Ikelite 8" Port Availability

gstroupe · Nov 17, 2005

Has anyone gotten any information on availability of the new 8" port from Ikelite for Nikon housings? Last I heard it would be available in November but now they are saying it will be another month or so.

Cheers

alcina · Nov 17, 2005

Have you talked to Ikelite? www.ikelite.com and send them an email.

Or talk to Ryan at ryan@reefphoto.com

slowhands · Dec 11, 2005

Check it out for $389 at Reef Photo & Video:
http://www.reefphoto.com/index.php?...id=558&zenid=96f48f84e772e8a31759f6ae3e571615

Also, Helix has the less expensive 5503.15 port ($139), which allows pretty much the same wide coverage:
http://www.helixcamera.comwww.helixcamera.com/fs-ikelite-housings.html

dbh · Dec 11, 2005

slowhands:
Check it out for $389 at Reef Photo & Video:
http://www.reefphoto.com/index.php?...id=558&zenid=96f48f84e772e8a31759f6ae3e571615

Also, Helix has the less expensive 5503.15 port ($139), which allows pretty much the same wide coverage:
http://www.helixcamera.comwww.helixcamera.com/fs-ikelite-housings.html

A 6" dome and 8" dome are not even close to the same. Although the 8" will be harfder to travel with, it will give you much better results. Also, the 8" is essential for shooting over / unders. I look at my ports as a one time investment...and change cameras / housings about every 1 - 2 years.

Dave

slowhands · Dec 12, 2005

dbh:
A 6" dome and 8" dome are not even close to the same. Although the 8" will be harder to travel with, it will give you much better results. Also, the 8" is essential for shooting over / unders. I look at my ports as a one time investment...and change cameras / housings about every 1 - 2 years.

Dave

Thanks for the comments. I posted a supplier and price for both domes, which was the topic. Now, given the price difference, and that Ikelite is not convinced it is sharper when shooting wide (but is possibly helpful when shooting of over/unders), can you share the other benefits of the 8 inch dome underwater?

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/bigdome.html

My specific reason for asking is I plan to use the 6 inch dome 5503.50 for both my Nikon 60mm micro and Sigma 10-20mm, as recommended by Ikelite. Granted the 8 inch will also work, what is the benefit of the 8 inch? If I have to lug it around, I want compelling reasons.

MarkH · Dec 12, 2005

slowhands:
Thanks for the comments. I posted a supplier and price for both domes, which was the topic. Now, given the price difference, and that Ikelite is not convinced it is sharper when shooting wide (but is possibly helpful when shooting of over/unders), can you share the other benefits of the 8 inch dome underwater?

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/bigdome.html

My specific reason for asking is I plan to use the 6 inch dome 5503.50 for both my Nikon 60mm micro and Sigma 10-20mm, as recommended by Ikelite. Granted the 8 inch will also work, what is the benefit of the 8 inch? If I have to lug it around, I want compelling reasons.

I use a 17mm (non-digital) lens with the 6" dome. It's fine at small aperatures (f16), but anything wider than that leaves the edges of the picture blurry, because the lens can't focus on the whole curved virtual image. A wider dome should correct for this. Almost $400 seems pretty steep though.

dbh · Dec 14, 2005

here is a review from wetpixel:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/canon-10-22-lens-and-ikelite-8-dome-port

MY OPINION (take it with a grain of salt): you probably won't be able to tell much difference between the two until your skills improve. At that time, you WILL get the 8" dome. As you improve, you will want to shoot CFWA (close focus wide angle) and over / unders.

I am just trying to save you money in the long run because you will end up here anyway. Buy what you want.....I have my 8" dome

!!!

Dave

dbh · Dec 14, 2005

PapaBob · Dec 15, 2005

Slowhands:

I own the 5503.5 (6") and the 8" ikelite dome ports for use with my 20D and 10-22mm efs lense. The 6" is a tight fit and the zoom control is stiff with it on. I also like to cover the lense with a skylight filter for protection and the 6" does not leave a lot of room. Early on I had one flooding incident during a pool test (my fault for improperly securing the port). Because it was the 8" I was able to quickly tip the camera and allow the water to pool in the ample dome. The filter kept the water out of the lense. If I had used the 6" I think the lense would have hit the scrap heap.

In a dome your camera is focusing on a virtual image created by the dome. The virtual image in the 8" is larger and more distant from the lense meaning easier focus without a diopter. I have not tested whether the difference is significant, but the 8" has become my mainstay and I love working with it.

---Bob

ssra30 · Dec 15, 2005

I never used Ikelite dome so take this with a grain of salt. In my experience, certain lenses such as Nikkor 12-24mm does not mix well with diopter and does not match very well with smaller dome regardless of extension ring that I use. It performs much better with bigger dome without diopter. On the other hand, 10.5mm seems to play well with just about any size dome including Sea and Sea compact domeport. Dome price is all relative and $400 is actually not bad at all for 8" dome. 8" domeports offered by other manufacturers such as Subal or Seacam are significantly more expensive.

Ikelite 8" Port Availability

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