SeaYoda
Contributor
I took the light-speed jump to the dark side of DSLR partially because Fantasea offered a very good deal on their housing. The housing came with a port and was less expensive than the other two offerings, Ikelite and Olympus, that came with no port. I had some shipping difficulty but finally got the housing along with a dome port and extension ring (these were necessary because the standard port was fine for the 14mm end of my lens but it would not let it extend beyond 38mm). The ports turned out not to work with my 14-54 lens so the housing went back after one dive. I got a new Ike housing with 6” dome that works perfectly with the lens. I’ve taken it on one dive so this comparison should be apples to apples.
Documentation:
Fantasea (FS) provided minimal help as far as manuals. Ikelite (Ike) provides better manuals for each part of the system.
Construction:
Both housings are sturdy. Both housings are big and heavy. The FS is a little more stylish.
The FS has a unique air lock system for closing the housing – I really like how that works. The FS has a deeper depth rating, a nice feature if you dive that deep.
The FS tray consists of three sections, when I got my first housing I noticed a weakness with this design. The housing was damaged in shipping and the two screws holding together the three parts of the tray were loose. This in turn allowed one of the handles to “wiggle” and the two small screws that attached the top of the handle to the housing were pulled. This partially stripped those holes in the housing causing the top of the handle to “wiggle” even when the bottom tray screws were tight. The Ike tray is one piece and the handles do not connect to the housing. I think this is a safer configuration in case of bumps and jars.
Loading the camera:
FS has the Ike beat for ease but I’m comparing apples to oranges in this section. I used a flat port on the FS and a dome port on the Ike. I can compare the camera mounting. FS has a nice plate that attaches to the bottom of the camera and the whole thing is a unit that slides into the housing. It has a notch cut out for the battery door so you don’t have to take it off (a nice feature). The plate on the Ike is attached to the door and has no cutout for the battery door. The FS design has a slight edge here because you don’t have a housing door stuck to the back of your camera and you can change batteries easier. As far as sliding the camera into place, the Ike goes past the buttons a little easier than the FS. The big difference between the two, as far as ease of loading, was that on the FS you slid the camera in and closed the door – you’re done. The Ike zoom gear and dome port have to be attached after the camera is in the housing. This takes a little more time, but it’s not very bothersome.
Ports:
The FS model is being updated to accept more of their ports. The standard flat port on my model did not accommodate the 14-54mm zoom lens. Jeff Mullins had a special flat port made for his 14-45mm lens on his prototype 10-Bar housing. This port was not available to me for the FS. The answer was thought to be similar to the Ike solution – a dome port. The dome was supposed to have a zoom gear according to the catalogue, but we soon found out that they did not manufacture a dome with a zoom gear that would fit my model. I can say that the bayonet mounting on the FS was nice and gave me a little more confidence than the Ike clips. The ports on the Ike are held on by two clips. These appear less stable than a threaded set-up but I’ve heard stories about some bad tumbles that this system has survived. The Ike dome is great with the 14-54mm lens. I even have a protective filter on the end of the lens and it will fully extend with no problems. The 14mm end does not vignette like it did in the standard FS flat port plus extension ring.
Buttons:
The FS has buttons that have multiple purposes. The Ike has dedicated buttons. I found the Ike to be much easier to use on the first dive.
The function of a couple of the buttons on the FS needs to be addressed in this section. Jeff Mullins has written a review of the 10-Bar housing that is supposed to be identical to the FS. He worked with me in trying to get the housing to satisfy my needs just as his does for him. Jeff has a prototype housing that 10-Bar modified according to his suggestions. FS did not include these modifications on the model I used from them. FS is coming out with a new model for the E-330. I hope they address the following concerns. The least intrusive issue with a button on the FS is the mode button. If you try to change more than one mode at a time, you engage the part of the button that turns the camera on and off. This was not a problem for me because I shoot in manual mode only. The next issue deals with a button on the E-330 that you press to switch between shutter speed selection and aperture selection. Previous models had this as a toggle feature but the E-330 has it as a press and hold arrangement. The FS housing button is located on top of the housing where the E-330 button is. One issue with this FS button is that it is spring loaded so it must be held down to make contact with the E-330 button (Ike has an “L” shaped rod that twists into place over the button and holds it down for you). Another issue is the dial knob on the FS that is used to change the shutter speed or aperture in conjunction with the aforementioned hold down button. The FS knob on the back of the housing is spring loaded too so you have push it in and hold it in order to turn the dial on the E-330 (Ike has no spring so it’s easier to accomplish this maneuver). The combination of the two buttons on the FS makes it impossible to change aperture and shutter speed with any efficiency. I had to cradle the housing in my left arm, push the button down on the top with my left hand and use my right hand to push in and twist the button on the back. With the Ike you turn the button on the top and twist the knob on the back and you’re done.
