Aussie and others,
As a long time user myself (1,000s of dives with Ikelite products) and dealer who can show people how to get the MOST out of their housings I listen to people's suggestions. A lot of perceived problems are solved through techniques I teach customers when they first get their gear. I'm not perfect and no product from any manufacturer is, so take the next comments with a grain of salt so to speak. You can agree or disagree, just my 2 cents.
But here's some answers to each of your suggestions from my own experience.
* Glass in front of ports (i.e. glass dome or glass flat port)
I have argued over on the high end UW photo web sites with technically minded folks that glass is heavy, and no one can show me how this improves image quality in the real world in huge prints or elsewhere. One person says that in over / under shooting glass sheds water droplets faster (or better?). Everyone I know shooting any brand optical plexi port simply uses Baby shampoo
Norbert Wu in his review of 3 brand for his Nikon D200 cameras over use of a year gave Ikelite's 8" dome port the best marks. Heck, he's using it in Antarctica!
* Modeling light attachment screw hole or ball joint on top of housing.
This IS something I have asked for. Especially now with Ikelite's LED lights in small sizes.
* Ports to screw into housings instead of two little plastic clips
I've also argued this one to no end. I have sold dozens to hundreds of dSLR housings. Plus used numerous models myself. The new port lock system has worked fine all over the world. Jumping in for dolphin snorkeling, cold and warm water diving, etc. Read the UW photo web site forums and you'll see people flooding thread-in ports, bayonet ports, etc. Maybe some day a change will come where Ikelite users can still use all their ports. But for now this simple design works when the user is shown how to mount it and make sure it's on.
One more thing on this......Ikelite housings are stainless steel and plastic. So "soaking" it versus turning controls and pumping buttons for 90 seconds to flush out salt water is a waste of time IMHO
Anyone leaving ANY housing in a rinse tank without holding it is crazy. I see 99% of flood of any brand housings in rinse tanks.
* Larger opening in housing for larger lenses (some lenses are phyically too wide to fit in)
The few larger diameter lenses are ridiculously expensive and the wide angle rectilinear zooms will NEVER be as sharp in the corners as any fisheye due to a dome port's apparent image being curved, etc. You're probably referring to the Nikon 14-24mm or one or two odd super macro lenses. Not the majority of lenses that top out at 72mm or 77mm. Do you know how expensive it is to buy a new mold? And how many people who are perfectly happy with the extensive port selections for camera brand and after market lenses already exist?
* Relocation of sync cord bulkhead away from the rear of housing
Would be nice, but most users would either not install the hot shoe all the way and then not test shoot their systems while high and dry to catch this gaff. I've seen people at 50' with no flash firing in all brand housings.....It's digital folks, YOu can take a dozen test shots before you jump in and delete them all after the dive or whole day.
Or they would yank the hot shoe cord out when pulling the housing back off
I've seen it done with other brand housings.
* flotation arms for strobes. Especially with DS200
Ikelite's DS160 is now the main model providing plenty of light with the ever reaching higher ISO performance in many dSLR models. The DS200 while a nice strobe is almost overkill.
*View finder extensions. user replaceable and offer magnifaction, 45 degree, 90 degree. Have something like a screw in system like the new modular ports.
Every time i see those "Pinnochio" eyepieces I cringe. Something just waiting to take a good smack and have a 1" fire hose of water shooting in your housing. A 45 degree EXTERNAL add on might be nice, but would you pay $600 - $1,000 for one? I wouldn't........I lay the camera in the sand and hover upside down and pull the trigger multiple times
* Lithium Ion batteries used in strobes
Not enough energy density yet to provide super quick recycle time to power output. Maybe someday....
*Upgrade of the DS200 like they did to the DS125/DS160
I don't promote the DS200 as the DS160 is the best power / weight / performance ratio IMHO.
*Flood alarm inside housing
It's clear.......I look immediately upon entering the water and then descend to get some pressure on the housing. My eyes are my leak detector
I don't want another battery powered gizmo plus wires, space taken up in the housing, etc.
*Aluminium body for housings
Weight, corrosion, higher cost, opaque so you can't see what control you're trying to change or God forbid water coming in somewhere? Etc. Etc. Etc. I'll keep using plastic housings but then I don't dive below about 140' these days.
*LED modeling light separate from strobes which turns off when firing and has a decent battery life
The DS160 LED modeling light DOES cut out during exposure. Although I've yet to see anyone using the previous model separate LED modeling lights were it overpowered their mega blitz strobe going off. One hour of burn time (like on a night dive) barely takes 1/3 of a fully charged battery pack on the DS125 and now DS160. I use mine as my main illumination for night dives!
Finally, these comments are mine exclusively and not meant to offend anyone. Just thought I would add my perspective
dhaas
David Haas Underwater Photography
