Good Little Digital Cameras

[Fondueset]

Sea & Sea uses Ricoh cameras.

[Fondueset]

New shot with the s80

http://photos.imageevent.com/blueroo...asscloseup.jpg

If you go to my site and check to full image - the detail is amazing. Also a short movie of this bass flirting with the camera.

http://photos.imageevent.com/blueroo...ssmovieweb.WMV

[Mr. X]

Cool movie Fondueset...looks like the fish is talking to you when it turns towards you at one point (can you overdub sound?).

[Fondueset]

Lol! I like the part toward the end - where it gets the sun behind it - gets above me then slides in toward the camera with one eye. I spent like five minutes puttin the sneak on this fish - saw it hovering behind a large rock from a distance. When I finally got over there I looked up and it was probably 18 inches from my mask! No need for sneakage.

[unirdna]

Nice vid! That was quite a curious football. Looks like he could have spent all day checking you out. I have a vid of a hogfish biting at a stingray.... I'll convert it and post soon.

Sharp photo, too. Detail is so good on the bass, it almost looks superimposed.

[Fondueset]

Thanks. It looks like a pen & ink/watercolor up close. All natural lighting.
There were quite a few rainbow trout around that day. I saw three that were quite large.... Also quite cautious. Took some serious stalking to even get in photo distance of them.

Looking forward to that hogfish vid The shark in the other one is awesome!

[tylerz]

I received my Ikelite housing a week ago or so for my Canon S80. Do not buy this housing!!!!

Unless you are certain you will never use the manual controls to adjust things such as focus, aperature, shutter speed, and much else controllable through the S80 wheel/button control on the back of the camera. Functionality that is ok is, zoom and shutter release (taking the picture). So, if you know you will never want to get the most out of your camera and will always use automatic settings, this housing may give you the benefit of going beyond 40m. Otherwise, even though it employs the amazing Ikelite standards in locking mechanisms, nice shutter release controls, and durability, this housing is absolutely disfunctional.

I have never dealt with Ikelite before and was appalled by the customer service I received over the last couple months on various interests and concerns. That involved a total of four personnel. In the end they have agreed to take back the housing, but it seemed like a huge deal and definately far from customer satisfaction comes first. They persisted to give repeated robotic responses such as, "We want to give access to all the features, therefore sometimes the buttons have to be close." This response came no matter what I said, specifically not making sense when I was saying, "There is no means of hitting those buttons while holding the camera trying to line up a shot, because you have put big knobby buttons in the way and nestled the buttons deep on the opposite side of them. Also, you gave access to the wheel on the back with the big knob but it duals as a button. If you are controlling the wheel you will regularly inadvertently trigger the button and vice-versa." I emphasized that it does not work and can not work, yet the robotic response remained that this was justified by the requirement to have all features. Well, excuse me but if you put controls in a manner that you can not control the features, then is that not the equivalent to not having the buttons? The response didn't seem to comprehend that.

Canon overcame these problems because they were aware that you do not require the wheel to change values. Instead there is a combo button sequence (one button held while pressing the left and right button equating to wheel clockwise and counter-clockwise).

It is really a shame, because other than this housings specific layout of controls, I see that the product is exceptional in other regards. I was planning on sticking with them for a video housing. But the customer service interaction was really a challenge to remain sympathetic for them.

[Fondueset]

The Canon housing is actually pretty nice. The close buttons are different heights - and the print/l/r button combo is doable even while aiming - though challenging. It is only good to 40m though - which may not be enough for you
I didn't consider the Ikelite because it didn't look Like it would do anything this one wouldn't - and because it seemed relatively bulky. Too bad - I allways thought Ikelite was pretty much top of the line.

[Cliff Etzel]

I've never been impressed with Ikelite housings - they always seemed unprofessional in their construction. Reality is though, there isn't much else for P/S cameras...

[Fondueset]

I also dove alot with my little Casio housing. For a 'tag-along' camera while spearfishing or whatever this is a pretty nice rig - and the Casios have very fast focus. Really small - I often just let it hang on my wrist or tucked it into my weight vest. The Canon housing is a bit bigger - but still not bad.

The Canon s80 does have some pre-programmable modes that are available by turning the little knob on the side - this works out pretty well for diving.

[unirdna]

Bummer Tyler. I'm glad (in the end) they took it back. I opted out of the ikelite from the word go because it was too bulky. Streamlining was one of the biggest reasons I ditched my good ol' c5050. The canon housing is pretty good, but not fool-proof. I neglected my o-ring too long while on vacation, and got a bit of condensation. No actual drops of water, but a bit scary nonetheless. Keep that baby clean! The housing for my olympus has a bomb-proof double o-ring system. The canon housing only has one o-ring. It also has a small burp valve that could potentially leak. Proper maintenance in a must with this one.

[tylerz]

Ok, seems there has been a bit of a miscommunication at some point in the process of trying to resolve my issues with the housing. Supposedly, the last person I was told to speak to was intending to help see if there was anything that could be done to assist me. Nobody made it clear that an option might be to modify the housing. Upon returning the housing to the shop I purchased it from, showing him the issues, and explaining how it could have been done better, he informed me that the customer service person was intending to see about this possibility. However, on the phone all she said to me was that they had to supply the full features and in the end asked me what I wanted to do. I had mentioned to her that canon did it differently because the wheel was not essential, but she had not responded with any possibility of modifying things.

In the end, they are going to get back to me and inform me whether the engineers can replace the bulky knob with a push button. At that point all my issues would be solved and I would be pleased with the housing, I believe. So, it seems the intended customer service was there, just they assumed that their intentions would be obvious even without stating them.

To return the housing will cost me $115 not sure if that is USD or CAD. So, hopefully something gets worked out.

[Narsil]

Very interesting thread thank you.

I've been looking at buying a high end compact & housing for a while now. Although I spearfish I'd love to take the odd shot, and my partner is a very good photographer, it would be a good reason to get her in the water more frequently.

I'd pretty much decided on a Sony, but am now drifting towards a Cannon S8 - after hearing your thoughts I've done additional research, and the reviews etc sound very good.

Quick question: which of the 2 compatable (cannon) housing models have you used for the S8, and have you bought housing weights?

Cheers.

[Fondueset]

I'm using the canon housing - WPDC1 for the s80 and have added no weights. Sample pictures are at the telegraph cove site in my sig. I'm still learning to use it however - no doubt it can do even better than what I've done so far. The Ikelite housing will be a little larger.

The Canon is alot of camera and takes great pictures - and movies.

If you want something really small - that you can hang off your wrist while spearing - the Casio exz57 is a great choice. It focuses very quickly - faster than the canon. Most of the images in my site below under 'freedive pics of my environs' were taken with it - down to where it says 'new camera' after that I'm using the s80.

[Narsil]

Thanks Fondueset.

I've had a good look through your pics over the last few months - some great stuff there.