I'm in love
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OP
I LOVE it, Gudge! Story will come after I do my work that didn't magically get finished while we were out diving all weekend!
Here's a simple one from Sunday's diving:
Canon 40D, Canon 60mm macro, Woody, Subal housing & port, Inon 220s + 240 strobes, locline arms
Here's a simple one from Sunday's diving:
Canon 40D, Canon 60mm macro, Woody, Subal housing & port, Inon 220s + 240 strobes, locline arms
OP
Sometimes photos aren't so beautiful, but they're important or special for other reasons. So are these three.
My buddy the big jawfish was still in his hole on Saturday but he had his light and stripy colours on during dive one.
Canon 40D, Canon 60mm macro, Subal housing & port, Inon 220s + 240 strobes
On dive two, one of my dive buddies went back and said that the jawfish was back to his normal dark self. I didn't go back there, instead wandering off in a different direction to explore a bit more of our Secret Site. I found a tiny, gorgeous leopard spotty jawfish. He was just too adorable peeking over the edge of his hole! He was a timid little thing and if I raised my camera up at all, he'd disappear down his hole again! I'm hoping to keep an eye on him to see if he grows or if this his full size
I hope he stays in the same hole like the big guy does!
Canon 40D, Canon 60mm macro, Woody, Subal housing & port, Inon 220s + 240 strobes
Never neglect the "boring" weedy areas:
Hypselodoris bullockii
Hypselodoris infuctata
Canon 40D, Canon 60mm macro, Woody, Subal housing & port, Inon 220s + 240 strobe
My buddy the big jawfish was still in his hole on Saturday but he had his light and stripy colours on during dive one.
Canon 40D, Canon 60mm macro, Subal housing & port, Inon 220s + 240 strobes
On dive two, one of my dive buddies went back and said that the jawfish was back to his normal dark self. I didn't go back there, instead wandering off in a different direction to explore a bit more of our Secret Site. I found a tiny, gorgeous leopard spotty jawfish. He was just too adorable peeking over the edge of his hole! He was a timid little thing and if I raised my camera up at all, he'd disappear down his hole again! I'm hoping to keep an eye on him to see if he grows or if this his full size
I hope he stays in the same hole like the big guy does!
Canon 40D, Canon 60mm macro, Woody, Subal housing & port, Inon 220s + 240 strobes
Never neglect the "boring" weedy areas:
Hypselodoris bullockii
Hypselodoris infuctata
Canon 40D, Canon 60mm macro, Woody, Subal housing & port, Inon 220s + 240 strobe
Very, very nice.
Very nice. The little spotted guy is a cutie.
OP
Some more happy photos:
Eel...haven't looked his name up yet
Brilliant orange Ceratosoma nudi
Eel...haven't looked his name up yet
Brilliant orange Ceratosoma nudi
OP
OK, here's some observations on the new rig. As many of you know, I've been shooting the Subal 20D housing for a while now and I love it. It's just so comfortable in my hand, the controls are smooth and perfect, she's small and easy to handle & maintain and it's just a great piece of gear. In November I picked up a Canon 40D and wasn't going to add a housing for it. But as I started to think more about it, I thought, why not - especially since Ryan at Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros thought they would be available while I was still in the US so I could bring it back with me.
Well, that didn't happen as Subal didn't get them out in time and I again considered just giving it a miss and sticking with my trusty 20D housing. But then Ryan emailed me in early January to tell me there were in stock and how did I want it shipped. I figured, why not, and went ahead with the order. I'm very glad I did as this housing is again a joy to use.
I added the big viewfinder to this new housing and it's pretty neat. The 40Ds viewfinder is significantly larger & brighter than the 20Ds anyway, but this add on is well worth the extra cash...IF you have it. If you don't, the standard viewfinder works just fine on the 20D so I imagine it would be even easier on the 40D housing. And you can always add the viewfinder later. My buddy has the 20D Subal with the big viewfinder and I did swap over with him on one dive. The viewfinder is a really nice addition to the 20D housing for sure...but the change is exponential from that to the 40D.
The viewfinder is not all roses, though. There is a sweet spot that you need to be at in order for the image to look like it's in focus. I have to admit that it's not yet second nature for me after my four dives with it. If you aren't looking pretty much straight through this big viewfinder, you might not see any image at all - just blackness. I found this a little frustrating while trying to track moving fish, actually, but I know that it is practice and getting used to something new. I did miss shots on the weekend because of not being used to the new viewfinder. I never had that problem with the standard viewfinder on the 20D housing.
