Housing for Canon Elph S500

[kidspot]

I'm looking at the Canon Elph S500 (I also have a digital rebel, but want a "smaller" camera for sticking in my pocket and until I have the heart/budget to risk taking it in the water)

I'm looking at a couple of housings and wondered if anyone had experience with them as far as pros/cons

#1 choice http://www.oceanbrite.com/moreinfo.php?id=406
Seal aluminum housing rated to 350ft.

Pros:
very sturdy housing
small footprint, easily put into wetsuit pocket
rated past any depth I would go for many many years.

Cons:
does not appear to have buttons for full funcionality, only shutter and zoom.
expensive at $460 (from scuba.com) though I'll price through Scubatoys before final purchase.

#2 choice http://www.leisurepro.com/Catalog.aspx?op=ItemDisplay&ProductID=CANDC800&cmpid=next
Canon plastic housing

Pros:
Made by manufacturer of Camera (very small pro in my opinion)
Inexpensive at $169
Appears to support full functionality

Cons:
less resilient plastic
larger size
Rumors about o-ring seating difficulties which can lead to flooding
"only" depth rated to 130 - already within range of some of my dives.

So any comments by those of you using either of these housings? My primary concern is do you need full functionality of the camera at depth beyond shutter and zoom control?

Thanks for the help in pointing out what I may have missed,
Tim

P.S. I already have a 10watt HID can light, can it be converted with a piece of diffuser material to be used as a hand held strobe effectively or is this just my imagination...

 

[d56nut]

I have the WP-DC800 Canon Underwater Housing for my S500 Digital Elph. I've never had any of the problems you speak of. I make sure to clean/grease the o ring in a dry environment indoors and put everything together indoors. The housing has full functionality. You can use all features. Why buy something that won't let you use all the features? Do you dive deeper than 130 feet (tech diver?)? You feel that the canon housing is large? Comparatively to any rig I've seen on a dive boat, mine is almost ALWAYS the SMALLEST!!! Now...I don't have any strobes attached. I use the internal flash -- plenty bright for the Cozumel diving we do.

I don't know anything about the other housing you mentioned so I'm a bit biased!!! For me, I give a thumbs up to the Canon WP-DC800. Got mine at www.walmart.com

Hope this helps!

 

[kidspot]

Thanks Michelle - Opinions are what I need so keep em' coming

Aloha, Tim

P.S. hopefully someone has experience with the aluminum housing. In regards to tech diving it would be a ways off, but a possibility.

 

[uaflyer]

I have the WP-DC800 with an S500 and paid about $178 shipped for the housing I think.

It seems to be able to control every function on the camera that I can see or ever use.
I haven't found myself fiddling much with the camera underwater as it is. Mostly switch between manual and auto, as the S500 already takes large files that can be edited later.

Keep in mind this isn't a Pro setup and shallow shots or using external light provides best results. I am of course still learning more on underwater photography.

I had read somewhere about a way to use an external strobe, I forget. The WP-DC800 has a built in diffuser.

I probably wouldn't get anything better without spending several thousand dollars.

 

[kidspot]

I'm looking at this being a "backup" camera on land, and perhaps eventually underwater as well. It's size is one of the main reasons, but I've been impressed with the quality of the images it takes(a friend of mine has one). While I am not planning on it replacing my digital SLR, it will be my primary underwater camera for some time. I usually have my Cannister light on dives, so I'd like to make an adapter to use it as an external light source.

Just "batting" some ideas around for now...

Aloha, Tim

 

[uaflyer]

The S500 is the only camera I use anymore. I have had about 5 different digital Cameras.

Since the highest end digitals have at least 3 CCDs for various colors, I figure I might end up with one in a few years or a Digital Camcorder down the road.

So far as flash memory, I suggest the hi speed 512MB.(camera seems to recover faster for the next shot) The pricing is at a sweetspot these days and by forcing you to change the card every few days on a trip, it reduces the chance of loss by damage, theft or other of your precious photos. (learned that lesson a while back, pics worth more than the camera to me)

I'm looking at this being a "backup" camera on land, and perhaps eventually underwater as well. It's size is one of the main reasons, but I've been impressed with the quality of the images it takes(a friend of mine has one). While I am not planning on it replacing my digital SLR, it will be my primary underwater camera for some time. I usually have my Cannister light on dives, so I'd like to make an adapter to use it as an external light source.

Just "batting" some ideas around for now...

Aloha, Tim