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- Newsgroups: bit.listserv.scuba-l
- Path: sparky!uunet!uunet.ca!rose!usenet
- From: peter.bennett@rose.com (peter bennett)
- Subject: UW photography
- Organization: Rose Media Inc, Toronto, Ontario.
- Distribution: bit
- Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 19:22:30 GMT
- Message-ID: <1993Jan28.192232.26660@rose.com>
- Sender: usenet@rose.com (Usenet Gateway)
- X-Gated-By: Usenet <==> RoseMail Gateway (v1.70)
- Lines: 40
-
-
- Date Entered: 01-28-93 14:15
- S> Is anyone using a housed camera and would like to comment on the pros and
- S> cons.
-
- My wife and I often use an Ikelite flat port housing with a Pentax SLR. While
- the system is old, it's served us well.
-
- Pros: You can use the camera dryside, and you get through-the-lens focusing
- wetside. You can do as we do, use a relatively cheap camera with a wide
- selection of available lenses. The flat port allows some flexibility; you can
- switch from a macro to a wide-angle lens, for example.
-
- Cons: It isn't easy to focus -- you've got to see through your mask, the
- housing, and the camera. I don't think it's possible with any housing to see
- the complete frame without moving your head. With the light conditions
- underwater, it's often difficult to focus on the ground glass screen; perhaps
- a split-image type would be better. In low light conditions, split-image
- focusing sometimes causes one half of the image to black out, however. The up
- side is that at least you are sure what your lens is pointed at.
-
- A housing is also bigger than something like a Nikonos. The sail area doesn't
- seem like much until you try pushing it against even a mild current. The
- overall system weighs more, too, but wetside that's not a concern.
-
- Controls are more complex for a housing because they involve levers and gears.
- It can be a bitch to get the system functioning if a lever gets bent or a ring
- starts to slip.
-
- ---
-
- Re-reading that, it seems negative towards housings, but actually, if we were
- to replace the system, we'd probably get another housing. Neither of us is
- big on range-finder systems.
-
- Peter Bennett
-
- ---
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