Changes to Ikelite DSLR Port System

Please take a moment to read this important announcement:
Design Changes to Ikelite DSLR Port System

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

I think its great that Ikelite made improvements to there port locking system.

However, what happened to reverse compatible and upgradable older housings?

You guys just did the bare minimum, added 2 more of the same type of latches. Honestly I was hoping for some type of thread or bayonet lock system. It would be super easy to design and mfgr. Its just 3 piece of plastic. One main ring, that would screw to the housing using existing holes. Then two piece that would clamp on the barrel of the port with external threads or bayonet pegs on it. This would even index the hood.

You guys make good products, have great customer support, and good price points. But I'm left feeling a little down

Sorry :depressed:

fppf,

As a former Amherst resident I am surprised at your response to Ikelite's port improvement.

I think the existing system when closed properly was fine after 40 years of diving and thousands of dives including customers who were shown how to ensure the port was locked on.

Changing a mold isn't some small $$$ undertaking. Plus there IS an offer for a very low cost upgrade to existing housings!!!

People have demanded quicker changes than screwing ports on and Ikelite's design has worked for 35+ years. So this new design satisfies 99% of users.....

I have NEVER had a customer (nor myself) flood a housing through the port as long as they follow a few basic tips.

The biggest one is NEVER, I repeat NEVER leave your housing unattended in a rinse tank under 1' of water pressure unattended where it can be bumped jostled or damaged!

I've seen $10K housings flood in rinse tanks and so I hate them with a passion.....

Stick your housing in, holding it and pumping the buttons and controls for maybe 60 seconds. Any more is simply BS........

Some will disagree but then I only have 40 years of diving and UW photo gear experience, owned a dive shop and used every brand housing out there.

Sorry for the rant but I had to post this as a real world user of Ikelite's fine products for 30 years.....

dhaas

David Haas Underwater Photography

I will have to contact them to see if its even possible to upgrade my housing. Its an older model with the aluminum back, so I highly doubt it.

Reverse compatible in my mind is, here is a kit, you bolt it on. Not, send in your housing and we replace half of it. Just this week I was putting my housing together, wiggling my port back and forth saying to my self, geez this makes me nervous.

I'm an aerospace engineer. I live my whole life in the 1%. I'm in mfgr and test, I know how much mfgring costs. I also know that a design can be made to change the port just as easy and not half to think twice about leaving the housing anywhere. This is not rocket science, trust me, I know rocket science.

All I'm saying, if your going to spend the time making a change. Make something thats worth while. Do something thats on par with some of your competitors. Even if it raised the price of the housing $100 or so, I'm ok with that. Ike still has the best price point on the market.

And don't get me wrong, I think Ike is one of the best companies out there. They make good products and stand behind them. I'm most likely going to buy another Ike housing because other housing in my mind are way over priced.

dhaas:

fppf,

As a former Amherst resident I am surprised at your response to Ikelite's port improvement.

I think the existing system when closed properly was fine after 40 years of diving and thousands of dives including customers who were shown how to ensure the port was locked on.

Changing a mold isn't some small $$$ undertaking. Plus there IS an offer for a very low cost upgrade to existing housings!!!

People have demanded quicker changes than screwing ports on and Ikelite's design has worked for 35+ years. So this new design satisfies 99% of users.....

I have NEVER had a customer (nor myself) flood a housing through the port as long as they follow a few basic tips.

The biggest one is NEVER, I repeat NEVER leave your housing unattended in a rinse tank under 1' of water pressure unattended where it can be bumped jostled or damaged!

I've seen $10K housings flood in rinse tanks and so I hate them with a passion.....

Stick your housing in, holding it and pumping the buttons and controls for maybe 60 seconds. Any more is simply BS........

Some will disagree but then I only have 40 years of diving and UW photo gear experience, owned a dive shop and used every brand housing out there.

Sorry for the rant but I had to post this as a real world user of Ikelite's fine products for 30 years.....

dhaas

David Haas Underwater Photography

Click to expand...

