Hi everyone. I’m just getting into UW photo and after a lot of forum reading, have decided to start with a Canon A570.
I’m just having a problem now deciding what housing to go with. The ikelite seems like the better choice compared to the canon,
and I am not opposed to spending the extra cash to get it, but I can’t afford a strobe kit for it just yet. Whatever housing
I was going to get, I was hoping to use the internal flash for a little while while saving up for a strobe kit. Does the housing for
the ikelite block the flash so that it is unusable? Also I live in Hawaii, so the water here is pretty clear.
Any suggestions are most appreciated.
Thanks

I believe your answer is yes ... it does block the flash .. or at least the flash doesn’t work so good from inside.

If you have an image of the housing or a link to it’s page on their site someone maybe able to have a better guess.

Or even contact them directly, they are pretty good on the email response.

Giles

Hi

Link the the relevant page on Ikelite’s site is here.

According to Ikelite info, the on camera flash can be used in their housing and there is a diffuser that assists with using the on camera flash.

That said, from the pictures of the housing I think the port body would block the camera’s flash from hitting close subjects.  Maybe the diffuser resolves this to some extent, but I can’t see how macro shots would be possible with the camera’s flash.  That said, the same problem occurs at some point with Canon’s housings too - the port body blocks the on-camera flash for close macro shots.

If you think you will be able to get a strobe at some point in the future, I think there are benefits to getting the ikelite housing - it’s more robust, has a better designed (IMHO) seal than Canon housings, and the control glands are almost certainly better sealed.

My 4c worth!

Hi, I bought the same camera and had the same question.
There is a point still to consider.
The Canon housing is smaller that the Ikelite Housing. This is important when you go to the dive ship and have to carry a lot of stuff with you.
The Canon housing is designed for a maximun of 40 mts. The Ikelite housing is designed for 60 mts, that’s why the Ikelite housing is more robust than the Canon one.
I’m certified as deep diver so, my limit is also 40 mts. I’d rather go deeper than 40 mts.
The price was also a point for me.
I could buy the Canon housing in an offer in Amazon.com for only USD 147,61 (list price is 240). Instead the Ikelite housing costs USD 300 and I couldn’t find any offer anywhere.

Another difference to bear in mind is maintainability.  If you plan to use the 570 for a few years or more, you will find that you own the housing long after it is deleted from Canon’s range.  At this stage you may well find that getting replacement o-rings for the canon housing is difficult, whereas I think you will find that Ikelite will be able to supply replacement o-rings for a much longer time than Canon will.

Furthermore, if you find a need to service or replace control glands, you will find it next to impossible to get replacement parts for Canon housings, whereas Ikelite sell a service kit with all the spare parts you need.  Because of the way Ikelite produce their housings, i.e. they use a consistent range of ‘boxes’ with controls placed accordingly for each different camera, and the fact that their controls are much the same across their entire range, you get better ongoing support for your housing.

If you plan to change to a different camera and thus different housing within a couple of years, then all of this is pretty much irrelevant however!

You are right in your considerations.
Surely I will own the camera for a couple of years. I’ve bought my previous camera an SLR Minolta Dimage 7 in 2003, only 5 year ago. In that moment it was a huge camera, now it’s a dinosuar.
I’m new in scuba diving, and it seems that I will be diving an average of two or three times per year. Surely I will use the camera a lot in land and very little underwater, so the WP housing will have very little use compared with the camera.
I’m pretty sure that Ikelite housings are of superior quality than Canon housings, but considering the use I will give to it spending twice the money was difficult for me to accept.
I hope I could dive more often, but my reality now shows me that.