who makes a nice housing for the Cannon S45?

[kazuo 0]

I have a Cannon S45 and I just started looking for housings for it. The first on I found is the one that Cannon sells. Who else makes housings for this camera? I looked at Ikelite and Sea and Sea but could not find anything specific for this camera. Is the Cannon housing any good? I am wondering about using a stobe. I have read here that I can get a srobe from Sea and Sea to use with my camera I just don't know what housing to use.

 

Thanks a lot

[Arnon_Ayal 1]

I have the Canon housing more then 3 years for my S30 and then S50, during that time I had one leak but its was my fault not the housing.

The only bad thing I can tell about this housing is that its limited to 30 meters.

I use the S&S YS-25 with fiber optic cable and its work very well.

[Simon K. 0]

I also Used the WP-DC 300 Canon Housing for a S40 and later (now as backup or for my girlfriend) a S50.

 

When i used it i used it with a Iklit e DS125 and a Optical Controler (TTL Works well now i would prefer the Manual)

 

Important is that you shoot RAW to get good results. the build in WB is not very good for UW. So get a 1GB CF/MD.

 

I flooded the housing once (killing my S40) but this was also my fault.

 

The other housings are probably very nice but the price difference is just to big. Save the money and get a Flash (DS125 is great DS50 will do). Your pics will get a lot better by that so this is a very good investment.

 

Simon

[vlad 0]

Damned,

 

Did EVERYBODY flooded their S4x - S5x cameras in the Canon housing????!!!

Yes, I did too and yes it was my fault.

 

Now that I am using it right ... I love it.

It is a great case if you maintain it well (silicone grease).

The 30m rating ... well, if you are going to do this you are doing it at your own risk but you can take it deeper. I think I had it as deep as about 135 ft or so, definitely way pass 120 ft. I have it operatin at 120 ft all the time.

 

Oh and ... it is cheap!

 

Add a strobe to it and set it up right and you are going to get very nice shots.

 

Vlad

[kazuo 0]

Wow 0 for 3, maybe I should rethink this whole taking my camera underwater thing!! What exactly did you guys do wrong? Just so I don't make the same mistake. I know that you have to make sure that the O-ring is PERFECTLY clean but what else can go wrong? Over all the Canon housing seems like the way to go. Is it worth using at all with out a stobe?

Thanks agian Guys and Girls you have all been a great help.

[TimG 62]

Based on a couple of years experience, it seems to me that floods are a case of "when" not "if" - no matter how careful you are.

 

I have managed to avoid total disaster twice by dunk-testing my system in fresh water before taking it into the ocean. The chances are that if something is preventing a perfect seal it will show up in a dunk-test: and if it is fresh water, and you are watching what is happening, you have a good chance of breaking into a panic-sweat and hauling the system out of the tank lens-down in time to save the situation.

 

What has caused my leaks? Bits of unseen grit on the o-ring or o-ring groove; once it was forgetting to remove the rubber eye-piece surround (as advised by Subal). The housing back seemed to close just fine. But......

 

Insurance....... get it before you regret it.

[Simon K. 0]

My fault was the following. Waiting for the Jump into the water (Ship was positioned we was shaken around a bit and I landed with the camera against a (ship) wall. My fault was to not recheck the Camera after that. Nothing was damaged by the Impact ( I still use the housing from time to time) but the two halves was misplaced a little bit. Repoening and closing it properly agin would have done it but i didn't checked.

 

On Insurance: Basicaly TimG is correct: But for low cost equipment (and that is even a high Class Compact Camera when it comes to UW-Photography) you have to calculate for yourselve if the insurance is worth it. I used the S40 for 2 1/2 Years and the Insurance (including obligational insurance of Dive Equipment) would have cost me more than the new S50 had and the Cost of the the camera was in a range where I could replace it without much problems.

 

But when you do the calculation always think "when" never "if"!

 

For My DSLR Setup I have Insurance of course, but it cost me more than a S Series Camera per Year :-(.

 

Simon

[Arnon_Ayal 1]

In my case the O-ring became old and wasn't taught any more, in that dive I haven't had enough time to prepare and I closed the housing in pressure and didn't sow that the O ring was out of its track, for some reason nothing was leaking in the washing pool when I checked it before diving.

Conclusions:

- Never pack your housing in pressure.

- In the moment that the O ring looks somehow not perfect, replace it.

- Buy insurance.

[vlad 0]

In my case, I did the dunk test with the camera in the case and everything was ok.

 

I then attached the case to the strobe tray. The tray was from my last setup that was a Bonica strobe/tray.

 

The tray had a removable piece that had two prongs that were sticing out and keeping the Bonica camera in place not alowing it to twist ...

 

Well ... those two prongs were too tall for the Canon case so I bent it when I attached the case to the tray. Of course, since I did the dunk test before attaching the strobe I didn't bother checking it again and I flooded my camera in the camera bucket ... Sad but true.

 

I agree with Simon about the insurance. For the low end cameras it is not worth it but ... as everybosy said ... flooding ... just a question of when and how severe...

 

Vlad