what housing should I get with an S100?

[Interceptor121]

The s100 is not a pricy camera and it will be foolish to spend a small fortune on a housing. In a year or two that pricy housing will not be worth much. In a market where camera manufactures update their offerings annually equipment does not hold value. The Canon housing is adequate and allows access to most functions. It costs a bit over $200 and my cannon housings have worked well. I generally shoot UW in M mode and RAW so that provides flexibility.

The question I would ask is what do you get for the extra $1000? If the answer is a $xxxx poorer well.....

Spend your money on a good flash. A good flash will run more than the camera. The good news is the flash will hold value and likely outlast the camera.

I shot my Avatar with a Cannon PnS in 2005. I purchased a DSLR housing shortly after but that's a different story.

The choice of the housing depends on the choice of lens. Without a doubt having a fisheye lens is a must to take great pictures so you need an housing that can have one.

If you look at the canon housing plus an Inon UWLH-100 28LD with dome you are talking about $1365 plus taxes
A recsea plus AD mount and Inon UFL165AD costs you $1460

So for $95 more you get an aluminum housing with access to all controls with a wider field of view and you don't need to buy or build a strobe mask as the housing comes with it bringing further savings, also you get a wider field of view

The only issue is cash flow as the entry point of the recsea combination is $799 whilst the canon starts at $399 but if you get all the way where you need to be, and no doubt a fisheye is where any photographer should want to be the difference is small to none and totally justified

 

[Foxfish]

Hi Foxfish, re your post # 11, I'm considering the Recsea. Would you please let me know what quirks? And if you are considering throwing it in the bin, is that an accurate measure of your frustration with it or were you just being flippant?

Thanks

Yes I was being a bit flippant. Actually I said I wasn't ready to throw it into the bin - yet. There have been some problems. You can read about them here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...lly-pulled-trigger-my-upgrade-canon-s100.html

I've had no experience with the Canon housing.

It is early days and as mentioned before I don't consider myself an expert. As time goes on I'll update the review. I did learn a lot while on holidays overseas recently which highlighted the importance of a good housing and ready access to camera controls.

---------- Post added ----------

One of my dive buddies pointed out that recsea does not have labels of the button where as the fisheye does - for her that was important as the camera was new to her.

The Recsea does have labels on top of the camera, but frankly I found the camera and housing layout so good I never need them after using the camera for a relatively short time. I found I was regularly forgetting the button layout and hitting the wrong button with the Olymnpus TG-810 I previously used.

---------- Post added ----------

Foxfish have you checked out Camera Paradise online, that's where I purchased my S100 and it cost just over $400 with a second battery. It arrived at my door in five days from Hong Kong and they give you a tracking number to track it.

Having a spare camera for your housing is always a good plan and I will be buying a spare in time as the camera is the cheap item.

cheers Knackas

I got an S100 for less than $350.

 

[Dive the World]

Thank you everyone for all your feedback - Really appreciate all your comments.

 

[NautilusCairns]

I decided to buy the Recsea/S95 combo about a year ago as I wanted a quality outfit that I would grow into. I then added an Inon UFL165 fisheye lens and a couple of Inon S2000 strobes. I may be a slow learner but I can see it will be at least a couple of more years before my skills are such that this setup does not meet my needs. Because of this I bought another S95 a couple of months back when the price dropped to $300 so I have a backup.

 

[supergaijin]

300 notes? Good price- it's still selling on Amazon around the $400 mark

 

[Interceptor121]

I also got an S95 for around $300 plus tax. Usually Canon announces new products in October, when that happens the previous model gets a price drop
So the S95 went down to $300 and now is up again because of supply demand, if Canon introduces an S105 then there will be a definite drop in the S95

 

[BluewaterPhoto]

Most of my customers who have the Canon or Ikelite S95 or S100 housing either want one of the aluminum housings, flooded their Canon housing (like our customers Dominique and Alison and a few others did this year), or have already put their housings up for sale and traded up for a Recsea or FIX with us. That said, there are some exceptions (like George / Warmwaterwank) who are quite happy with their Canon or Ikelite housing. So your mileage may vary. To be honest no housing out there is perfect.

Good luck with your choices!

Just for fun, here's one of my favorite S95 photos of a starfish, taken with my Recsea housing and Dyron +7 macro lens.

 

[TPGDarren]

I've been very happy with the RecSea housing. Pricey, yes, but definitely a quality piece of kit. Feels bulletproof and flood proof. I find I can just as easily manipulate the controls in or out of the housing.

I probably wouldn't trust a cheaper plastic housing to take down to 40m on a regular basis. That's pretty deep.

Just ordered the RecSea Housing too....so thanks for that

I sent the Ikelite Housing back as I was bitterly disppointed in its RAW clumsy operation.

 

[jsphoto]

I see these underwater housings on e-bay, they run half the price of a brand-name.

Example for a Canon S-100
Meikon Site
E-Bay listing $115 vs Canon Brand on E-bay $220

They look similar in photos/features, but only find a few posts on dpreview.com about them.

Anyone heard or seen these housings?
I realize they're not on-par with deeper rated housings, but for shallow dives might be an alternative to the canon brand?

 

[Interceptor121]

Looks like the usual chinese copy
I would not risk a flood just like that for diving use