G5 Underwater Housings - personal experiences/opinions?

I am planning a vacation to Key West this August and I have been doing some research on underwater photos. It appears that Canon makes underwater housings for all the powerhot models except for the G and Pro1 series.

Anyway, my web browsing at B&H (seems to be my favorite store lately), has enlightened me to Ewa-Marine housings. I searched and read reviews, but the one thing that I did not find was responses/opinions from fellow board members. Has anyone had any luck with these - what are your thoughts, drawbacks of using these, difficulties? Do they work well or would you recommend something else?

My other option is that I can probably borrow an S410 and buy the Canon hard case housing for that model, but it would be a onetime use, and I'd rather use my G5.

Thanks,

I tried looking for a housing for my G5 too before, Ewa-Marine is not available her and so is Ikelite which is for serious underwater photography. The Ikelite is quite steap at 750 bucks. Goodluck!

http://www.ikelite.com​/web_pages/5can_g3big.​html

Slayer - Thanks for the response. I think I am going to get the Ewa-Marine. I don't anticipate ever taking my camera below a depth of 10 feet (let alone 10 meters) - I am not trained in SCUBA, but I do snorkel. I also have a hard time justifying spending more for a housing than the price I paid for my camera. I do think I could get some good use out of the Ewa though, as my parents live on a large, secluded river that I frequently Kayak on when I visit them. I guess I'll be the guinea pig and buy one and maybe post a review once I have used it.

I should buy stock in B&H for as much money as I have been spending there lately.

Lonewolf,

For that matter, Ewa-Marine would be great for your purpose. Keep on shooting!

slayer wrote:
Lonewolf,

For that matter, Ewa-Marine would be great for your purpose. Keep on shooting!

I just got back from a trip to the Bahamas sailing and snorkeling with a group of Boy Scouts.

I used the Ewa-Marine "bag" housing with my G3, and it worked flawlessly!
My camera was well-protected both from salt spray/sand/suntan oil topside, and salt water while snorkeling. I will always carry the housing with me when exposure to the elements is a high risk.

However, be aware that there are some limitations that come with the relatively low price. As they say "your mileage may vary":

1. The bag is not a custom fit; your lens will move around in the lens port.... be careful to watch for vignetting.
   
2. Both the optical viewfinder and the LCD on the G3 were basically useless... I composed my pictures by the seat of my pants.
   
3. With the underwater refraction you may find hitting the controls a little wacky.
   

Joe D.,

Thanks, this is exactly the feedback I was looking for. That's a little disappointing about having to blindly compose your shots. Was the LCD too bright underwater?

I have had he same problems with shutter lag and autofocus with the G5, which is why I recently upgraded to a 20D. However, I feel much better at putting a slightly used $500 camera underwater than I do putting a brand new $1500 camera underwater, also the housings I find suitable for the 20D are more expensive than the camera!

Actually, it was a combination of my far-sightedness and a too-dark LCD.... remember, close to the surface you'll have a lot of light streaming down.

From what I have gathered, you'll want to set the G5 at its maximum wide angle setting to deal with the water's refractivity. This will help eliminate some of the problems of composing the image... just point and shoot!

I have also now read that the autofocus is useless underwater; to the camera, everything is at infinity.

In retrospect, I think I should have set the camera on manual, turned off the auto-focus (or made it non-continuous), picked a fast shutter speed with a f4/5.6 aperture, and fired away. Hey, kinda like one of those $15.00 Kodak disposable sports cameras

joenj1 wrote:
Actually, it was a combination of my far-sightedness and a too-dark LCD.... remember, close to the surface you'll have a lot of light streaming down.

From what I have gathered, you'll want to set the G5 at its maximum wide angle setting to deal with the water's refractivity. This will help eliminate some of the problems of composing the image... just point and shoot!

I have also now read that the autofocus is useless underwater; to the camera, everything is at infinity.

In retrospect, I think I should have set the camera on manual, turned off the auto-focus (or made it non-continuous), picked a fast shutter speed with a f4/5.6 aperture, and fired away. Hey, kinda like one of those $15.00 Kodak disposable sports cameras

Heh heh. Now you tell me I could achieve the same with a $15 disposible.

I do plan on playing with it first - like maybe taking it in the pool and taking about 100 practice shots before I go on vacation. I ordered it today from B&H, so it should be here soon, I can't wait to experiment.

Thanks again for your post and info.

joenj1,

Thanks for the feedback. i can imagine you having a hardtime pressing the shutter because of the refraction.

lonewolf,

Goodluck! Shot some sample shots once you've tested it.