f3nikon
Guest
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.
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.