Canon T2i + Housing

[furby076]

Hello All,

I am looking at getting the Canon T2i and necessary equipment and could use some help.

What I need:
1) Housing
2) Strobe (most likely just 1, but if it can fit in my budget 2) - It was suggested I go with the Sea and Sea YS 110 - but I am open
3) Wide angle dome for a wide angle lens.

I plan on shooting little critters/fish, but also shipwrecks.

Casings that I am looking at (but again open)
1) Ikelite
2) Aquatica
3) Nimar
4) Nauticam

I could use some help. I like the aquatica line because of it's sturdy construction (a concern for me) - but I got a price quote and just getting a basic setup it came to $4,000...basic meaning all that is needed to get going without any special wide angle lens domes. The retailer also suggested Nimar as a superior alternative to ikelite and it is much more reasonable in price.

So suggestions/help would be great. I am trying to figure out all of the items I need to get to start out. At first I thought it was just the camera, housing, and strobe (with TTL cable) but when I got the spec sheet for the aquatica it came out to a shopping list of items - so now I am really confused.

I would like to keep my price at $4000 all in, with camera. The camera (with 18-55 lens) is about $850 so that gives me about $3,100 to play with.
Thanks in advance

 

[Onewolf]

Where are you located? I would recommend talking to Backscatter or Reef Photo.

Given your budget, it would appear that Aquatica and Nauticam are definitely out. I've never heard of Nimar before. I'm not a big fan of Ikelite housings, but many people love them. It looks like for the very basic Ikelite system for T2i + 18-55 lens it would be $1400 (housing) + $200 (small dome port for 18-55) + $1000 (DS-160 strobe/arm/ttl) = $2600. This would get you going and eventually you could add a true wide-angle/fisheye lens and dome port, second strobe, and macro lens/port.

I recently ordered a Nautica housing system for my T2i with the Zen 100mm dome port for Tokina 10-17 fisheye and a dedicated macro flat port for the Canon EF-S 60mm macro. I will reuse my existing dual S&S YS-110A strobes and ULCS arms. However the total cost of this system with camera, lenses, housing, ports, arms, strobes, viewfinder, etc is in the $8000-$9000 range. :Yikes:

If you plan on shooting 'little critters' then you will probably want a macro lens like the Canon EF-S 60mm at some point. Or you could opt for the fairly popular Sigma 17-70 lens with a flat port which does 'sort of' wide angle and 'sort of' macro.

 

[furby076]

I am located in the Philly area.

Wow...$9000 - yea Nautica/Aquatica are totally ou for me at that price range.

I figured with a ~$2,500 nautica, $1000 strobe, and any accessories (dome port) shouldn't come to more then $3000-$4000..that's not possible?

It looks like Ikelite is the way to go. So out of the box buying an Ikelite (or any housing) won't work without the extra dome?

What do you mean with regards to the sigma sorta doing wide angle and sort of doing macro?

 

[Larry C]

Ports, Lenses, Sync Cords, Strobe arms, etc. will eat you alive. If you're looking at budget, Ikelite is the way to go because their ports and stuff are pretty reasonable. Zoom lenses like the 17-70 Sigma macro zoom give you the option of shooting large or small on the same dive, but they won't give you the ability to shoot tiny shots of a true macro or the close focus wide angle capability of a WA or fisheye in a dome. Also, expect to need a port and extension for each lens you plan to use. If you can double up you can save some money. Take a long look at the lenses you want and the port chart for whichever housing you end up with. If you're trying to live on a budget, you might start with the gear you expect to use most, then expand into other lenses and ports as you can afford them. I bought my Sea & Sea housing used, at a savings of $1400, got a used dome at a savings of $250 and I'm still into the housing, ports, arms, extensions, cords and ttl converter for $4K, and that doesn't include the strobes, which I already owned, the camera or the thousand dollars or so for the two primary lenses (60mm micro and Tokina 10-17), plus the various lenses I use topside.

 

[anferney]

Casings that I am looking at (but again open)
1) Ikelite
2) Aquatica
3) Nimar
4) Nauticam

Sea & Sea does a nice housing that's less than 1500USD (Sea & Sea Underwater Housing for the Canon 550/T2i)

 

[furby076]

THanks for all of the great advice. I guess what I am looking for is a "this is what you need to start off"...I know a nebulous question. After getting the quote for the aquatica and the amount of accessories this endeavor became really daunting.

I would start out with the default lens, 18-55, and then go from there in the future...wide angle being the next purchase.

Do these housings (e.g. ikelite and sea & sea) come ready to use? Just add camera and strobe (plus cable) and bam jump in the water? As in does it come with a default dome for the lens?

 

[JackConnick]

I think that between the S&S and Ikelite, it's no contest, the S&S is a much nicer housing with access to an incredible array of high quality ports and gears at a cost of only about $2-300 over the Ike, maybe less.
We just received one RDX 500 (and sold it) and it's very nice, quite small and light like the rest of their housings. Fits 450, 500 & 550D Rebels as well.
The housing comes with a standard RDX port for $1699.95. You will need to add a gear for about !80 for the 18-55. This port also fits the 60 macro.
I have a complete set up with a YS-110a strobe, focus light, arms, tray, etc. for $2939. We can substitute the YS-01 for $200 less.
A huge step up in quality, performance and ease-of-use is the Nauticam, I just quoted a basic system for around $4-$4500. But is much smaller has piano key controls that are very easy to reach and is an aluminum housing.

S&S System (yes this is a D60, but it looks about the same)

Nauticam:

Jack

 

[furby076]

So I got this offer...and wanted your thoughts:
Aquatica for T2i
Maintenance kit
moisture alarm
6" dome for aquatica bayonet style housing
6" dome made for fisheye lenses for aquatica
neoprene dome cover
EXTENSION RING; 16.5 mm / .65” (overall 29 mm / 1.15&#8221
14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor & 24-70mm F/2.8 ED AF-S Nikkor (zoom gear)
EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 EFS (zoom gear)
Dovetail base bracket: ¼” X 20 (1” ctr.) for mounting arms on housing handle
3 section arm: 4’’ lower, 8’’ middle, 8’’ upper for Sea & Sea strobes
FIBER OPTIC CABLE L-TYPE - UNIVERSAL
YS-110α Strobe headlight only

for $3740.

 

[anferney]

Hi Jack,

Is the Nauticam really that much smaller than the Sea & Sea? It's difficult to tell from the photos - to be honest they seem the same size to me?

 

[fuggler]

I was the one who bought Jack's sea & sea housing for the T1I/T2I. For now, I'm going to use it with the Tokina 10-17mm but I plan on getting a macro lens next year. Total cost, excluding tray and arms:

housing: 1420
port base S: 140
compact dome port CX: 370
zoom gear: 195
total damage: 2125