Canon G10 Waterproof Housings

[SFLDiver3445]

i just got my g-10 and i recommend the ikelite housing. imo you get what you pay for they are pricy but well worth it.

BVickery, Ikelite definitely makes a nice housing, but for the G10, the Ikelite's design does limit the availability of true wide angle setup options. Some folks are comfortable with the degree of wide angle coverage Ikelite's G10 setup options offer, but others may be dissappointed with its limitations.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

what about the Fisheye housing. Expensive but worth it.

I went this route, and have so far been very happy with the choice (but I may have more expendable income than some of y'all). After buying the housing, wide-angle port, and attachable macro lens, I've got almost $2K invested just in housing and lenses ... so I decided to purchase a second G10 as well, since a year from now they probably won't be selling this model anymore.

I have two minor issues with the Fisheye housing ...

1. The screw-in attachment for the fiber optic cables is offset from where the camera flash is. This caused intermittent strobe failures. I've since built my own attachment for the fiber optic cables, and haven't had a problem with strobe failures since.

2. The buttons are small. This isn't a problem for warm water divers ... or even those who wear wet gloves. But for dry glove users, it does make managing adjustments a bit of a challenge (doable, but a PITA at times). As with most things, a little bit of practice and some foresight reduces the issue to manageable levels.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[CFordtran]

In regards to the Raw option... (I don't have the camera handy, I am out of town) but I did drag up the manual and yes, manual showed me how to get to the screen, but low and behold, NO raw option!? My camera must be older model or something?

 

[saholz]

In regards to the Raw option... (I don't have the camera handy, I am out of town) but I did drag up the manual and yes, manual showed me how to get to the screen, but low and behold, NO raw option!? My camera must be older model or something?

All G10's will shoot RAW and RAW with JPEG, as well as several varieties of straight JPEGS.

 

[under water]

In regards to the Raw option... (I don't have the camera handy, I am out of town) but I did drag up the manual and yes, manual showed me how to get to the screen, but low and behold, NO raw option!? My camera must be older model or something?

You asked this same question last week and got an answer then as well.
I would wait until you have your camera in hand and then follow the directions given to you (here and in the manual) and if you do not see a RAW option, you have a broken camera. Remember there is no RAW in the Auto mode.

 

[peterbj7]

Canon's menus are rather confusing when it comes to setting RAW on the G10. Took me a while to find it. You have to go to two completely different places.

On the G10 housing. I don't agree about it being flimsy. It's easily as well made as an Ikelite housing I have (for another camera). But it is deeply flawed by design and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

 

[FrankPro1]

On the G10 housing. I don't agree about it being flimsy. It's easily as well made as an Ikelite housing I have (for another camera). But it is deeply flawed by design and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I have an older Olympus housing for my D-530, a Canon housing for the Powershot A70 and the Ikelite housing for the G10. When comparing the Canon housing to the rest, it falls very short in build quality and craftsmanship. The Canon's case is very thin and has all plastic buttons "Flimsy is a correct term". The Olympus has a thicker case and more use of metal throughout. The Ikelite is by far the most well built case I have. Its casing is extremely thick, buttons and latches are all metal and very sturdy. The only nit pick I have about the Ikelite, is that I would have liked it to have a double seal. When comparing the overall build of the Canon to the Olympus, its a pretty big difference in quality. But when comparing the Ikelite to the Canon... well there is no comparison. Night and day. Its like comparing a Soviet built Lada Samara T3 to a Mercedes E280.

Why do you feel the Canon's housing is deeply flawed? It for sure doesn't live up to the rest of the housing options, but deeply flawed it is not. I was even considering getting one for my free-dive sessions, where my bulky double handle/ housing/ strobes would be too much.

 

[peterbj7]

Flawed for the reason I gave. Had I known that it could not be used with the internal flash I would have bought neither camera nor housing.

And as someone else has pointed out, there is no obvious way to fire a remote flash.

On Ikelite housings, I have one for a video camera. At the curves there are sub-surface fine cracks, stress cracks. So far they have not opened up to cause a leak, but I owned another Ikelite housing some years ago which did just that. Other than manufacturer's own housings for compact cameras (of which I have four different ones) I now stick with metal housings.

 

[FrankPro1]

Flawed for the reason I gave. Had I known that it could not be used with the internal flash I would have bought neither camera nor housing.

And as someone else has pointed out, there is no obvious way to fire a remote flash.

On Ikelite housings, I have one for a video camera. At the curves there are sub-surface fine cracks, stress cracks. So far they have not opened up to cause a leak, but I owned another Ikelite housing some years ago which did just that. Other than manufacturer's own housings for compact cameras (of which I have four different ones) I now stick with metal housings.

Ah... for the reason you gave in the other post.. I see...

Well you can use the internal flash, quite effectively if you use the methods stated by others and myself in the other post. Don't give up on the G10 right away. When I first upgraded to it, I wasn't incredibly impressed either, though I did already know about the lens shadow problem. Every camera has its strong points and its weaknesses. The G10's flaw is its limited wide angle options and the internal flash issues. But it has the capability for shooting brilliant macro and very fast RAW processing. After a few trial and error dives, I'm sure you'll fall in love with it.

Metal housings are by far the most durable, but of course they come at a high price. If you fear your Ike housing will eventually give up and flood, you might consider sending it in for inspection/ replacement. If its determined the cracks are a design flaw v.s normal wear/tear they will replace it for free. Even if its your fault, they can migrate your existing buttons/lens/latches to a new acrylic for a nominal fee. How many housing manufacturers will do that?

If you can't possibly get your desired result using the internal flash techniques in the other post, you might think about selling the G10 and moving on to something else. The new DX-2G or even the older DX-1G has no lens shadow "that I know of" when using the internal flash and its quality of shots is very comparable to the G10.

Also are you making sure to use the diffuser attachment? I know it helped quite a lot when using the internal strobe on my Ike and I've heard it does wonders with the Canon's.