Nikon 5900 - sucks in Ikelite housing

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RockyHeap

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Just a heads up for those looking at the Nikon Coolpix 5900/7900 camera for underwater work.

I've shot with Fantasea housings (2-3 different models with 2,3 and 4 meg pixel cameras) and after several Fantasea failures due to crappy Factory seal leaks even on the push-buttons I was wanting a new better housing so I sprung for the Ikelite housing for my 5900.

Big mistake. Don't get me wrong the Ikelite is built tough and is 3-4 times more rugged than a Fantasea, but the shadow line from the internal strobe getting 1/2blocked by the wide angle threaded lens on the big Ikelite dome port just couldn't be avoided. Zoomed full out, Zoomed full in, macro mode, you're going to have a 1/2 cresent moon in any of your photos as the Nikon 5900/7900 internal strobe is mounted in the upper corner of the camera instead of in the center of the camera right above the lens.

Lessons learned. The housing got sent back as many times I don't want to use my external strobe.

I'm wondering if the center mounted flash on the Nikon 5600 gets blocked by the lens port on the Ikelite housing for that model? Anyone experience this?
 
did you read instructions that came with housing..Did you take it back to the LDS that you bought it from for advise?? I bought one for my brother in law for christmas and all you had to do is use the diffuser that comes with it..No shadow that way..Also being that you should also be eventually using an external strobe and then you would use devise to block out strobe from camera hitting subject this would not happen..This is obviously user error on your part..
 
I think the problem is camera choice. My advice would be to skip the strobe and put a Magic Filter over the lens. You'll have to manually white balance, which is a pain in the *ss with the Coolpix cameras.
 
Not a user error on my part, it is just a poor location for the flash in this particular housing with a larger lens.

Even with the diffuser installed, well great, now I get a diffused shadow that will still be dark and under illuminated.

Oly5050, Be sure to post some of your brother in laws pictures. If you just got it for christmas, has he got it wet yet?

Time to just get a different housing, camera and external strobe that is a better package deal set-up instead of cobbling something together.
 
RockyHeap:
Not a user error on my part, it is just a poor location for the flash in this particular housing with a larger lens.............

First, I'm not sure why you included Ikelite at all in this discussion. As you stated, there is clearly nothing wrong with the quality of the product. Or performance for that matter, unless of course the inability to accomplish the impossible is a fault.

At issue is the placement of a 67 mm wide angle lens onto the face of a compact camera. And that's just the diameter of the lens threads! Tiny camera = tiny footprint = everything (lens, flash, knobs, lcd, etc) must be in close proximity to each other. Quite a challenge from the get go. Welcome to the downside of miniaturization. Chances are, something will get blocked when you decide to add a lens that measures over 80 mm in diameter.

And forget the partial blocking issue for a moment, it would still be a challenge regardless of onboard flash location to totally illuminate the field of view offered by any wide angle lens (67 mm, bayonet) on any housing with only an onboard flash.

I agree with DesertEagle, if you prefer shooting wide angle compositions without the aid of at least one external strobe, then research Dr Alex Mustard's Magic Filter.

If you'd still like to look at the Ikelite 4600 housing to decide for yourself the compatibility of a WAL:

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/cp7600.html

btw, I have the same flash blocking issue on land when I attach my underwater wide angle lens to my Oly c4040 with the aid of a lens barrel and assorted step up rings.

regards,
b
 
QUOTE: At issue is the placement of a 67 mm wide angle lens onto the face of a compact camera. And that's just the diameter of the lens threads!


DING DING DING, WINNER!

I by no means was bashing Ikelite, but you summed up my post well. The combination of the Nikon compact camera flash placement, in an large ported lens housing, is just a bad set-up.

I think I'm going to try out a Oly 5060, in the Oly housing, as most Oly shooter love the white balance options and full manual control under water. Care to Comment on your Oly experiences BobF?
 
I've owned an Oly c4040 and an Ikelite housing (6130.1) since they were introduced (2002?). The camera and housing has served me well. The only time I've experienced less than satisfactory results with the camera was on land in very cold weather (Snowy Vermont). This may be more related to cold weather battery performance (NiMH) though.

I started out with a single Ikelite DS 50 with a TTL sensor. I gradually moved up to a pair of DS 125's, one controlled with a manual controller and the other with the original TTL sensor. I sold the DS 50 after two years of use to help pay for the second DS 125. Quality products hold their value.

Although I have had generally good experiences with Olympus products (except for their wide angle lens which I do not recommend) I would still give serious consideration to the Fuji line of digital cameras if I were in the market for a digital point and shoot camera today. Dr Bob Whorton has demonstrated their capabilities with consistent high quality results. A Fuji E900 today is selling for around +- $350 and the compatible Ikelite housing lists for $300. Caveat: I have not used one. But Dr Bob has posted some incredible images over at digitaldiver.net with the rig.

Getting back to the original concern of onboard flash blocking, I also learned from experience. That said, sometimes the results can still be interesting imho. For instance, this attached image of a frog taken with the Oly c4040 in the housing, Oly WAL attached to the exterior of the housing, and internal strobe. Proof of the set up can be seen in the frog's eye.

hth,
b
 
If you plan to use wetmount wide angle lens with any PnS camera, I don't think you will be able to get away with using on board flash as it will not really cover the area adequately in most cases and if the background is very close, most likely you will see the shadow of partically block flash always. I used C4040, C5050 in Ikelite housing (doubt Oly housing will be any different, I did use Oly housing for C4040 briefly before switching to Ikelite) with Inon WAL and eventually added Inon domeport.
If you use wide angle wetmount lens then either external strobe or shooting available light +/- filter will be the way to go, IMHO.
 
Thank you all for your valued input, and you're pointing me in the right way.

Yes some day I'll for sure want a WAL, and I didn't want to build a system around the so-so camera of the Nikon as it doesn't allow much manual control.

The search for the perfect mid range intermediate camera goes on. I've got $1000. hmmmm, how to spend it.
 
If you figure it out, let me know. I am trying to figure out the best way to get into digital underwater photography and have become totally perplexed. I have Nikon SLRs, but don't want to use one underwater. The Nikon coolpix cameras seem to get lukewarm reviews. Olympus and Fuji seem to be internet favorites. The other problem is that the models turn over so quickly that most competent photographers are using equipment that is obsolete and can't really give good advise on currently available stuff. Whew.

Joel
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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