I'm changing underwater rigs. Additional Pics here: Linky
October 2005 I purchased my first DSLR rig for my Nikon D70. In April 2007 I moved to the Nikon D200 and stayed within the Ikelie housing. In December 2007 I moved into the Light & Motion D200 housing.
Let me state that these are my observations on the usability and features of these two housings. I dive a lot and shoot a lot, so I can speak very comfortably on usability.
It should be mentioned here that these two rigs are not in the same class. Its not my intention to compare them feature for feature, as they're simply in different categories. Ikelite is a wonderful rig for the price, and many of my best dive memories have been captured with my Ike rig. At the end of the day its an entry-level DSR rig, and it was the cheapest way for me to find out if I can even shoot underwater, let alone make it a regular part of my diving. To compare the Ike to the L&M would be to do a great disservice to Ikelite - its designed well, they support it well and its a fine rig.
Lastly - moving to the L&M Titan was the toughest dive gear decision I've ever had to make - apart from the huge additional cost, it also represents a commitment to this Camera (Nikon D200) for several years as well as a confirmation that I'll be shooting for a long time to come. I'm inherently uncomfortable with these types of gear and behavioral commitments (hence, I'm the king of eBay) - so this was a big move on many levels.
Yesterday was the first chance I had to get the new rig underwater. Here are my thoughts:
THE HOUSING
The housing is made of Aluminum. With DSLR housings there are essentially two classes of housings: PolyCarb / Plastic and Aluminum. Some camera manufacturer's offer plastic housings for their cameras, and Ikelite offers one. There are several manufacturers of Aluminum housings for my Nikon - probably 8 or 9. Within the Aluminum housings there are several differences - from the ultra small to the larger. From housings with arms and actuators to electronically controlled housings.
The Light & Motion housing is an aluminum housing where all of the features I use the most are electronically controlled using the camera's USB interface. The pluses and minuses of this can be viewed on any of the camera forums - and I've read them all. They break into two camps:
- Electronics can fail in the field, and with a mechanical housing you're still able to shoot
- USB controls are more ergonomic as you're not restricted to mirroring the camera placement of the controls on the housing - as there are no levers / buttons to mate up
I weighed all of the sub-sets of the above and selected to go with the L&M housing. The fact that they had a huge discount available this month that placed it in the league with the other high-end aluminum mechanical housings (price-wise) also sealed the deal.
THE PORTS
All of the L&M ports are glass. This was important to me. I've pretty much gotten all the sharpness and clarity I can get out of my Acrylic ports. To secure any more clarity and sharpness in my images I need to go to glass. Will it make a huge difference? I don't believe it will. Will it make a noticeable difference on the shots I post on the web? Not likely. Where the difference will be seen is in the images I print at two to fifty -times life size. And I'll be printing a lot more in 2008 and beyond.
The L&M Ports attach with a double O-ring bayonet system. Very secure. I no longer need a port for every lens, as the flat port and the dome port use simple extensions to accommodate several lenses. I like this very much. The Ports are secure, easy to put on and easy to clean. The Port covers are lame. Really lame.
THE CONTROLS
One of the things that sealed the deal was the ease of manipulating the controls that I use the most. I shoot in full manual mode - so I'm always changing the shutter speed and the Ap. To change Ap and shutter on the Ike Rig I need to remove it from my face and spin a dial. Its a two handed operation. I can change Ap and shutter on the L&M is smooth, one handed (right thumb or forefinger) and the rig doesn't leave my grill. The increase of speed between shots or the speed from subject selection to shot has been shortened dramatically. I like to work fast, and I can work faster with the L&M
Thumb focus!!! The L&M has it. Who knew?! However, its a push up to activate, on my Ike it was a pull down. With the shutter, on the Ike it was pull back, on the L&M its a pull down. The changes are no biggie, I'll just be fighting muscle memory for a few weeks.
The word for the L&M is Smooooov. I found myself mashing the buttons and cranking the knobs for the first half of the dive. The controls and buttons on the L&M are larger and smoother. I love them. The power-on actuator in the Ikelite has never been consistent, and without some modifications several of the actuators either missed or require several attempts. All of the controls I use most on the L&M are so easy to use.
