Canon D40 Advice Needed

I am buying a D40 Body and need advice/recommendations on Housings that work well with it. Also looking for lens advice. Debating between the Canon EF-S 60mm 2.8 Macro and the EF 100mm 2.8 Macros lenses. Any advice on other lenses that would work well underwater?

Im fairly new to underwater photography though not to photography in general.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and range of animals will be from small nudibranchs to Giant Octopus...

Thanks in Advance.

John

i have an aquatica housing and love it they are realy well built. the controls are will placed and very smooth. the housing handle well in the water and is close to neutral with the dome port on. the nice thing about these housing is that they are made to last and are resonably price for aluminum housings i believe i paid around 3000 for the housing and dome port and extension rings and so forth which is more that 2.5 times what i paid for my first car LOL. i can go on and on for day about these housing. if you have specific about the housing just ask over all i would give that 9.8 out of 10. i think that they are releasing a housing for the 40D in late january or early February. i thing that the only housing that is actualy on the market at this point is the one from ikelite. i am sure someone will correct me if i am wrong though. also if you are looking for something a little cheeper look at acrylic housing i would go with the ikelite housing and not fantasy the rang of lens that you can use with the fantasy housing seems to be limited.


my recommendation as far as lenses go is to start with the 60mm 2.8 and then get the 100mm at a later point. both lenses are almost identical when it comes to sharpness and color reproduction. the 60mm will behave more like a 100mm lens on the 40D as well. the advantage to the 60mm lens is its depth of field is a little bigger that the depth of field on the 100mm. the 60mm is also a little more forgiving than the 100mm lens is when taking 1:1 macro shots. also the 60mm is a little more versatile than the 100mm, i have both and love both. If i am just going in for macro photography i will use the 100mm but if i think that i maybe want to shoot fish and thing like that i will through on the 60mm.


two other lenses that i recommend adding to your arsenal are the canon EF-s 10-22 and the sigma 17-70 2.8-4.0 macro.

Have you looked at Seatool? It is the smallest housing currently available, supposedly in 08 there is going to be a Seatool housing for the D40. Check with Reef Photo - Florida they had the scoop as I called them last month.
Other than that Ikelite is available and would be the least amount of cost for TTL , for ports, and other amenities for housings.

I use Subal housings and love them.

Ikelites are excellent and probably the least expensive way to get your rig underwater.

SeaTool is really sexy.

Always check to make sure they have ports for the lenes you want to use.

I adore my 60 macro and currently use it more than any other. It allows 1:1 macro and a bit bigger stuff. Sometimes having to get so close to your subject is not desirable, and the 100 may be better. Both are excellent and odds are you will end up with both.

You can find more details on various lenses (and more) by heading for the Sticky - follow the Pink Link in my signature.

HTH

Thanks for all the advice, really appreciate it. Guess I need to decide which way to go on the housing, finances may dictate the decision though, seems aluminum is at least twice the cost of Ikelite. Still need strobes etc... speaking of which, any advice on strobes for the 40D? Seems Ikelites and Sea & Seas are most popular...

Thanks again.

John

I just recently submerged my Canon 20D, so I went through the same process. I would suggest that the housing you chose dictates the strobe (or it can go the other way). I went with an Ikelite housing and am happy with it. Everyone that has looked at it was impressed.

The LDS I usually go through was trying to push me onto Sea&Sea, even though they don't make a housing for my camera. So then they try to convince me to try and band aid a Sea&Sea TTL convert so I could use the YS-110 strobes onto my Ikelite housing. I vetoed that and went with an all Ikelite setup and couldn't be happier.

The big advantage of Ikelite isn't just price, but simplicity with their in-housing TTL. I went diving with a buddy that uses sea&sea and the external TTL flooded, apparently it is somewhat "common". I am not impressed with his story about Sea&Sea's handling of it. The Ikelite is a complete system, get the housing and their strobes and you have a system that just works with itself.

It seems everyone gets hung up on their 22" spinners that are milled out of the finest aluminum, and I agree they are beautiful works of machining...but the Ikelite is simple and reliable. You can see the smallest drop of water in the housing, its clear...so that helps address 1 risk.

I assume you are in Vancouver BC, so it may be a bit far...but if you ever want to see the Ikelite setup let me know. I went with the housing for the 20D, the strobe/arm combo for the DS-51 and the bracket+mini-C lite for an aiming light. My first (and only) dive trip with it was up to Sechelt, had a great time and got some decent pictures for my first splash.

Oh, forgot lens choices. I went with the 60mm for the reasons stated above, I also have the Canon 10-22mm lens. I've had the 10-22mm for a while and love this lens and it sees frequent use topside also.

If I was buying a new camera on a budget I'd go with the Canon 40D and the 18-55 IS (not kit), 60mm macro and a decent zoom. The new Canon 55-250 is supposed to be a great value, not available stateside but it is in Canada...oh, and get a good external flash such as the 430 or 580EXii. Some like the 17-85mm, but I wasn't pleased with it and returned it.

If budget isn't as big of an issue, I'd do the Canon 10-22mm for WA, and the 17-55 f2.8 for my "walk around" lens...and perhaps a 70-200 f2.8 or f4 IS for my zoom with a 1.4x teleconverter. I currently have the 10-22mm, 50mm 1.8, 60mm macro, 24-105L F4, 70-300mm IS and a Lensbaby 2.0. Of those, I find myself hardly using the 70-300 or the lensbaby. The 24-105L isn't really wide enough at 24mm on our cameras, but is a phenomenal lens...I am thinking of replacing it with a 17-55.

Of course, only the 10-22mm and 60mm are that "underwater" friendly. Perhaps the 18-55 can be put in a port. Talk to David Haas on here if you decide to go Ikelite, he was very helpful and I wish I had gone to him instead of the local shop. Could have saved me money and more importantly he was familiar with the product since he uses it.

PriusDrIVER,

Interesting. I just got a D40 as my main land camera, with the EF 24-70mm 1:2.8 L, the EF 70-200mm 1:2.8 L IS and the 430EX flash.

Though I've used the 70-200, the 24-70 has become my main lens. I absolutely LOVE the camera.

However, I really couldn't bring myself to submerge the camera just yet. ($$$$$).

Instead, I bought a Canon A570IS and an Ikelite housing for it. As they are discounting the cameras now to almost ridiculous prices, it's cheaper than many "undersea" cameras. I love the Ikelite housing as well.

For the D40, I'll have to investigate the 60mm lens or the zoom you mention. Eventually I do plan on taking this camera underwater, and I'll probably go with the Ikelite housing - if only because the strobe and such will work with either outfit.

-S

sunnyboy,

I too wouldn't have submerged mine if it wasn't for finding the housing for it for so cheap. I got a like-new housing for less than the Ikelite housing for a P&S, of course I did have to add $1200 in strobes and arms, and a few more hundred $$ in ports. At least much of it will carry over to a 50D or whatever it is when I find it worth upgrading in the future.

-r

JohnMelendez:

Still need strobes etc... speaking of which, any advice on strobes for the 40D? Seems Ikelites and Sea & Seas are most popular...

Thanks again.

John

Click to expand...

I use Inon and adore them. My second choice would be Ikelite.