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I'm a relatively new diver, also a photographer so I need to start taking photos underwater! I have a Canon g9 which i've heard is quite good underwater but just have a couple of questions:
1. What's the difference between the Patima and Ikelite housings?
2. I heard that you cannot get true wide angle with the g9, but have also seen a w/a adaptor for sale... any advice?
Out of the cameras I own, the g9 is the only option to take underwater. Someone else also suggested getting a sea&sea camera with housing but I don't see the point as I already have the g9.
Hi Tutifruiti
In answer to your questions:
1) The Patima Housing is much more compact than the Ikelite Housing. It also has quite a few nice features that make it an excellent choice of housing in my opinion. Including Optic Fibre strobe connection, access to the rotating dial (this allows the programmable custom button to be assigned to a pre-set feature, rather than to access the up-down-right-left button surrounding the rotating dial - when the dial is inaccessible).
2) The Patima Housing has a (optional - I think) wide angle port that allows the use of 67mm threaded w/a lenses (like the Inon UWL100), this is an excellent feature. It can be achieved with the Ikelite Housing with a special port also. So YES, you can use the G9 as a true wide angle camera. But its not possible with the standard Canon Housing, because the port is fixed in length, it causes vignetting (corner cropping) when a wide angle lens is added to the fornt of this housing.
I think you will find that the Patima housing is very difficult to find now that G9 has been discontinued. Best bet is a used housing from someone upgrading.
1. What's the difference between the Patima and Ikelite housings?
2. I heard that you cannot get true wide angle with the g9, but have also seen a w/a adaptor for sale... any advice?
I use the Patima housing, and with few exceptions, I am very happy with its features. The Patima housing is made of solid aluminum and has a much deeper depth rating than the Ikelite housing. The Patima housing will allow you to use 67mm threaded lenses, without any vignetting, and comes standard with interchangeable ports for close-up and wide angle shooting. It also has standard connections for electronically and optically fired strobes.
Unfortunately, as Diverrex indicated, it is discontinued and near impossible to find. Furthermore, I have never seen anyone offering one for sale second-hand.
Fortunately, Ikelite makes a pretty respecable housing for the G9. It also allow for the use of 67mm threaded lenses, but does not allow for the use of optically conneced strobes, without aftermarket assessories. My understanding is that it does cause a slight vignetting when attaching wide angle lenses, but that is easily corrected by zooming in just a bit.
With regard to wide angle shooting with the G9, you can absolutely achieve it. I use the Inon UWL-100 lens w/ the attached dome, and get approximately 130 Degrees of FOV with it. Here's a few examples of wide angle shots I've taken with my G9 and the Inon lens:
Hope that helps!
Adrian
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Currently piloting and shooting... Dive Rite Optima FX Rebreather - *Dsix Alum Plate, Dive Rite Nomad Wing and VR3 w/ VPM-b/e & 4th Cell. Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera - *Patima G9 Housing w/ Inon UWL-100 Wide Angle Lens & Semi-Fisheye Dome, 2 Inon UCL-165M67 Close-Up Lenses, 2 Inon Z-240 Strobes and a Big Blue Focus Light.
This member has said "Thank you." to SFLDiver3445 for this useful post:
I have the G9 in ikelite housing and bought the wide angle lens. You have to zoom out just precisely to get rid of the vingetting. It is very troublesome and if you happen to zoom too far than you get a "lens error" and have to restart the camera. Very frustrating.
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"Are we gonna talk or are we gonna dive?" Sten - Nautilus Explorer April 2008 "Did you get a picture?" Lisa Bailey - Undersea Hunter June/July 2008 "You need to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eyeore" - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (1960 - 2008) "If you didn't get a picture of that you need to seriously consider getting a new hobby" Elgin - ARGO August 2009
Patima or Ikelite for Canon G9?
Dive Rite Optima FX Rebreather - *Dsix Alum Plate, Dive Rite Nomad Wing and VR3 w/ VPM-b/e & 4th Cell.
Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera - *Patima G9 Housing w/ Inon UWL-100 Wide Angle Lens & Semi-Fisheye Dome, 2 Inon UCL-165M67 Close-Up Lenses, 2 Inon Z-240 Strobes and a Big Blue Focus Light.
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