G10 Housings

[SilentWater]

What's up everybody,
I just bought a G10 the other day, and now I'm looking for a housing/strobe to get it underwater. So far I've seen the Ikelite, Patima, and FIX. Being the least familiar with the FIX. Just wondering if anyone knows of any more or any other companies with plans on putting out a housing. I've been leaning toward the Ikelite mainly because of price.. which is way cheaper that the others, but I figure it can't be a bad idea to find out what my options are. So, basically I'm looking for pros/cons of those 3 and any others I dont know about. I'm mostly intrested in shooting macro but wouldn't mind taking advantage of the g10's wide angle too, so optional WA/macro lenses are a must. Also any info on using one company's strobe with anothers housing (e.g sea&sea strobe w/ patima housing) would also be much appreciated. Thanks.
-Ryan

 

[Nemrod]

You are out of luck, the G10 has no wide angle options for wet lenses. The Ikelite has a dome accessory that provides a modest wide angle of about 65 degrees FOVD, The FIX has a wide angle port option but again it is only about 90 degrees FOVD I was told. If you wee interested in the 130 to 165 degree FOV of the Inon wet lenses, nope.

N

 

[NTSilver]

I bought the Ikelite for my G9. I have been disappointed with it and will most likely not buy another Ikelite housing. My problems have been with the metal closures and buttons rusting. Evidently Ikelite's supplier changed the coating and things started rusting, that's how Ikelite found out. I have had my housing for a year and it has been back twice. Unfortunately there are not many options.

 

[FrankPro1]

What's up everybody,
I just bought a G10 the other day, and now I'm looking for a housing/strobe to get it underwater. So far I've seen the Ikelite, Patima, and FIX. Being the least familiar with the FIX. Just wondering if anyone knows of any more or any other companies with plans on putting out a housing. I've been leaning toward the Ikelite mainly because of price.. which is way cheaper that the others, but I figure it can't be a bad idea to find out what my options are. So, basically I'm looking for pros/cons of those 3 and any others I dont know about. I'm mostly intrested in shooting macro but wouldn't mind taking advantage of the g10's wide angle too, so optional WA/macro lenses are a must. Also any info on using one company's strobe with anothers housing (e.g sea&sea strobe w/ patima housing) would also be much appreciated. Thanks.
-Ryan

Housings:
Canon: Pro's: Cheap, compact, acessory adapters for macro lenses
Con's: Cheaply constructed, no wide angle option, no button for use of menu/focus wheel

Ikelite: Pro's: Economically priced, Ultra Durable, Wide angle lens "kinda of"
Con's: Bulky, limited macro lens options, did I say bulky?

Fix: Pro's: Compact, accepts both macro and wide angle lenses, durable
Con's: Pricey, wide angle option is only dry "no wet option"

Patimaro's: Rugged, accepts wide range of 67mm wet lenses, compact
Con's: most expensive g10 housing

I bought the Ikelite for my G9. I have been disappointed with it and will most likely not buy another Ikelite housing. My problems have been with the metal closures and buttons rusting. Evidently Ikelite's supplier changed the coating and things started rusting, that's how Ikelite found out. I have had my housing for a year and it has been back twice. Unfortunately there are not many options.

Do you make sure to soak the housing with fresh water and then properly dry it after using? After soaking make sure to push all the buttons, to drain any water trapped between the seals. This is first time I've heard about Ikelite housings having any sort of rust issues.

If the supplier changed the coating, as you have stated, I can't imagine Ikelite not repairing / replacing with the properly treated parts.

 

[wiseguy1]

Ryan,
I have just finished a trip w/ Black Beards (awesome trip, crew and boat, BTW). On this trip I was primarily shooting with my 50D in a Sea&Sea housing. However, I did make a number of dives with my G10 in the Canon housing with a single S&S YS110a strobe (off of my bigger rig) with an optical trigger. My buddy was diving with his G10 in an Ikelite housing w/ 2 strobes (his primary camera setup). this was his first trip with the camera and I helped him a little bit dialing things in. my experience with the ikelite housing did not leave a favorable impression. I thought it was cumbersome, too heavy and not very ergonomic. the position of the levers and buttons was not very logical. The picture qualilty between his setup and my canon housing was negligible (sp). I think his set up ran him close to 3k. I think you can get the housing, the strobe, arms and fiberoptic trigger for around 1200. Plus if you ever step up into DSLR, you can reuse the strobe. just my 2 cents

 

[Gilligan]

What's up everybody,
I just bought a G10 the other day, and now I'm looking for a housing/strobe to get it underwater. So far I've seen the Ikelite, Patima, and FIX. Being the least familiar with the FIX. Just wondering if anyone knows of any more or any other companies with plans on putting out a housing. I've been leaning toward the Ikelite mainly because of price.. which is way cheaper that the others, but I figure it can't be a bad idea to find out what my options are. So, basically I'm looking for pros/cons of those 3 and any others I dont know about. I'm mostly intrested in shooting macro but wouldn't mind taking advantage of the g10's wide angle too, so optional WA/macro lenses are a must. Also any info on using one company's strobe with anothers housing (e.g sea&sea strobe w/ patima housing) would also be much appreciated. Thanks.
-Ryan

I recently purchased a G10 and got the Canon WP-DC28 housing and a Sea & Sea YS-27DX strobe which has plenty of power.
As for size, price and compactness, you can't beat it.
The strobe has only manual settings compared to the more expensive models. But since I shoot in the Manual mode with the camera I have no issues with the strobe.
The 28mm lens on the G10 has been acceptable to me as a wide enough angle as I don't want to carry add-on lenses underwater anymore.
I am using my old homemade tray from my Olympus C4000Z camera until I get back to the USA to order something else. Import fees are just too high here in the Philippines.

 

[SilentWater]

Thanks for the replies. I'm starting to lean toward the Patima, maybe with a S&S strobe. I have a few questions about the Patima housing, like are all of the dials and controls usable with the housing? It seems like it might be leaving out a few of the functions. Also, minus the handles and arms, what all do I need to add to get the strobe attached and working right? I'll probably just start a new thread for those questions to try and draw in the Patima users. Thanks again.
-Ryan

 

[FrankPro1]

my experience with the ikelite housing did not leave a favorable impression. I thought it was cumbersome, too heavy and not very ergonomic. the position of the levers and buttons was not very logical. The picture qualilty between his setup and my canon housing was negligible

The housing is somewhat cumbersome and heavy when out of water, but once submerged it is usually neutral or slightly negative and quite easy to handle. I do mostly rocky shore entries, which usually require a considerable hike down steep goat trails and I have easily been able to manage the housing. Slightly cumbersome and weighty, but not to the point where its a burden.

The position of the levers and buttons are laid out to conform with the camera's interface, not much you can do about that. The button layout is quite logical and ergonomic once you take the time to learn it.

The Canon's housing doesn't allow you to use TTL or the manual focus wheel, two things which very useful. Both housings will take good quality images because of the G10 inside of it, but there is more ease of calibration with the Ikelite. I do like the compactness of the Canon's housing but beyond that it falls very short of the Ikelite and other housings.

 

[Gilligan]

True, the Canon housing does not have the dial on the back which requires the additional pushing of another button to compensate. Initially, I hesitated getting the Canon housing because of that but price and size mattered to me, especially price

In the Manual shooting mode you have to push and hold button 1 then push buttons 7 or 9 to change F stops or shutter speeds in lieu of the dial. Not the big inconvenience I thought it would be.

 

[RobynJ]

I have a G10 and wondered if anyone else has a problem with movies that are downloaded to CD-R stopping when playing back? Playing them back from my computer is no problem.