the housing and it will transmit light less efficiently, which is important when shooting TTL.

 

tdc

[allen 4]

LERF, thanks for all the work on showing us the housing.

 

Since you are able to play with it I have a couple of questions. On the back of the housing above the LED there is a lever. Is this for mounting the camera??

 

Looking at your pictures and comparing the two different wets lens to their dome port it would appear to me that using the dome port is really the best option. Is that your assessment?

 

 

PS - Although you sell the housing I not do think it is problem to post as you are adding a lot of value and knowledge to this discussion. Also there are many mfg reps who chime in on their products.

[JackConnick 76]

This may be a bit O.T.

 

But I am thinking about adding 10Bar as a product line. I need to see what the interest would be in the US. PM me if so. Not interested in any commitments, just a general interest level.

 

Also does anyone have experience with their G10 housings? Comments?

 

Thanks,

Jack

[LERF 0]

Hi Lerf,

 

Do you know how the old batches worked? I saw a photo of the G9 housing and the cables came out perpendicular to the housing. The adapter that you showed has the cable horizontal to the housing and it will transmit light less efficiently, which is important when shooting TTL.

 

tdc

 

The previous batch has a 8.5mm nipple with O-ring attached and needs the 9mm fibre optic cap (OF-Z) to install the cable

 

 

The new batch has a much bigger 15mm diameter clear window, the velcro plate may seemed horizontal but internal visual contact is direct. It has a hole in the centre where the cable comes through. Syncronisation is 100% everytime.

 

[LERF 0]

LERF, thanks for all the work on showing us the housing.

 

Since you are able to play with it I have a couple of questions. On the back of the housing above the LED there is a lever. Is this for mounting the camera??

 

the LED is the joystick control for the Quick Menu, it works in the opposite direction ir shift up to go down, shift left to go right, etc. It also acts as centre push to confiim command/selection

 

Looking at your pictures and comparing the two different wets lens to their dome port it would appear to me that using the dome port is really the best option. Is that your assessment?

 

Yes absolutely, the dome port and DMW-LW46 is the best thing there is now! Almost no barrel distortion on land at 18mm, you'll get clear ,sharp corners with it in the dome port.

 

PS - Although you sell the housing I not do think it is problem to post as you are adding a lot of value and knowledge to this discussion. Also there are many mfg reps who chime in on their products.

 

Thanks for the positive feedback, Allen. Our local Malaysia forums here don't allow commercial threads, hence....

Edited March 14, 2009 by LERF

[LERF 0]

This may be a bit O.T.

 

But I am thinking about adding 10Bar as a product line. I need to see what the interest would be in the US. PM me if so. Not interested in any commitments, just a general interest level.

 

Also does anyone have experience with their G10 housings? Comments?

 

Thanks,

Jack

 

Hi Jack!

 

Not at all OT!

 

We have a lot of enquiries from the US for this housing, it'd be good if there's a dealer there.

 

We sell a lot of G10 here, mainly due to the cheaper housing Canon WP-DC28. Plenty of other brand housings available out there ie Ikelite, Patima, 10bar, Seatool

[allen 4]

HI LERF,

 

I was not very clear in what I wrote. I meant to say is on the back of the housing above the LCD display there appears to be a lever. What is it for? I was thinking that it was used to camp the camera in place but I could not tell.

 

Thanks,

 

Allen

[tdc 0]

I believe it is to push the flash back down.

 

tdc

 

HI LERF,

 

I was not very clear in what I wrote. I meant to say is on the back of the housing above the LCD display there appears to be a lever. What is it for? I was thinking that it was used to camp the camera in place but I could not tell.

 

Thanks,

 

Allen

[LERF 0]

I believe it is to push the flash back down.

 

tdc

 

Precisely, the camera can't be taken out if the flash is up.

[pummkin 0]

Lerf is great & I'm a walking testimony of his services & advice!! I'm glad to hear of all the improvements they made to the housing. I think my mind is quite made up now. Will be dropping into your shop pretty soon.

[bjornb 0]

I have bought myself a LX3 camera, and would also like to buy the 10bar housing. I have contacted 10bar and got an initial response (4 weeks ago), where they said they were out of housings and more would be available in May. I have sent them another mail last week and this week asking to buy the housing, but I havent gotten any response.

Anyone else having problems contacting 10bar?

Is there any alternate sources obtaining latest revision housings?

(I live in Norway, Europe).

Edited May 13, 2009 by bjornb