This very naughty tuskfish made a royal pain of himself while I was trying to shoot the multiple Chromodoris coi & egg spirals.
He would buzz me, then bang into my head or strobe, bite and pull on my computer's wrist strap, bite my hands and fingers and finally he started CHEWING & TUGGING on my synch cable - that's when I shooed him away and started really keeping an eye on him. He harassed me for more than 15 minutes - I saw no eggs or nest or mate in the area so don't know what his problem was. Anyhoo, he's here coz I missed multiple shots of him using this viewfinder as he was swimming around and in close to me - just couldn't find the sweet spot every time.
Here are the housings quickly snapped:
40D housing with 60mm port in front
20D housing no port in front
The magnified viewfinder is also huge. It really adds a whole other dimension to the set up, but it does still fit in my milk crate (at least with the short port) so I'm ok with that so far!
40D with super viewfinder in front
20D with standard viewfinder in front
The controls on the 40D are in different places than on the 20D so of course the housing controls are slightly different, too. I am always telling people to know your gear before you hit the water and it's good advice. However, I'm a "jump in and deal with it later" kind of girl and ended up having to ask my buddy, Gudge, how to change the shutter speed I had it set up the way I wanted it for the dive anyway and it wasn't an issue, but it was nice to know how to do it LOL
Subal have moved the shutter dial from the top on the 20D housing to the front of the 40D housing. The dial is also bigger. This is a good move, but one I'm not used to yet. The aperture dial has also moved up on the back - this took some getting used to as I am so used to not having to move my hand to control it with the 20D and the new placement isn't yet intuitive for me. It will come. These changes are really not that much here nor there for me - both configurations work just fine. Don't ask me what all the other buttons do as some of them (like "jump") I just don't know - never seemed to need them so didn't bother!
Back of 20D (sorry for the towel lint on the viewfinder LOL)
Back of 40D
Now for the big upside...that magnified viewfinder, when you get the sweet spot and can see through it, is excellent for framing things up. I would often try to maximise filling my frame with the 20D and it would involve chopped off body parts of my subject for 3-4 frames sometimes before I got what I wanted. With this bigger, brighter viewfinder I found I reduced that to only 1-2 frames...often hitting it right where I wanted the first frame. I can also hold the camera out from me a considerable distance and still see through the viewfinder well enough to get what I need. And since I often shoot in odd yoga-inspired contortions, this is extremely valuable to me.
Nice tight framing in an awkward pose does seem easier - Glossodoris atromarginata
This is a test shot I did of a lionfish. He was nosing the sand, head down, on the edge of a rock with another outcrop in front of him blocking access. I had to go head down, curl around the edge of the outcrop, extend the camera and hold it at a funny angle. I could still see through the viewfinder to frame the shot to keep his chin whiskers.
In my hand there is little difference in the two housings. I haven't geeked the specs, but if they are different outer dimensions, then it's not a biggie for me. I still use the thumb lever for my main focus instead of the half press shutter. Choosing a focus point is slightly different, but it's just another thing that will take getting used to. The big viewfinder does add weight and I could feel the difference in how tired my hand got carting this thing around for 100 minutes or so each dive. This difference was noticeable, but not troubling - my hand was a bit tired, but nothing serious and after a few more times with the 40D on land and underwater I'll be used to it!
All in all, I'm very happy I added the new Subal 40D housing. It's great fun and I like the new viewfinder. Would I have been just as happy to add the viewfinder to my 20D housing? Most likely, but I never would have bothered, in reality.
Well, that didn't happen as Subal didn't get them out in time and I again considered just giving it a miss and sticking with my trusty 20D housing. But then Ryan emailed me in early January to tell me there were in stock and how did I want it shipped. I figured, why not, and went ahead with the order. I'm very glad I did as this housing is again a joy to use.
I added the big viewfinder to this new housing and it's pretty neat. The 40Ds viewfinder is significantly larger & brighter than the 20Ds anyway, but this add on is well worth the extra cash...IF you have it. If you don't, the standard viewfinder works just fine on the 20D so I imagine it would be even easier on the 40D housing. And you can always add the viewfinder later. My buddy has the 20D Subal with the big viewfinder and I did swap over with him on one dive. The viewfinder is a really nice addition to the 20D housing for sure...but the change is exponential from that to the 40D.
