A Question As Old As The Sea Itself...

[Coll]

Ok, so I've decided on the Canon ELPH 300HS, it looks great and has rave reviews. I have two questions, firstly, is there a way to easily change the ISO setting when diving or do you have to go through the menu? Also, the Ikelite and Canon housings for this camera seem to be about the same price, does anyone have a recommendation as to one over the other and why? Thanks for your help guys!! Hopefully I'll be testing it out in Costa Rica in a few months!

 

[Interceptor121]

If you have the money I would recommend the Ikelite housing simply because it has a 46mm thread port that will allow you to attach wet lenses in the future such as an epoque DCL-30 wide angle

The canon housing does not have any mount adapters so you can't attach any wet lenses and is less future proof for this reason

 

[flareside]

While I am generally a fan of Canon housings, in this instance I would recommend the Ikelite as the Canon housing does not allow the full functionality of the camera. When the camera is inserted into the Canon housing it forces the camera into underwater mode. While there are workarounds to solving this it is kind of a pain taking photos on the boat because it is pushing a red filter on all the photos. You don't have access to all the buttons either. This isn't the case with the Ikelite housing where everything appears to be accessible. And should you at some point want to use the CHDK hack on the camera to have RAW capability, you will want access to all the buttons. Even if you don't, you should have control of the camera, not have it taken over by the housing.

 

[alcina]

+1 for the Ikelite housing in this case - for all the reasons above

 

[Coll]

So I got my camera and it looks great, the controls seem very intuitive and I love the one button video feature! The only concern I have is about the Ikelite Housing, I haven't purchased it yet but there seems to be a rash of customer complaints saying that the buttons do not work/ don't reach the camera. Does anyone have experience with this? It seems like lots of people needed to jerry rig the housing to extend the rods that press the buttons. I really would prefer the Ikelite housing as the canon seems to handicap your shooting with "helpful" features but also want a housing that will actually work! I know people have said that at depth the compression will help and the housing will work but what about if I'm shooting in 20' or less? Or just using the housing on land for protection? I won't get any shots? Please help! I've scheduled a trip to Costa Rica and want to be familiar with the housing and camera before the trip!

 

[alcina]

Talk to the guys at backscatter or Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros. The friends I know with Ikelites for their various canon models haven't run into the problem but I don't think I know anyone off the top of my head with the 300 & Ikelite.

 

[Coll]

Thanks Alcina! Helpful as always! I think I'll go with the Ikelite and if I have issues, it seems like Ikelite has been doing a good job of replacing their housings with issues.

 

[Coll]

I find myself sadly back at square one. I actually did purchase the Canon 300 HS and LOVE the camera! Very intuitive, some great fun features and everything I'm looking for. EXCEPT! There is no way to set the white balance for shooting video. I'd love to keep the camera so I'm desperately trying to come up with a way around this issue. I know if I have a light it will reveal the true color without WB but I don't like the look of lights in video as they create odd shadows and aren't always reliable. Does the CDHK hack which allows you to shoot in RAW, does that apply to the video files also?

Unfortunately, it is looking more and more to me like I need to return the camera. If that is the case, does anyone know of a camera that has the following features:

Cost below $300
Intuitive features (I love the Canon Pro-Shot series)
1080 HD Video WITH WHITE BALANCE OPTION
Good macro abilities without a macro lense
Available underwater housing that is also preferably below $300.

Thanks so much guys!

 

[flareside]

On 300HS:
Press Func Set
Toggle up to WB
Toggle right
Toggle down to manual WB
Press MENU while pointed at a white surface
Press Func Set
Push red button to start video.

 

[Coll]

Flareside, you are officially my hero! Thank you so much! I could have sworn I tried that already but I must have not hit function set after setting the white balance! Thank you! Thank you!