Ikelight or Olympus Housing?

[Kengar]

Greetings, folks.

I've never been anything but a point-and-shoot land photographer, with no UW photography experience at all. (I've been diving since '88.) Nevertheless, wishing to pick up a new hobby, I just bought an Olympus C8080 and am looking to get a housing for UW photography, too.

I like the design of the Olumpus housing that is made for the camera, but the Ikelight housing is rated for 200 feet whereas the Oly housing is "only" rated to 130. A friend of mine who was working as a photo pro in Grand Cayman until the hurricane suggested that the Olympus housings tend to be better quality than the Ikelight housings. (He also suggested that problems with the Ikelight strobes are not uncommon.)

Any comments? Suggestions? Advice?

Thanks

 

[lukeROB]

Greetings, folks.

I've never been anything but a point-and-shoot land photographer, with no UW photography experience at all. (I've been diving since '88.) Nevertheless, wishing to pick up a new hobby, I just bought an Olympus C8080 and am looking to get a housing for UW photography, too.

I like the design of the Olumpus housing that is made for the camera, but the Ikelight housing is rated for 200 feet whereas the Oly housing is "only" rated to 130. A friend of mine who was working as a photo pro in Grand Cayman until the hurricane suggested that the Olympus housings tend to be better quality than the Ikelight housings. (He also suggested that problems with the Ikelight strobes are not uncommon.)

Any comments? Suggestions? Advice?

Thanks

I would say the opposite. Ikelite are superior to the olympus housings and ike is know for his great service. The ike housing is more expensive but worth the extra money. So if you can afford it go for the ikelite. If you are really pushing the budget then the oly housing is fine.

 

[Kengar]

I would say the opposite. Ikelite are superior to the olympus housings and ike is know for his great service. The ike housing is more expensive but worth the extra money. So if you can afford it go for the ikelite. If you are really pushing the budget then the oly housing is fine.

Well, my friend Dave was first stop on the road of research. I'm also starting to wonder whether I should have gone with the 5060 instead of the 8080, given some of the info I'm seeing on this and wetpix board.

Thanks for the reply. (At first I thought to myself "Hey, wow, another night owl" -- I'm surfing the net at 4 a.m. here in D.C. -- but then see you're Down Under.

Ken.

 

[Chris Bangs]

I used Ike housings for years still have two SLR setups and y wife has the original OLY 3040 housing. The Ike housing has been fallen 3 ft onto a boat deck and been down below 300 ft. still kicking!

Ike housings are much more durable that the consumer based OLY ones. I was on a dive a while back when an oly housing failed at about 170 ft ( imploded )

 

[Sepia]

Hi there,

My advice is to go Ikelite. I have been through 2 Olympus housings (PT-010 for Olympus C4000Z) and would not go with them again. I chose Olympus because I was on a budget - but it has just ended up costing more.

I also use the Ikelite DS-125 substrobe, which I have found to be excellent. However, I will look at replacing the ball and socket arms in the future as they are quite awkward underwater (or maybe I'm just uncoordinated!).

In my experience Ikelites customer service beats Olympus hands down - which is worth the little bit extra to save you from frustration if a problem does come up.

Good luck!!!!

Emily

 

[Kengar]

Thanks, all. My decision has been made much easier after finding this and the WetPixel boards. More newbie questions to come.

 

[Chris Bangs]

hi

It's all about optics! you need a dome port to get true wide angle. the oly housings do not offer such an option. Ikes do, but this comes at a price!

here is a link to a housing review Ike vs Oly

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

well I have olympus C 5050 with the PT 015 houseing , while i havent had any trouble with mine others have , I too went with olympus because of cost.
I will say olympus custermer support isnt that great to me .
my next stepp will be to move to Ikelite houseing but been wondering how much work would have to be done to switch from my IRON 180 strobe.

 

[Chris Bangs]

Hi there,.

I will look at replacing the ball and socket arms in the future as they are quite awkward underwater (or maybe I'm just uncoordinated!).


Ikes arm systems tend to be more difficult to work with, but I still keep mine for use in Palau and other locations where strong currents are probable. the larger ball and big clamps provide the greatest holding power.

otherwise I use TLC or ultralite arms as they are much easier to adjust

 

[fins]

-- posted in error --