Underwater housing for 5D Mark I

I'll soon be diving and would love to be able to bring my DSLR. I can't seem to find a housing for the 5Dc. Earliest is the Mark II. Am I SOL if I want to bring my main rig?

My Friend has a Ikelite housing for his 5Dc it did leak once but he had it for a long time and got it used , will try to get more info from him .

David

Is my camera just too old?

I have an Aquatica housing for the 5D(it's later model so it takes aqua view finders) and a 8" dome port if you're interested.

I also have an Ikelite for the 40D/50D in case you also have one those bodies also and decide to go that route.

I tried to find a housing for my XTi when I started diving, as I never use my old body anymore. I never had any luck finding a housing for an older body for sale at any retailers.

If you browse the photography classifieds on scubaboard you occasionally find housings for sale for older bodies. I never saw one come up for a reasonable price, but I'd start there first to see if you can snag one.

Are you just learning to dive? If so skip the camera other than maybe a point and shoot for the first 30 dives. The work load is too high until you can actually control your buoyancy and not suck through your tank in 30 minutes. After that then look into a dslr/housing. I think UW a crop is the way to go for greater DoF and smaller kit. Some locations are macro heavy where that is a huge benefit.

If you look around you will see a technology chaser dumping their current kit for the newest thing. Cameras are cheap, housings, strobes and good lenses are not. UW light is king, lenses are queen, camera bodies are jacks. That said not flooding them is above all.

Safe diving, it is my favorite activity and I wish I could do it more.

lovemyram4x4 wrote in post #16952284
I have an Aquatica housing for the 5D(it's later model so it takes aqua view finders) and a 8" dome port if you're interested.

I also have an Ikelite for the 40D/50D in case you also have one those bodies also and decide to go that route.

What are you asking for the 5D housing? Can you link me any info on it?

You would likely be limited to buying used now, I can't see any suppliers still making the housings for the old 5D when Canon is on to the 3rd version now.

As mentioned if your just starting diving then forget the camera until you have the basics of diving mastered and I don't mean just being able to go down and come back up in ideal conditions with no issues.

As other have mentioned get some practice in before trying to dive with camera gear. You're going to need master buoyancy control and will want to learn some kicks used to for tech diving(both will help you frame you shots, keep you and surrounding life safe, and minimize stirring up any silt).

Anthrax15 wrote in post #16952682
What are you asking for the 5D housing? Can you link me any info on it?

Here's a link to Aquatica's legacy page it looks like the T2i is the oldest housing that still has a product page but they still have the owner's manual linked for the 5D.

I'll need to look into what the going rate for the housing. I'll send you a PM later with pictures and prices.

TTuna Eye wrote in post #16952484
Are you just learning to dive? If so skip the camera other than maybe a point and shoot for the first 30 dives. The work load is too high until you can actually control your buoyancy and not suck through your tank in 30 minutes. After that then look into a dslr/housing. I think UW a crop is the way to go for greater DoF and smaller kit. Some locations are macro heavy where that is a huge benefit.

If you look around you will see a technology chaser dumping their current kit for the newest thing. Cameras are cheap, housings, strobes and good lenses are not. UW light is king, lenses are queen, camera bodies are jacks. That said not flooding them is above all.

Safe diving, it is my favorite activity and I wish I could do it more.

+1 to all of the above...

Especially when you start taking a fully DSLR rig underwater, and strobes (i.e u/w flash) and it's quite a lump to man-handle around and your diving and especially buoyancy needs to be second nature .. very easy to get absorbed in photography at the expense of safe diving and the potential to bump/knock/damage the environment your photographing..

I still use my little 400D and even when new the camera is a fraction of the cost compared to the housing, ports and strobes.. here's a pic of my setup..

Well thanks for the info everyone! I'll probably just get a GoPro and call it a day lol