Who dives with their 5D Mk II?

[c0r3yz]

I see the weapon of choice in this forum seems to be the S95, but what about you 5D Mk II owners? Do you take it diving with you? What kind of setup do you have? How do you like it?

 

[SouthFla]

Just starting to actually. My setup is a 5dII in an Ikelite housing using a 17-40mm f/4 lens and 8" dome, with two Nikonos SB102 strobes on dual 6"x9" arms.

I'm coming from a considerably more compact Nikonos setup, so this big bulky thing is a bit unwieldy and I'm still getting used to operating all buttons. I've done two pool tests, and I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm not going to be 100% happy with corner sharpness below f13

Looking forward to my first ocean dive this Friday! I'll be hitting a shallow wreck in 15' water solo so I'll have time to really spend learning the system, playing with settings, etc. I also plan to shoot some videos, which was one of the reasons I ended up housing the 5dII.

What is your setup, and do you have any pics to share??

 

[danvolker]

I see the weapon of choice in this forum seems to be the S95, but what about you 5D Mk II owners? Do you take it diving with you? What kind of setup do you have? How do you like it?

I use the canon 5d mark II in the Aquatica housing, with the 16 to 35 mm lens, and the big dome port.
I love the camera, and my main use is the 1080p video. I use two cave video lights, with a cannister battery.

Some examples:

• best-of-palmbeach1a - YouTube coral reef shots....color and definition..me trying to get close to subject ( less than natural for me as a new u/w videographer)
• Wreck shots with Goliath groupers....fast swimming, and with penetration into wreck--light levels cvopnstantly changing. Trip to Palm Beach to dive with Goliath Groupers! - YouTube
• Bottlenose dolphin video....unique because bottlenose swim at over 5mph--my camera was mounted on a gavin scooter, and I was swimming at full speed. There is a spot on the upper right in the video when I point up toward the surface...this was a scratch I was not aware of, as you usually shoot down....the dolphin video is not utilizing many of the normal ideas for shooting video--the dolphns don't really cooperate with this Dolphins on Pauls Reef WMV 7 Mbps 1080p - YouTube Fortunately, it turns out that rental places like www.absea.net , use a scratch remover and polish by NOVUS, to easily remove this..they were kind enough to share with me, and the scratch no longer exists....If only the dolphins give me another chance ....Anyway, the scooter mount massively increases steadiness of the video....that was the idea....the dolphins were not expected. and you need 1080 P stream speeds to appreciate the canon detail level, or, you can download the RealPlayer and on hitting a youtube video you want, setting at 1080p, you then click DOWNLOAD ON THE rEALpLAYER DROP DOWN. RealPlayer® - Best free video player for avi, flv, mpeg4 | RealPlayer

 

[bvanant]

This is Scubaboard not Wetpixel and the Canon of choice for most guys here is the P&S camera system. Lots of us dive with DSLRs either 7D or 5DII. I love the 5DII for some things, the 7D for others.
Bill

 

[danvolker]

This is Scubaboard not Wetpixel and the Canon of choice for most guys here is the P&S camera system.

Meaning ???

Was I supposed to ignore the question, or make up a bogus answer ?

 

[bvanant]

Meaning ???

Was I supposed to ignore the question, or make up a bogus answer ?

The post was aimed not at Dan but rather at the original poster.
Bill

 

[c0r3yz]

I haven't gotten a housing for my 5D Mk II just yet. I have a documentary project that we're gearing up for and we plan on using the 5D Mk II to handle most, if not all, the video. My canon has become an appendage, one that I can't imagine diving without.

Thanks for the links to your videos, Dan. I will certainly be checking those out later! It seems you and SouthFla are using a similar lens setup. How much room do you have inside your the port you have on your housing? I was thinking to go 24-70mm f/2.8, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find a decent enough port to fit such a lens. Also, how many lumens on the light setup?

 

[c0r3yz]

I'm coming from a considerably more compact Nikonos setup, so this big bulky thing is a bit unwieldy and I'm still getting used to operating all buttons. I've done two pool tests, and I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm not going to be 100% happy with corner sharpness below f13

So your housing allows access to all the controls then, right? I shoot full manual 99% of the time and would feel more out of place if I didn't have access to all the controls. Are you saying you're aperture is down to f13? Are you going for a deep field?

Looking forward to my first ocean dive this Friday! I'll be hitting a shallow wreck in 15' water solo so I'll have time to really spend learning the system, playing with settings, etc. I also plan to shoot some videos, which was one of the reasons I ended up housing the 5dII.

I look forward to seeing some pics!

 

[danvolker]

I haven't gotten a housing for my 5D Mk II just yet. I have a documentary project that we're gearing up for and we plan on using the 5D Mk II to handle most, if not all, the video. My canon has become an appendage, one that I can't imagine diving without.

Thanks for the links to your videos, Dan. I will certainly be checking those out later! It seems you and SouthFla are using a similar lens setup. How much room do you have inside your the port you have on your housing? I was thinking to go 24-70mm f/2.8, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find a decent enough port to fit such a lens. Also, how many lumens on the light setup?

They have port extensions...but I would ask somweone like Ryan at Reef, or someone at Backscatter, what port to make to the ideal dome or macro...not really my area There is not much room at all in my set up, extra. The lights are a dual 50 wat HID...don't really know the lumens, but they are made by Extreme Exposure/ Halcyon. There is a "wet connect" that makes getting in and out of the water much easier and safer for the camera, though you do have to be careful when you pull the connector apart, to create only a straight back pulling force--to avoid cracking the internal wiring in the cord....not hard, you just have to know this.

 

[c0r3yz]

The post was aimed not at Dan but rather at the original poster.
Bill

So does that mean I shouldn't ask this kind of question here?