In early 2005, Melanie and I upgraded our photo equipment to Canon 20Ds with Ikelite housings, ports, and substrobes. On a trip to Bonaire in May 2005, we had the occasion to try a variety of lenses and port combinations. Excluding all the various support and spare parts we brought along, our underwater photography equipment consisted of:

	Photographer with Peacock Flounder

* 2x Canon 20D Cameras with Sandisk 2GB CF Cards
* 1x Canon EF-S 10-22 f3.5-4.5 USM Lens
* 1x Canon EF 17-40mm f4.0L USM Lens
* 1x Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM Lens
* 1x Canon EF 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 II USM Lens
* 1x Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Lens
* 1x Canon EF 100mm f2.8 Macro USM Lens
* 2x Ikelite Canon 20D Housings
* 2x Ikelite #9522 Removable Top Mount Assembly (Customized)
* 1x Ikelite #5503 Dome Port
* 1x Ikelite #5503.50 Dome Port
* 1x Ikelite #5503.55 Dome Port
* 1x Ikelite #5503.90 Dome Port
* 1x Ikelite #5508.45 Flat Focus Port
* 3x Ikelite #5509.28 Special Zoom and Clamp Set
* 1x Ikelite #5510.80 Aquatica 8" Dome Port
* 4x Ikelite DS-125s
* 2x Ikelite #4103.52 "Y" Digital TTL Substrobe Cable
* 4x Ikelite #9577.71 Tray or Handle Mount
* 1x Aquatica #18482 Lens Shade for 8" Dome Port WA Lenses
* 1x Aquatica #18503 Neoprene Cover for 8" Dome Port with Lens Shade
* 4x Ikelite #9577.71 ULCS Compatible 1" Tray or Handle Mount
* 4x ULCS DB-05 Double Ball Arm Segments
* 6x ULCS DB-08 Double Ball Arm Segments
* 4x ULCS DB-12 Double Ball Arm Segments
* 3x ULCS DB-16 Double Ball Arm Segments
* 16x ULCS AC-CSF New Style Clamps

View all the photos from our May 2005 trip to Bonaire...

Ikelite Canon 20D Housing

Almost all controls can be accessed and operated easily. It would have been nice to have access to the multi-controller 'joystick', but such functionality is probably not be possible in an underwater housing. The alternative calls for using the AF point selection button and the multi-controller wheel to select an AF point. This is much slower so is most useful for still life shots. The shutter half-press is easy to feel. The housing knob for the AE / FE Lock button would have benefited from being spring loaded like the shutter button. As it was, if you moved AF function to the the AE / FE Lock button, you can use your thumb to "rock" the knob back and forth. The housing's viewfinder does not show the complete viewfinder image from the camera. You can view the top and bottom at the same time, but not both sides. If you imagine a square image, with the top and bottom, that's about the maximum view. You'll have to move your head side-to-side to see each side of the viewfinder. We were somewhat disapointed in this limitation since composing accurately becomes nearly impossible. Several good shots were spoiled by "clipping" on either side, and many others will have to be cropped slightly. The port system with two opposing clips feels flimsy and unsafe, but time will tell if it's reliable or not. I would probably avoid aggressive shore entries (large waves and strong surge) with the larger 8" port. It's heavier than the standard ports, and tends to "wobble" somewhat.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm with Ikelite #5503.50 Dome Port

The 10-22mm lens vignettes at 10mm when used with Ikelite's 5503.50 port. There is a severe loss of definition on the left and right sides when the lens is zoomed at 22mm. Avoid this combination if you can.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm with Ikelite #5510.80 (Aquatica) Dome Port and Aquatica #18482 Port Shade

This combination is an excellent match. The edges are sharp and definition is good. The port adapter appears to have been milled a little smaller than most other Ikelite ports. It slides in the port opening very easily and remains a little loose. I would not trust this combination for aggressive shore entries with large waves and surge.

Addendum: The port provides plenty of lift, and when used with 2× 12" ULCS buoyant arms or 1× 16" ULCS buoyant arm + 1× 12" ULCS standard arm, the system is just slightly negative.

Canon EF 17-40mm with Ikelite #5503.50 Dome Port

Canon EF 17-40mm with Ikelite #5510.80 (Aquatica) Dome Port and Aquatica #18482 Port Shade

Canon EF-S 17-85mm with Ikelite #5503.90 Dome Port

Canon EF 28-105mm with Ikelite #5503.55 Dome Port

While I used the 100mm Macro lens with a flat port, Melanie was to use the 28-105mm lens with a dome port for close-up shots. The 28-105mm was not supposed to need a +4 diopter according to Ikelite's website. This is true above water, but not underwater. I left my 58mm +4 diopter at home, so tried using a 67mm +4 diopter with a step-up ring. The combination was too thick and touched the dome's surface, so we couldn't try this lens/port combo. Since this lens changes lengths significantly between it's WA and telephoto ranges, I would suspect a mediocre performance at best (expect soft edges).

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 with Ikelite #5503 Dome Port

The 50mm f1.4 lens provided excellent results using Canon's 12mm extension tube and Ikelite's 5503 dome port. This combination is probably best for medium sized fish.

Canon EF 100mm Macro with Ikelite #5508.45 Flat Focus Port

The 100mm Macro lens hits the flat port under compression, but this isn't really a problem since the lens has a fixed length when focusing. Manual focus with this lens / port combination is very usable. If you set the lens to 0.31m macro, expect to take some extreme macros, but at the cost of a finicky focus. You can use the manual focus knob to get the lens "close enough" and then let the autofocus take over. The Canon 20D AI Servo mode was also very useful. Plan on using a very good modeling light (good output strength and diffuse light) to get the best out of the autofocus. Using this port / lens combination with short substrobe-arms and dual substrobes is very negative, so additional buoyancy compensation (cork, high density foam, dry boxes, etc.) is highly recommended.