Housing for Canon Digital EOS Rebel

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volyblmn

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Location
San Diego, CA
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I'm interested in starting some underwater photography. I already have an older version of the Canon Digital Rebel and wanted to know a couple things:

A) Is this a decent camera for underwater photography

B) Are there any inexpensive housings for the camera -- the reason I specify "inexpensive" is because I won't need anything rated for depths beyond 60ft or so. I'm on a slight budget so I won't be purchasing any outrageous flash setups, etc.

C) What flash (if any) do you recommend? I'll be diving primarily out of San Diego where visibility ranges from 20-100ft on good days and depending on where I dive.

D) I have the default 18-55mm lens and another 28-200mm lens -- will these work with the camera housings?

Any other information you have is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
You won't find a cheap housing for the digital rebel. Any SLR camera is going to have a expensive housing. When I looked into a housing, strobe, etc... it was running in the $1800 range. I just bought a Sea & Sea camera and it takes fine pictures for me. I'd look into something like that, unless you want to go very professional. As for the lenses, the housings offer "dome" ports which allow the use of different lenses.
 
I use a Canon SD 500 point and shoot with no strobe (yet). I think it takes great shots. Here are a few shots from my trip to Catalina in October. I got it off ebay for camera and housing for about $100 with the housing cause it is "obsolete". It is "only" 5.1 mega pixels, and I have blown up the pics past 8x10 and they look great.

<Edit to fix pics i'm too lame to attach correctly>
 
I use a Canon SD 500 point and shoot with no strobe (yet). I think it takes great shots. Here are a few shots from my trip to Catalina in October. I got it off ebay for camera and housing for about $100 with the housing cause it is "obsolete". It is "only" 5.1 mega pixels, and I have blown up the pics past 8x10 and they look great.

baldi.jpg


bug.jpg


fish1.jpg
 
Look at the Sea&Sea housings and the Ikelites. The Ikelites are usually the least expensive quality housing and they have a very good range of ports available.

This is not a cheap activity to get into, so expect to drop at least $2000 for housing, strobe and accessories to get you started.

I like the Inon strobes for their size, power and versatlity. Sea&Sea's new 110 looks like a nice unit. Ikelite strobes are wonderful and their 125 has the fastest recycle time out there; it's a little bigger and a little heavier so this may be a consideration. Don't skimp on strobes - photography is light.

The 18-55 will work to get you started, but you'll want to look into other glass to meet the needs of your vision - what do you like to shoot? Check out the Pink Link in my signature for a list of common lens ranges to get you started.

Welcome to the slippery slope :)
 
I shoot a Canon digital Rebel in a Sea & Sea housing with dual Sea & Sea YS-120 strobes. You can check out my website (www.debersole.com) for examples of photos you can get with that setup. I think it takes very nice photos. I started with the 18-55 mm lens that comes with the camera but then added a 10-22mm for wide angle and a 100mm for macro work.
 
Fantasea Line has a nice housing for the Rebel 350 for around $850 street price. Loads of features, ports and accessories available.

Jack
 
I bought an Ikelite housing for a minolta 7xi on e-bay for $35. My Rebel XT fits in it. Most Ikelite housings are designed around a similar body and many models fit in them. I just had to bend a few control rods to match up with the ones on my camera. Of course I don't have full operation of all the controls, but I like to shoot in manual anyways. I also bought a Zenitar full-frame fisheye lens with an EOS mount for $120. On my XT's 1.6 crop, it's the equivalent of around a 20mm on a 35mm. It's not really wide enough for me, but it's cheap for now.
 
as posted above, this is a very expensive hobby. I have a "modest" setup for my DSLR that I spent around $10K on. To house your SLR for less than 2-3K, you will need to search the used market on e-bay and other online classified.

Reccomend checking wetpixel.com or another of the many underwater photography forums around the web, you will sometimes get better gear at better prices than e-bay.

If you don't want to drop more than $1000, you should look at the many good compacts on the market. I bought my wife a new cannon powershot SD800 and housing for about $500. I suspect that she will often get comparable if not better pics than my $10K setup.

just my 2 psi,

Take care,
John
 

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