Accessories:
The arms from FS were a new lightweight style and I liked their design. The attachment to the handle is by sliding them onto a groove on top of the handle. The arm base has two thumb screws that tighten from opposite sides. The positioning of these screws made the arms pivot a little – it would have been nice to have a thumb screw from the top to lock the wobble down. The Ike attachment has a pin inside the top handle that you push to accept a specially designed shaft with a ball at the top. When you let go, it locks into place. This wobbles a little too but seems sturdier than the FS. I used two strobes on the FS but decided to replace one on the Ike with an attachment that will hold my dive light as a focus light. I tried it out and found that I need to make a diffuser because it gave me “hot spots”. The holder works great.
TTL:
FS has none. Ike has TTL for the Ike DS-51 I bought. I used it on the dive due to task overload with all this new stuff. I think it did a pretty fair job for being operated by a novice. The Ike offers strobe controls on the back of the housing – a great feature.
View finder:
FS has no magnifier and I found the use of the camera’s eyepiece difficult. The Ike has a nice magnifier that I tried on the dive. I still prefer the LCD but might use the eyepiece once in a while.
Ergonomics:
The Ike wins this round. I have small hands and can shoot the camera in the Ike one handed. I could not do that with the FS. They were both much bulkier underwater that my trusty C-5050 and PT-015. The two strobe FS set-up was heavier than the one strobe Ike set-up. They were both negatively buoyant.
Conclusions:
Overall, the FS does not have what I needed to use my 14-54mm lens. The housing is nice for the price but there are some drawbacks. Hopefully, the new model will address some of the issues I had with my model. It could be a great housing.
The Ike is the best choice right now, for a housing, if you use the 14-54mm lens. It has some great features and provided the best overall performance on the first dive out of these two products.
The cost of the Ike set-up is more even with only one set of arms and one port. So much for my trying to get off cheap!
Documentation:
Fantasea (FS) provided minimal help as far as manuals. Ikelite (Ike) provides better manuals for each part of the system.
Construction:
Both housings are sturdy. Both housings are big and heavy. The FS is a little more stylish.
The FS has a unique air lock system for closing the housing – I really like how that works. The FS has a deeper depth rating, a nice feature if you dive that deep.
The FS tray consists of three sections, when I got my first housing I noticed a weakness with this design. The housing was damaged in shipping and the two screws holding together the three parts of the tray were loose. This in turn allowed one of the handles to “wiggle” and the two small screws that attached the top of the handle to the housing were pulled. This partially stripped those holes in the housing causing the top of the handle to “wiggle” even when the bottom tray screws were tight. The Ike tray is one piece and the handles do not connect to the housing. I think this is a safer configuration in case of bumps and jars.
Loading the camera:
FS has the Ike beat for ease but I’m comparing apples to oranges in this section. I used a flat port on the FS and a dome port on the Ike. I can compare the camera mounting. FS has a nice plate that attaches to the bottom of the camera and the whole thing is a unit that slides into the housing. It has a notch cut out for the battery door so you don’t have to take it off (a nice feature). The plate on the Ike is attached to the door and has no cutout for the battery door. The FS design has a slight edge here because you don’t have a housing door stuck to the back of your camera and you can change batteries easier. As far as sliding the camera into place, the Ike goes past the buttons a little easier than the FS. The big difference between the two, as far as ease of loading, was that on the FS you slid the camera in and closed the door – you’re done. The Ike zoom gear and dome port have to be attached after the camera is in the housing. This takes a little more time, but it’s not very bothersome.