ROC is the bomb. I've been shooting in full manual, but with the Ike I've been using the TTL functions, and adjusting up or down to meet the needs of the shot. The L&M rig has discreet controls to manage the intensity of each strobe (right or left) - which is amazing. But I've never shot with fully manual lighting - so its gonna take a bit to get used to (full power, half power, quarter power, etc.) I took a lot more shots than I normally would because I had to do the thinking for the strobes, whereas my Ike rig used to manage the light intensity using Nikon's TTL. I love the flexibility, I'm just new to it. I'll get it dialed in.
The fears of all of this USB activity draining the battery never materialized. I had over two hours of B/T and shot about 110 images, and I did it all on one batt. I was turning off the unit when I was scootering or on my stops (I did play the pong game on one stop...) Will the batt last as long as my Ikelite mechanical housing? No. But by turning off for transportation and on extended periods of non-shooting, I'm confident I can get two dives out of a batt (I was getting two to three on the Ikelite.)
THE RIG AS A WHOLE
The L&M rig on land, weighs a few ounces more than the Ikelite. I was quite surprised at this. I thought it'd be a lot heavier.
The L&M rig is actually smaller than the Ikelite rig. When all assembled, its smaller and easier to transport. This is mostly because the strobe arms start lower on the handle - making the L&M rig overall "shorter" than the Ike rig.
I miss the rigid handle I made for the Ikelite. I have a great strap for the L&M rig, and it works very well. But the rigid handle was nice.
The rig is more solid. The strobe arms don't rattle or squeek, as there is no movement from the base - as the balls are mounted to the handles and not to the Quick Release Ike arm mounts.
There is no tray - the handles are attached directly to the base of the housing. And I can move each handle into precicesly the perfect position for me. I love that too.
The L&M has an integrated focus light mount. Nice.
YOU CAN'T SEE THE STROBES GO OFF. Weird, weird, weird. With the clear Ike housing, you see the strobes go off. With the Aluminum housing, I can't see the strobes go off when my face is pressed to the viewfinder. This is the single most noticeable difference in the feel of shooting the L&M. I'll need to get used to this one.
Two small synch cords from the top of the unit for the L&M, as opposed to one long dual synch cord from the back of the Ikelite. I love the new synch cord setup. However, Nikonos bulkheads blow. Who's the bright star that invented these things? Terrible connections. I really prefer the Ikelite connections.
IN CLOSING
Things I love about the Light & Motion Rig
- Smaller
- A little heavier in water makes it easier to control on the scooter
- Synch cord routing much better
- Focus light mount!
- Smoooooov
- Solid
- Faster from subject selection to shot
- ROC - being able to control the intensity of each strobe from the housing - the artistic latitude is much greater with the L&M rig
Things I don't love about the Light & Motion Rig
- I really miss pan and zoom during Image Review. Nikon's USB doesn't support the feature. So zooming in on an image you just shot (essentially cropping it in the cam within the red box) is a feature I've lost. I used it all the time. I'm sad about that.
- I'm going to have to fabricate real port covers. That's pretty bush.
- I need to figure out how to get it to power up into a setting I'll really use. Its coming up with f/5.6 and 60th of a second. Please.
- Several of my questions are not answered well in the manual, and a major feature was completely missed. What else is missing?
.
.
.
Things I'll miss from my Ikelite Rig
- Lens changes are much faster. Not that above-water speed is an issue, but when on a boat and you're set up for W/A, and you get to the site and there is no viz, changing to Macro is much faster with the Ikelite housing.
- Strobe confirmation! Too strange not seeing the strobes flash.
- A few bucks.
- Rigid handle
Things I won't miss from my Ikelite Rig
- Needing two hands to change Ap and Shutter
- Squeek, rattle, shake
- Killing Synch cords. I go through several a year with the Ike
- Wondering if the Dome port is on OK
So far, its another world shooting the L&M. I'm very excited to get out and shoot some more this week. Hopefully tonight!
.
.
.
.
.