The viewfinder is not all roses, though. There is a sweet spot that you need to be at in order for the image to look like it's in focus. I have to admit that it's not yet second nature for me after my four dives with it. If you aren't looking pretty much straight through this big viewfinder, you might not see any image at all - just blackness. I found this a little frustrating while trying to track moving fish, actually, but I know that it is practice and getting used to something new. I did miss shots on the weekend because of not being used to the new viewfinder. I never had that problem with the standard viewfinder on the 20D housing.
This very naughty tuskfish made a royal pain of himself while I was trying to shoot the multiple Chromodoris coi & egg spirals.
He would buzz me, then bang into my head or strobe, bite and pull on my computer's wrist strap, bite my hands and fingers and finally he started CHEWING & TUGGING on my synch cable - that's when I shooed him away and started really keeping an eye on him. He harassed me for more than 15 minutes - I saw no eggs or nest or mate in the area so don't know what his problem was. Anyhoo, he's here coz I missed multiple shots of him using this viewfinder as he was swimming around and in close to me - just couldn't find the sweet spot every time.
Here are the housings quickly snapped:
40D housing with 60mm port in front
20D housing no port in front
The magnified viewfinder is also huge. It really adds a whole other dimension to the set up, but it does still fit in my milk crate (at least with the short port) so I'm ok with that so far!
40D with super viewfinder in front
20D with standard viewfinder in front
The controls on the 40D are in different places than on the 20D so of course the housing controls are slightly different, too. I am always telling people to know your gear before you hit the water and it's good advice. However, I'm a "jump in and deal with it later" kind of girl and ended up having to ask my buddy, Gudge, how to change the shutter speed
I had it set up the way I wanted it for the dive anyway and it wasn't an issue, but it was nice to know how to do it LOLSubal have moved the shutter dial from the top on the 20D housing to the front of the 40D housing. The dial is also bigger. This is a good move, but one I'm not used to yet. The aperture dial has also moved up on the back - this took some getting used to as I am so used to not having to move my hand to control it with the 20D and the new placement isn't yet intuitive for me. It will come. These changes are really not that much here nor there for me - both configurations work just fine. Don't ask me what all the other buttons do as some of them (like "jump") I just don't know - never seemed to need them so didn't bother!
Back of 20D (sorry for the towel lint on the viewfinder LOL)
Back of 40D
Now for the big upside...that magnified viewfinder, when you get the sweet spot and can see through it, is excellent for framing things up. I would often try to maximise filling my frame with the 20D and it would involve chopped off body parts of my subject for 3-4 frames sometimes before I got what I wanted. With this bigger, brighter viewfinder I found I reduced that to only 1-2 frames...often hitting it right where I wanted the first frame. I can also hold the camera out from me a considerable distance and still see through the viewfinder well enough to get what I need. And since I often shoot in odd yoga-inspired contortions, this is extremely valuable to me.
Nice tight framing in an awkward pose does seem easier - Glossodoris atromarginata
This is a test shot I did of a lionfish. He was nosing the sand, head down, on the edge of a rock with another outcrop in front of him blocking access. I had to go head down, curl around the edge of the outcrop, extend the camera and hold it at a funny angle. I could still see through the viewfinder to frame the shot to keep his chin whiskers.
In my hand there is little difference in the two housings. I haven't geeked the specs, but if they are different outer dimensions, then it's not a biggie for me. I still use the thumb lever for my main focus instead of the half press shutter. Choosing a focus point is slightly different, but it's just another thing that will take getting used to. The big viewfinder does add weight and I could feel the difference in how tired my hand got carting this thing around for 100 minutes or so each dive. This difference was noticeable, but not troubling - my hand was a bit tired, but nothing serious and after a few more times with the 40D on land and underwater I'll be used to it!
All in all, I'm very happy I added the new Subal 40D housing. It's great fun and I like the new viewfinder. Would I have been just as happy to add the viewfinder to my 20D housing? Most likely, but I never would have bothered, in reality.
BurBunny
Contributor
Nice review! It's good to see how the housings evolve, not just because of the new camera bodies, but also as the manufacturers refine how they believe they can deliver the best ergonomics within their vision.
But Kristin? No one who knows you thought you'd last long before you housed the 40D At least you're not fighting selling off the 20D housing, too.
But Kristin? No one who knows you thought you'd last long before you housed the 40D
At least you're not fighting selling off the 20D housing, too. 
Looks like a match made in heaven!! You and the Subal 40D. Your pics are awesome! I look forward to lots more.
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