Info on Hugyfot and Sea&Sea Housing needed

Hello fellow divers,

I am again looking into getting a UW housing for my Canon 350D (RebelXT). I want to use my EFS 10-22 and my EFS 60 Macro.

I would like to know your experience regarding two housings: The Hugyfot and Sea&Sea.

My main points of concern are:

- Use of TTL - can I use TTL with any of these housings? And which strobe would I have to use?

- Size - Are these housings substantially smaller than the ikelite? What about Hugyfot vs Sea&Sea?

- Leakage - I heard that Hugyfot has a screws system that makes leakages easier to happen than with Sea&Sea and Ikelite

- Ease of use UW. Can you change aperture and shutter speed easily? Any specific controls not possible to use that I should be aware?

- Ports: Does Hugyfot and Sea&Sea have ports for these two lenses?

Any info would be highly appreciated. Thanks!!!

Kind Regards

Nuno Sanches e Silva

Nuno,

I have a Sea & Sea housing for my 350D (and 400D which I found will fit with some button mods.. ). I also have the Canon EFS 10-22 and 60mm macro. I haven't seen a hugyfot so can't comment on it.

So far, I've love the Sea & Sea. As you mentioned, the 350D housing is very compact. But to be honest, the Ikelite isn't that much bigger. I think the handles on the Ikelite make it appear larger. One note, because the 350D is so small and there is little air in the housing around the camera, it is noticeably negative buoyant (especially when you add arms, strobes...).

TTL - I use the Sea & Sea TTL converter (which I believe is a repackaged heinrich converter). I would think you could get a heinrich converter installed on the hugyfot. The only thing is not sure how you would set it up so you can switch it on/ off u/w (the sea & sea is external).

Ease of use - Sea & Sea has buttons for all the buttons on the 350D. The handle is nicely placed so you can pretty much reach most buttons without taking your hand off the handle (except the shutter speed/ aperture dial unless you have really long fingers).

Ports - yes Sea & Sea has ports for both lenses. Sea n Sea has both acrylic and now a nice glass dome and focus/zoom gears for both those lenses. Sea n Sea website will show which lenses are supported. Also, other 3rd party companies such as Athena will make custom zoom gears but will cost $$$ (+$200).

I've also just bought a Canon 100mm USM macro but haven't got the port and zoom gear for it yet... I also use a Sigma 18-50mm lens behind a dome (was able to modify the 10-22mm zoom gear to work with it).

edit: here is a shot of my 400D in the Sea & Sea 350D housing. It is pretty much the same size as the 350D so you get an idea of how small the housing is...



also, if you click on my profile, there is a photo of me holding the Sea & Sea housing, 350D, 60mm macro, and two Inon Z-240's.