Canon A630/A640 review

[f3nikon]

Preliminary review

First to answer the Canon oval port question:

The reason why Canon designed their ports with a flat spot on the top and bottom of the port is to make use of the internal flash and more important the infrared focusing beam. On the other round designs, the focusing beam would have been blocked by the lens port.


Advantages of the Canon Housing:

It fits the camera like a glove; it fits so well that a camera base plate is not needed.

Which make the control buttons work so well, everything lines up perfectly and feels very precise.

The flat port is made of optical glass, not plastic, which is also COATED with an anti reflective film, similar to the camera lens itself .

There is a custom rubber shroud that isolates the camera lens from the stray light generated by the internal strobe, that could reflect back into the camera’s lens.


Advantages of the Canon A630/A640:

The best auto focusing MACRO lens and electronics I have seen to date, even has a focus cursor on the LCD that tells you what the camera is focusing on.

Note: The main reason why an ADD-ON Close-Up lens is NOT Needed!

FULL and I stress FULL manual control, the buttons to control the aperture/shutter are setup perfectly.

A four (AA) battery power source to power the focusing system and internal flash.

The internal flash, believe it or not has a manual power output control of 1/3, 2/3 or full power!

Yes, it will sync with the older Ikelite film strobes!

The largest CCD chip in its class at 1/1.8 inch 8/10 mega pixels.

Only an optical zoom of X4, the smaller the better for macro U/W shooting.

Camera $190/$260 New
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/457553-REG/Canon_1287B001_PowerShot_A640_Digital_Camera.html

Housing $170 New
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/463319-REG/Canon_1592B001_WP_DC8_Case_for_A630.html

Strobe, tray/arms included $200 New
http://www.adorama.com/IK5468.html?searchinfo=ikelite&item_no=11
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/204737-REG/Ikelite_5468_Substrobe_A35_with_Tray_Handle.html

IMO this setup is the one to beat in U/W macro/med. shooting.

Canon really did their homework on this design, which I feel has an advantage over the other makers.

 

[pakman]

nice write up... can't wait to see your results.

 

[alcina]

Great to see this posted here. Once we get some underwater images from you (and others) with this rig we'll add it to the sticky!

These are two different cameras, right? Would be good to list the differences and which model you are actually using?

 

[Gilligan]

Very good info.

I'm still waiting for my Oly C4000Z's to die

If they did today I would get the A640.

 

[f3nikon]

Very good info.

I'm still waiting for my Oly C4000Z's to die

If they did today I would get the A640.

I give you the credit on bringing up the A640 on the G7 thread, which some how got lost.

 

[bdshort]

I have the A620 with the Canon housing, which is pretty much the same deal as the 630/640. I assume that the strobe you linked to comes with some fiber optics or something so it can be fired by the on-camera flash? $200 for the external strobe looks like a fantastic price, just what I was looking for.

 

[alcina]

Note that there are limitations with this strobe. In no particular order:

- it won't move systems with you.
- it doesn't have a great spread of light
- it doesn't have any real manual controls so you'll be controlling the light with distance
- s-l-o-w recycle time...5 seconds according to the site

It may work for some people in some situations and you may find it's a good solution, but it's important to be aware of the real "price" of any piece of gear you buy. Everything has positives and negatives Hopefully bobf will be around soon to shed some light

I've used the old non-digital Ike 50 with my Canon A series housings/cameras and it worked just fine. I controlled how much light hit the subject with the distance between strobe and subject. I did this because I had one. I would not have purchased a new one for a digital system - I'd go with a new one and pay a bit more to know that I could take it with me wherever I went with new gear.

And if we turn this into a thread about this strobe we may have to split it out so the strobe info is out there for everyone to see, not just those that pop in to the Canon based threads

 

[f3nikon]

I have the A620 with the Canon housing, which is pretty much the same deal as the 630/640. I assume that the strobe you linked to comes with some fiber optics or something so it can be fired by the on-camera flash? $200 for the external strobe looks like a fantastic price, just what I was looking for.

Thats correct, the A630/640 difference is the 8 and 10 mp and the A640 has a black colored body. Yes this is a slave strobe of the 50/51 Substrobe line from Ikelite, with the same power output. It has a photosensor that fires off the A630/640's internal flash set at 2/3 power in manual mode.

The strobe has no power control just on and off, this is where the great manual aperture control of the A630/640 comes in to play.

Keep in mind that this strobe comes with a heavy duty thick metal tray ($69 sold sep.), diffuser and Ikelite's proven HD arms.

 

[f3nikon]

Note that there are limitations with this strobe. In no particular order:

- it won't move systems with you.
- it doesn't have a great spread of light
- it doesn't have any real manual controls so you'll be controlling the light with distance
- s-l-o-w recycle time...5 seconds according to the site

It may work for some people in some situations and you may find it's a good solution, but it's important to be aware of the real "price" of any piece of gear you buy. Everything has positives and negatives Hopefully bobf will be around soon to shed some light

I've used the old non-digital Ike 50 with my Canon A series housings/cameras and it worked just fine. I controlled how much light hit the subject with the distance between strobe and subject. I did this because I had one. I would not have purchased a new one for a digital system - I'd go with a new one and pay a bit more to know that I could take it with me wherever I went with new gear.

And if we turn this into a thread about this strobe we may have to split it out so the strobe info is out there for everyone to see, not just those that pop in to the Canon based threads

Actually it can move with you or grow to a second slave strobe down the line when you are ready to add another strobe. It comes with a diffuser, plus this is made for macro/med. angle shooting anyway. This strobe will not work on any camera, it works on the A630/640 because the camera is able to shutoff the preflash in manual mode, another plus about some of the Canon lines.

I'll get some sample shoots out as soon as I get back home.

 

[DesertEagle]

Nice review. How about wide angle? Has anybody tried that French adapter?

I think all of these housings are made with optical glass. Nice to know anyway.

My PT-030 has a rubber shroud in the barrel. It makes it easy to hold the Magic Filters.