Nikon D70/Ikelite question

Hi--I'm new to Scubaboard and have appreciate learning from the forums I've looked at. This is my first posting.

I am an amateur shooting a D70; have been studying fine art photography for a couple of years and have sold a few fine art prints.

I'm a beginning and eager diver; started getting ready in July to do some diving in New Zealand in November/December. In the past four weeks I've done 17 dives in Puget Sound (Seattle area), passed PADI advanced open water and am taking Rescue Diver next week (have also passed specialties in drysuit, peak buoyancy, night, and enriched air).

I enjoy looking at details, whether for shooting images or just plain diving.

I was saving up to buy an Ikelite housing for my D70 to use in New Zealand. One of my instructors advised me to buy a digital point-and-shoot with optional manual controls, because of what she said was "inevitable flooding" having a lower financial impact. Any comments or suggestions?

scotia53:

I was saving up to buy an Ikelite housing for my D70 to use in New Zealand. One of my instructors advised me to buy a digital point-and-shoot with optional manual controls, because of what she said was "inevitable flooding" having a lower financial impact. Any comments or suggestions?

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Shooting anything less than the D70 and you will get really frustrated, Prosumer Digi cameras just don't have the grunt to match the D70.

I am shooting a CP5000 now and just get really frustrated when I can't get the shot I know I could with a DSLR. I am about to sell the whole lot and upgrade.

The Ikelite housings are pretty good, I only know one guy that has flooded a D70, user error not the housing.

I have hundreds of dives with my Ike housings photo and video, and I treat them really poorly, they get thrown up in the bow of the boats and beaten up pretty bad, never had a problem with either of them.

Just get the whole lot insured....

Cheers
Chris

Nowaday, I prefer to shoot dSLR over PnS but there are some limitations. First, dSLR setup is much much bigger, much more involving so I would not recommend this for anyone who is not already an experience diver or at least, very very comfortable in water. dSLR also will force you to plan your dive, plan on what kind of pictures you are going to take because you don't have the luxury of wetmount lens like PnS to do both macro and wide angle and shoot just about anything that you happen to see.
Cost is another big factor. Housing for dSLR alone will give you a very good PnS setup with strobes and pretty much everything you need.
If you are comfortable enough in water, think that you will dive often enough to justify the cost then dSLR is certainly a good choice. Also if you only plan to use the kit lens (18-70mm) then it might not be worth it as the lens is not that great underwater but if you have the opportunity of expand your lens choice a bit more then dSLR is a lot of fun.
Ikelite D70 housing is very nice, more affordable than many others but it is bulkier than its competitor.
I would not worry much about flooding. That's what flood insurance is for.

Yep i agree with that, flood insurance and go with the D70...

You can get it through DAN or D.E.P.P
M

I don't think you can go wrong with the D70/Ikelite setup....I've got two of them and couldn't be happier....except for getting a D2X maybe

Any housing will flood.....get insurance and go dive

Karl

Just curious, what's wrong with the 18-70 lens? I have a Fuji S2 and will be using
that lens when my Ike housing arrives (today I hope)
Chris

cdoyal:

Just curious, what's wrong with the 18-70 lens? I have a Fuji S2 and will be using
that lens when my Ike housing arrives (today I hope)
Chris

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It is not quite wide enough for good wide angle shot and at the macro end, it does not focus very close for a good macro.
Behind a domeport, you would most likely need a diopter which degrade the picture quality a bit more.
Personally I would either go with wide angle lens or a better macro lens unless all I plan to do is fish portrait only.

ssra30:

It is not quite wide enough for good wide angle shot and at the macro end, it does not focus very close for a good macro.
Behind a domeport, you would most likely need a diopter which degrade the picture quality a bit more.
Personally I would either go with wide angle lens or a better macro lens unless all I plan to do is fish portrait only.

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It needs a +4 to focus with the dome port. I have a 60mm macro and a 20mm lens
but they are regular - not digital - lenses so the 30mm equivilent wouldn't be wide enough. I'll save my pennies for the 12-24 for good wide angles.

cdoyal:

It needs a +4 to focus with the dome port. I have a 60mm macro and a 20mm lens
but they are regular - not digital - lenses so the 30mm equivilent wouldn't be wide enough. I'll save my pennies for the 12-24 for good wide angles.

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12-24mm is a very nice lens but you need a big domeport as it does not seem to mix well with smaller 5-6 inches dome.
A good cheaper alternative is Sigma 15mm fisheye which is actually a bit wider than the 12mm end of 12-24mm. Nikon 10.5mm is becoming my favourite wide angle lens currently.