Anyone have experience with Meikon Aluminum housing for the RX100?

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Hi,

Have anyone had experience with the Meikon aluminum housing for the RX100 (or for any other camera)?

Meikon Top Quality Of Aluminium Waterproof Digital Camera Case For Rx100,Up To 100m - Buy Waterproof Digital Camera Case For Rx100,100m Waterproof Housing For Rx100,100 M Ultra Rugged Camera Housing For Rx100 Product on Alibaba.com

Meikon aluminium housing - Lloyd Clearihan Imagery

They seem to have implemented the dial (unlike the cheaper plastic one), and has dual o-ring, a pet peeve that I have with some of the more expensive ones. Before going on about chinese junk, don't forget, Nauticam is a chinese brand too. And Meikon makes housings for alot of different camera (and I'm not talking about using a generic plastic cube and drilling holes left and right for the buttons, circa 1950's Sea Hunt, and current day Ikelite).

Direct from china pricing seems to be in the $400-$500 range, but if one only feels safe buying $1000 housings, then one can buy it here for that:

Meikon Aluminium Alloy Underwater Case for Sony RX100 UW-Fotopartner.de - buy online

I've also posted this in the general underwater photography forum, but this post is to get information more specific for the RX100.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I waited long enough and since nobody really seem to be carrying this model, so got one of their plastic housing for the RX100. Lets see how it goes.

 

[gummybun]

Very interested in your thread. Please keep us informed of your experience.

Did you read the review in dpreview?

Meikon Underwater Housing for Sony DSC-RX100 Review: Digital Photography Review

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Very interested in your thread. Please keep us informed of your experience.

Did you read the review in dpreview?

Meikon Underwater Housing for Sony DSC-RX100 Review: Digital Photography Review

Yes I read that review a long time ago. After using the plastic housing in my recent trip, I found a few things that the reviewer did not encounter

- The 67mm thread is not plastic, but metal. It not having holes for water to flow in and out a bit frustrating since one has to take the wet lens off once in the water, then screw it back on once that space is filled with water. It is a bit hard to thread it back on, especially when handling a heavy dome lens. I actually dropped the lens and it fell down probably 15ft, luckily to a sandy bottom....time to put the lens leash which I stopped. Also, without the holes, it takes alot of back and forth threading/unthreading the lens in in order to squeeze out the excess water stuck between the lens.
- Without access to the rear dial, alot of features becomes inaccesible. The Function button becomes useless since one controls the selection option with the dial. Also, I shoot in Memory recall Manual, so it is not possible to jump to Shutter priority to adjust the shutter speed with the front dial given that as soon I change to Shutter priority, the camera reverts to all the strange presets I had the last time I was in that mode (white balance, ISO, etc). I will just have another of my Memory mode to be Shutter or Aperture priority so that I can kind of adjust the other with exposure compensation.
- The movie button is not foolproof. I think I was inside a dark wreck and there was a baitball of silverfish. Image thru display looked good while lit w/strobes' little focus light and I even took some pix while in Manual w/strobe. But as soon as I pressed the movie button, the screen was very dark, kind of indicating my video was going to be very underexposed. I realized afterward movie was being shot w/ISO from Manual mode (too low). I have to change to Movie mode and have it to default to Auto ISO and maybe fiddle around with WB. This kind of defeats having the quick access movie button.