nimar housing for canon 450D

canon 450D (XSi) is about $700 these days with the kit lens. (USD)

the cheapest housing on the market seems to be the Nimar NI303D, $1150 (USD) including the port (for the standard kit 18-55 lens). 

total under $2K, not bad. the nimar housing has a standard nikonos bulkhead. not sure if it works with inon strobes for TTL. (photos are from the nimar site).  also the housing does not have a hotshoe on top for fixing focus lights.

the dSLR barrier

the barrier to dSLR:
(for the following comparison i use canon G10 versus canon 450D)

price

• top of the line compact is about 600AUD, housing about 300AUD, total of about 1000AUD
  
• entry level dSLR camera with a kit lens is about 700AUD, housing with a port 1500AUD, total 2200
  

weight

• compact is 390gr, and the housing is next to nothing. total of 500-600gr.
  
• dSLR is 425gr without lens, lens is 250gr, housing 3200kg (ikelite housing for canon 450D), total of 4kg.

size

• a compact is compact barely there, can fit in a (big) pocket 
• dSLR needs an extra suitcase and an extra hotel room to fit in when traveling.

features

• a good compact has manual controls, macro, attaching wet lenses, video, all in one
  
• a dSLR is not very flexible (for entry level models), not flexible with strobes
  

So, from a relatively affordable, $1K 0.6kg small, manageable, easy to travel with, all around camera that can do everything at any time, you go to a very expensive 4kg, huge, not-so-flexible-at-all set up. so (entry level) dSLRs are much more expensive, terribly heavier, ridiculously bigger, horribly inflexible.

and that's good: if we take into account all those issues, the price difference between the top compacts and entry level dSLRs is the least of the problem. as for the rest, well, one just has to get used to carrying a closet around while diving. until technology manages to catch up.

new Canon G10 and WP-DC28

canon announced the G10 (top of the line compact) as well as a matching underwater housing WP-DC28. (photos are from the canon website)

about the G10: 

• 28mm wide lens with 5x zoom, 
  
• i-constrast, which is something that claims to boost brightness in order to retain detail in the shadows. sounds great.
  
• one more dial, for exposure compensation
  
• raw, 
  
• 1/1.7" CCD sensor with loads of megapixels.
  

  

the WP-DC28 housing looks a lot like the WP-DC11 for the G7 (and the one for G9) with a large oval shaped lens barrel which made it impossible to use wide angle wet lenses for the previous models. i guess the same will be true for the G10.

any hope ikelite will choose to make one of their new "compact" housings for this camera? that would be great.

fantasea dSLR housings no more?

cannot really find much info on fantasea housings for dSLR cameras. did fantasea give up on making housings for SLRs and only makes compact camera housings now?

panasonic G1 - micro fours thirds

panasonic announced the first micro four thirds camera, the Lumix DMC-G1, along with two micro four thirds lenses, 14-45 and 45-200 that include image stabilization. (the photo is from the panasonic press release)

here are some links to read more:

• imaging resource with hands-on preview
  
• dpreview hands-on preview
  
• dcviews.com (press release)
  
• divephotoguide.com (press release)

Panasonic also announced that we should expect a couple more (micro four thirds) lenses early 2009 (one of them is a 14-140). the new panasonic g1 is smaller than the olympus E420 in every dimension (the imagingresource.com site has a good photo comparing the two cameras). 

 

some good things:

• 23 area auto focus, 
  
• very fast contrast detect auto focus (according to the dpreview preview), 
  
• electronic viewfinder (optical viewfinders with pentaprisms mirrors and all that, are sooo last century)
  
• depth of field preview
  
• shutter speed effect preview (camera changes the refrsh rate of live view to mimic the shutter speed effect)
  
• 3 inch swivel lcd monitor
  

other things:

• video/movie mode? why no video?
  
• and where are the underwater housings?
  

pricing is expected in early october according to the press release. but this site mentions an estimate of 840USD (inc lens). the camera should be available mid november.