Ports:
The FS model is being updated to accept more of their ports. The standard flat port on my model did not accommodate the 14-54mm zoom lens. Jeff Mullins had a special flat port made for his 14-45mm lens on his prototype 10-Bar housing. This port was not available to me for the FS. The answer was thought to be similar to the Ike solution – a dome port. The dome was supposed to have a zoom gear according to the catalogue, but we soon found out that they did not manufacture a dome with a zoom gear that would fit my model. I can say that the bayonet mounting on the FS was nice and gave me a little more confidence than the Ike clips. The ports on the Ike are held on by two clips. These appear less stable than a threaded set-up but I’ve heard stories about some bad tumbles that this system has survived. The Ike dome is great with the 14-54mm lens. I even have a protective filter on the end of the lens and it will fully extend with no problems. The 14mm end does not vignette like it did in the standard FS flat port plus extension ring.
Buttons:
The FS has buttons that have multiple purposes. The Ike has dedicated buttons. I found the Ike to be much easier to use on the first dive.
The function of a couple of the buttons on the FS needs to be addressed in this section. Jeff Mullins has written a review of the 10-Bar housing that is supposed to be identical to the FS. He worked with me in trying to get the housing to satisfy my needs just as his does for him. Jeff has a prototype housing that 10-Bar modified according to his suggestions. FS did not include these modifications on the model I used from them. FS is coming out with a new model for the E-330. I hope they address the following concerns. The least intrusive issue with a button on the FS is the mode button. If you try to change more than one mode at a time, you engage the part of the button that turns the camera on and off. This was not a problem for me because I shoot in manual mode only. The next issue deals with a button on the E-330 that you press to switch between shutter speed selection and aperture selection. Previous models had this as a toggle feature but the E-330 has it as a press and hold arrangement. The FS housing button is located on top of the housing where the E-330 button is. One issue with this FS button is that it is spring loaded so it must be held down to make contact with the E-330 button (Ike has an “L” shaped rod that twists into place over the button and holds it down for you). Another issue is the dial knob on the FS that is used to change the shutter speed or aperture in conjunction with the aforementioned hold down button. The FS knob on the back of the housing is spring loaded too so you have push it in and hold it in order to turn the dial on the E-330 (Ike has no spring so it’s easier to accomplish this maneuver). The combination of the two buttons on the FS makes it impossible to change aperture and shutter speed with any efficiency. I had to cradle the housing in my left arm, push the button down on the top with my left hand and use my right hand to push in and twist the button on the back. With the Ike you turn the button on the top and twist the knob on the back and you’re done.
Accessories:
The arms from FS were a new lightweight style and I liked their design. The attachment to the handle is by sliding them onto a groove on top of the handle. The arm base has two thumb screws that tighten from opposite sides. The positioning of these screws made the arms pivot a little – it would have been nice to have a thumb screw from the top to lock the wobble down. The Ike attachment has a pin inside the top handle that you push to accept a specially designed shaft with a ball at the top. When you let go, it locks into place. This wobbles a little too but seems sturdier than the FS. I used two strobes on the FS but decided to replace one on the Ike with an attachment that will hold my dive light as a focus light. I tried it out and found that I need to make a diffuser because it gave me “hot spots”. The holder works great.
TTL:
FS has none. Ike has TTL for the Ike DS-51 I bought. I used it on the dive due to task overload with all this new stuff. I think it did a pretty fair job for being operated by a novice. The Ike offers strobe controls on the back of the housing – a great feature.
View finder:
FS has no magnifier and I found the use of the camera’s eyepiece difficult. The Ike has a nice magnifier that I tried on the dive. I still prefer the LCD but might use the eyepiece once in a while.
Ergonomics:
The Ike wins this round. I have small hands and can shoot the camera in the Ike one handed. I could not do that with the FS. They were both much bulkier underwater that my trusty C-5050 and PT-015. The two strobe FS set-up was heavier than the one strobe Ike set-up. They were both negatively buoyant.
Conclusions:
Overall, the FS does not have what I needed to use my 14-54mm lens. The housing is nice for the price but there are some drawbacks. Hopefully, the new model will address some of the issues I had with my model. It could be a great housing.
The Ike is the best choice right now, for a housing, if you use the 14-54mm lens. It has some great features and provided the best overall performance on the first dive out of these two products.
The cost of the Ike set-up is more even with only one set of arms and one port. So much for my trying to get off cheap!
