PatW
Contributor
Underwater photography is not cheap.
I have used the Ikelite housing. It is a nice affordable housing. I have also used and currently use a Nauticam housing. The Nauticam housing is made out of aluminum and is designed for each and every camera which makes it expensive. Not that many housings are sold so all of the machining and development costs have to be put to a limited number of housings. The difference between the Ikelite and the Nauticam housing is that the Ikelite functions. The Nauticam housing has much better placement of the controls and the controls give you very precise control of the camera. It is a really big difference. Another advantage of the Nauticam housing is that you can have a vacuum lock system on it. A big problem in underwater photography is that sometimes you do not get a good seal when you close your housing. Water gets into the housing and there goes your camera. THAT IS NOT FUN. I got a vacuum seal system on my latest housing. I use the pump to get the seal (when the light goes from blue to green I am good to go. If it loses the seal, it goes from yellow (caution) to red (bad news)). When I have gotten a seal, I have never ever lost one. These things make floods go from being a fact of life to just not happening.
Another thing, you want to be able to shoot RAW. In RAW format, you do not have to worry about constantly shifting white balance while taking a photo, focusing, lining up your shot, keeping an eye out for the other divers, trying not to collide with the reef, checking your depth, air, and deco.... you get the idea. It is easy to get task loaded and white balance is something that you can handle in post processing.
A second thing, is you want to be able to shoot in manual mode with strobes. And with strobes, it is best to have 2. That way you have much more even light on your subject.
I would advise you to look at the web sites of Reef Photo and Video, Backscatter or Bluewater Photo. They have sample systems that one can buy. They have used housings. They have articles. If you can, go to one of these shops in person. You can handle the gear. You can get expert advice. I live in Florida so I do 90% of my work with Reef Photo.
By the way, something that really helps underwater photography is having very good buoyancy skills. A few inches one way or another can make a big difference.
Also as mentioned above, if you can, do some practice runs of photographing stuff underwater locally ... a pool, a pond anything so you get familiar with your system in real life.
Good luck to you.
I have used the Ikelite housing. It is a nice affordable housing. I have also used and currently use a Nauticam housing. The Nauticam housing is made out of aluminum and is designed for each and every camera which makes it expensive. Not that many housings are sold so all of the machining and development costs have to be put to a limited number of housings. The difference between the Ikelite and the Nauticam housing is that the Ikelite functions. The Nauticam housing has much better placement of the controls and the controls give you very precise control of the camera. It is a really big difference. Another advantage of the Nauticam housing is that you can have a vacuum lock system on it. A big problem in underwater photography is that sometimes you do not get a good seal when you close your housing. Water gets into the housing and there goes your camera. THAT IS NOT FUN. I got a vacuum seal system on my latest housing. I use the pump to get the seal (when the light goes from blue to green I am good to go. If it loses the seal, it goes from yellow (caution) to red (bad news)). When I have gotten a seal, I have never ever lost one. These things make floods go from being a fact of life to just not happening.
Another thing, you want to be able to shoot RAW. In RAW format, you do not have to worry about constantly shifting white balance while taking a photo, focusing, lining up your shot, keeping an eye out for the other divers, trying not to collide with the reef, checking your depth, air, and deco.... you get the idea. It is easy to get task loaded and white balance is something that you can handle in post processing.
A second thing, is you want to be able to shoot in manual mode with strobes. And with strobes, it is best to have 2. That way you have much more even light on your subject.
I would advise you to look at the web sites of Reef Photo and Video, Backscatter or Bluewater Photo. They have sample systems that one can buy. They have used housings. They have articles. If you can, go to one of these shops in person. You can handle the gear. You can get expert advice. I live in Florida so I do 90% of my work with Reef Photo.
By the way, something that really helps underwater photography is having very good buoyancy skills. A few inches one way or another can make a big difference.
Also as mentioned above, if you can, do some practice runs of photographing stuff underwater locally ... a pool, a pond anything so you get familiar with your system in real life.
Good luck to you.