Well, I only have 34 years of underwater photography experience, but I strongly disagree that the port mount system was not in need of fixing! I have had my fair share of "bad days". I have lost 2 SLR's due to port leaks at the port body/housing junction in shallow water (and yes, one was when the divemaster put my rig in a rinse tank as I was getting out of the water - I always ask them not to as I get out of the water, but on a busy dive deck the divemasters sometimes just automaticaly plop them in there - I absolutely share your hatred of the dreaded rise tank). I also wish that Ikelite had come up with a bayonet or screw in port solution, but I am glad that they at least beefed up the # of locks. I guess if they changed to a screw in mount , they feel that it would make all the port bodies obsolete. I would be glad to upgrade my port bodies as well, if they do come up with a screw / bayonet system. Although I wish the port lock isssue was addressed sooner and in a different fashion, I agree that Ikelite makes fine products, and has great customer service.

I can see both points of view.

I understand the desire to get the addition of a screw in locking mechanism. I also understand that some aren't fazed by adding $100 to the housing cost. I would certainly pay another $100 for a simple screw in lock, but I think that the two of us are defintely in the strong minority. There will be a lot of squawking about $150 to upgrade existing housings, wait and see. I think it is a fair price for the upgrade.

The current design is a good one and it works well the vast majority of the time. I also agree that you need to understand the limits of the current port lock design. It works just fine if you are carefully handing the housing in and out of the boat. If you have an eight inch port on the housing and you get in surgy conditions, you can bump the port with disastrous results. The new design looks to be a great fix for that issue.

Don't get me started on rinse tanks. I disgree with ever putting a housing in a rinse tank, unless your arm is attached to it. I voiced that earlier here and got blasted for that opinion. Well, I still feel that way.

I don't have forty years experience with Ikelite, but I currently have four Ikelite housings that we use fairly often and with good results thus far. Needless to say, I like Ikelite products and I think Ikelite has about the best customer service that I have ever experienced.

So, yes, I will send my housings in for retrofit service.

Is it the perfect solution? No.

Is it a huge improvement? Absolutely!!!

In my opinion, there aren't many companies that would go to the trouble of a redesign that would be a retrofit, within limitations, and offer that to existing customers.

Once again Kudos to Ikelite for a job well done!!

I am pretty happy with the existing two latch lock system. Despite some heavy abuse, I have never flooded a housing through the port. However, with time, I have really wished more and more for some extra security, especially when jumping in with the housing or being in rough surface conditions. And now here it is. The price for the upgrade seem very reasonable to me, so I will get my housing posted as soon as possible.

/Bent C

Its good to see that actually Ikelite has listen to some of its customers over the passed year or so. More so has done something regarding the issues that these customers had.

I, for one had issues with the port system and also the sync cord setup. I could see from a common sense approach that it need to be addressed and not rely on the years of experience of others using the product.

I issues with the port system and seen it fail personally on my own gear and on others. Talk to many other Ikelite users who have had the same issues and I am glad to see the 4 clip system be available for new and for older setups. Personally I would have preferred to have seen the screw in type setup which Ikelite uses for their new modular port setups. I believe this would be the best system for new housing in production.

I am glad that Ikelite was bold enough to have their own section on a forum such as we have here. It shows the amount of different people from all over the world that use Ikelite products and sometimes the issues and recommendations that we have for Ikelite to make their products better.
It also shows that people do have issues with its products and shows how the company responsed to these issues. It has restored my faith in Ikelite being a modern proactive company and not relying on the rants of others which can not see common sense fixes.

Well done Jean.

Regards Mark

The moniker "Wet Lens" came from an incident with a leaking front port on an Ike housing. At that time, it was a Canon F1 and a 20mm lens (photo attached). That was a few years ago (1981). Truth be told, I was seasick as all getout - slapped the housing together and missed a pinched port o-ring. The two clips worked fine.

I did have an incident with a new D90 housing this summer. I was taking the camera and housing in for the first time and was in knee deep water when I bumped the port (new modular port). Apparently, I had not achieved a full "click" on one of the port retainers and the port came loose - the camera was literally inches from the water. Dodged a bullet there and now insure I hear those audible clicks before proceeding.

The extra clips will be welcome added insurance and I'll likely be sending the D90 housing in after the first of the year. As others have said, I appreciate Ike's commitment to customers. Thanks.

BTW, Dave - think you've seen this photo before as I seem to remember you forwarding it to me a couple of years back... I believe it is Masler's photo. Anyway, you do know of someone that has had a problem with Ike's front port system...

Well, as I suspected my housing is too old to upgrade

I did knock off my port once as well. However it was carrying the camera in the parking lot to the boat.