Ewa-Marine housing? Don't flame me ;)

[torrey]

Wow, thanks for the very helpful comments! I had just been worried about the housing leaking, but sounds like the issues are much broader than that!

Here's my latest scheme. Take my Ikelite Auto 35 housing that came with a "Superview" point and shoot film camera, and find a digital camera that will fit in that housing! I think I 'll start another thread about that . . . Thanks for all your help!

Ted

I don't think you'll be happy going this route. You're putting the emphasis on an old film housing and not on the camera itself. Even if you do find a camera which will fit into that housing, you're not going to be able to access any of your digital buttons. You'd probably have to ghetto-rig it just to be able to push the shutter-release button.

 

[ponypix]

The Ewa housing is basically a heavy duty plastic bag with a mechanical seal on one end. It works great at keeping the camera dry, but that is it. While it is rated to 100', you will not be able to use your camera at that depth due to the crushing pressure on the controls. It is best used at 30' or less.

With your camera, I suggest going with a hard sided housing such as an Ikelite. Also, make sure that you invest in a good strobe to get the best results.

i trashed an eos 1 mark II using the ewa bag, you have to guess how much air to fill up the bag with so that when it compresses you will be able to use the controls. went down to the spiegel grove and by the time i got to the wreck the bag was so compressed that my shutter would not stop until i ran out of disc space and water got in. i would suggest a small point and shoot like the olympus or canon that is available with its own housing, for about $600 you can get decent shots.

 

[under water]

Please note that the flexible 'pouch' housing I used above was not the same brand as you are evaluating and did not have the glass section.

 

[paperdesk]

I'm am looking at some Canon and Olympus options, since as has been pointed out the housing can be fairly inexpensive. Also a couple family members have Minolta xt's so maybe we'll look into getting the housing for that camera, though they're a little pricey. I'm looking for a bargain somewhere, maybe I'll find something on clearance . . .

Ted

 

[fdog]

As a part-time working professional, I probabally have in excess of $40,000 in camera equipment, housings and strobes.

A piece of equipment I also have is an Ewa baggie. It's excellent within the parameters that it's good at; easy, compact, medium focal lengths and depth-limited.

Every tool has it's place. Pick the right tool for the job.

All the best, James