Some Clarification on Canon S90 with Fix S90 Housing vs Canon S95 with Recsea Housing

[Loren E]

Hi all, I am looking to get one of the Canon powershot series cameras for shallow underwater photography, more for my fly fishing outings than diving actually (though it would be great for my rare diving outings as well). It looks like there are some very experienced users on this forum who have used these setups.

So I have read here that the new powershot S100 has messed things up for underwater photography because of its 5x zoom, and therefore we won't be getting a Fisheye Fix housing for it most likely?

So if the above is true, that leads me to the S90 with the Fisheye Fix S90 housing, or the S95 with its housing, which sounds to be made by Fix as well but is called a RecSea? I read in one post about the S95 that a member said something along the lines of "you missed the best setup with the S90 and the Fix S90 housing"......

If some of you would mind laying out for me the pros and cons of my options here of the different cameras and their housings I would greatly appreciate. If it helps, I think I will mostly just want to be doing wide angle stuff, so with the UWL-04 lens it sounds like? Does this require adapters? Anyways, won't be looking to get setup with strobes, specialty adapters and lenses, etc...just want to keep it simple!

Thanks so much all -Loren Elliott

 

[surf4life]

Hi, I've had a S90 since it came out and think it's a very good compact system and have used the Canon and Fix housings. The new s100 has a Canon housing, but it's too soon to tell if Fix or Recsea will be offering one as well. Seems the GPS on the s100 and better video capabilities might work well for what you're looking to do. Especially, since you're not looking to add strobes and go too much underwater you might consider the canon housing/s100? That would offer you good weather protection and light weight to pack along on fishing trips. I'd choose the Recsea or Fix on the s95, but there is a pretty good weight difference between those and the canon housing. Think you'd need an adapter to use the UWL-04 on the canon or Recsea, but not the Fix s95. All the fisheye lenses are going to be pretty large and heavy when added to the compact housings you'd be using. Happy fishing and diving, Robert.

 

[Loren E]

Hey thanks for the reply Robert. After doing lots of hours of digging through old threads, I am leaning towards the S95 with Fix S95 housing I think. It sounds like for dedicated dive photography, having more lens options is great, but since I will mostly just use the UWL-04 it would be really nice not to have to deal with or invest in an adapter system, and just have the lens and housing.

I want the domed lens mainly for "over-under" shots, with the bottom half of the frame under water and top half out of the water. For this I will want full control of the aperture, and it sounds like that is largely lost with the canon housing...where you no longer have ease of full manual control?

I am very interested to see if Fix will make a housing for the S100, but it sounds like they would need to make a whole new lens for it too I gather, since the UWL-04 is natively for 28mm lenses. Hmmmmmm......do these companies usually come out with their housings pretty soon after a camera release?

 

[surf4life]

Soon after, so maybe early next year is my guess. The Fix housings with the uwl-04 seems a good choice. With my S90 Fix there is an adapter from Dyron that's called a quick adapter and allows lens to snap onto adapter and not mess with screwing the lens on. This should make it easy to switch between close and wide angle. Having the ease of switching camera setting with the wheel is why I wanted the Fix housing, too. It would be great if the camera and housing companies designed something together, but guess our market is too small to = a profit. Sounds like you've done your research and will do well. Fly fishing sounds like another hobby I could spend time and too much money enjoying. I'm saving for strobes, so at least you'll be off the hook on that.

 

[ozziworld]

If your main goal is over/under shots. Should consider the add-on lenses are wet lenses so they do need to have water between the port and the rear elemnt of the add-on lens.

 

[Loren E]

Hey Ozzi I didn't even think about that...so the fisheye fix uwl-04 lens and fix s95 housing are directly compatible, unlike the s90 housing it directly screws together without assorted. Does the design of this lens include vents so that if I screwed it on tightly on dry land water would still get in there? For over/under shots it won't work to have water in-between the lens and housing.

Also how does this lens work on dry land? Is it poor for this since it is an UW design? I was hoping to use it for above water, over/under, and cult submerged shots...

Thanks for any help!

 

[Nemrod]

So I have read here that the new Powershot S100 has messed things up for underwater photography because of its 5x zoom, and therefore we won't be getting a Fisheye Fix housing for it most likely?

Generally speaking, cameras with long zoom lenses or 24mm native lenses do not play nice with the commonly available accessory lenses, especially the wide angle types. The S100 has both a long 5X zoom ratio and a 24mm lens, this does not bode well. The ability for the S100 to use these lenses is currently a matter of discussion and the entire story is not known yet. The new Inon H100 wide angle might work and the new wide angle macro will probably work, the rest we will just have to see. No way the UFL165AD will work.

So if the above is true, that leads me to the S90 with the Fisheye Fix S90 housing, or the S95 with its housing, which sounds to be made by Fix as well but is called a RecSea? I read in one post about the S95 that a member said something along the lines of "you missed the best setup with the S90 and the Fix S90 housing"......

The S90 is no longer being produced and I bet there are very few original FIX90 housing left if any.

If some of you would mind laying out for me the pros and cons of my options here of the different cameras and their housings I would greatly appreciate. If it helps, I think I will mostly just want to be doing wide angle stuff, so with the UWL-04 lens it sounds like? Does this require adapters? Anyways, won't be looking to get setup with strobes, specialty adapters and lenses, etc...just want to keep it simple!

Thanks so much all -Loren Elliott

There are many threads discussing in great detail the S90 and S95 with all housings and lenses, do a search and read them. Some may take a few hours to read.

N

 

[surf4life]

Doesn't the Panasonic lx5 have same 24mm lens and 5x zoom ratio? Obviously, there are fewer fisheye lens choices in that one. The Nauticam set up seems to be highly rated by Reef Photo. Personally, spending nearly a grand for the h100 and dome verses $400 for uwl-04 made my choice easier. Finding a used fix90 on ebay was nice, too. Kept hoping Nemrod would upgrade his set up, but didn't sound like it would happen.